Corporate Power
The challenge before us today is whether we can maintain a government of the people, by the people and for the people, or whether we will timidly accept the economic, social, and political consequences of a government of the corporations, by the corporations, and for the corporations.
The implosion of the Enron Corporation is a cautionary tale of the danger to the people of our nation, to our economy, and to our political system of unregulated corporations. The influence wielded by the power industry at every level of government must be shaken. The drive to privatize must be halted.
Enron's considerable financial contributions to the campaign coffers of 71 Senators and 186 House members clearly demonstrate the urgency of creating full public financing of our elections.
Government at the state and federal levels must reclaim its rightful role as regulator in the public interest, restructure electric rates to protect residents and small businesses, finance the construction of municipal power systems, and ensure -- as my Progressive Tax Act of 2003 does -- that corporations pay their fair share in taxes.
Despite the overwhelming influence which corporations have in the life of our nation, I see a new era of corporate accountability. I see a new horizon in America where ethics, sustainability, and sensible priorities guide corporate conduct in cooperation with vigilant, fair-minded, government regulation.
We cannot stand by idly while powerful economic engines -- virtually unregulated corporations -- violate workers' rights, human rights, and the environment, sweeping aside antitrust laws, eliminating competition.
We need a new relationship between our government and corporate America, an arms-length relationship, so that our elected leaders are capable of independently affirming and safeguarding the public interest. Just as our founders understood the need for separation of church and state, we need to institutionalize the separation of corporations and the state. This begins with government taking the responsibility to establish the conditions under which corporations can do business in the United States, including the establishment of a federal corporate charter that describes and clearly delineates corporate rights and responsibilities.
Corporations must be compelled to pay a fair share of taxes. If corporations shift profits offshore to avoid paying taxes, they should not be permitted to operate in the United States. The decrease in corporate tax responsibility is an indication of the rise of corporate power. Corporations pay three and half times less in taxes now than they did in the 1950s. Working families have to make up the difference.
We need an administration that will take corporate crime seriously and significantly increase the capacity of the SEC, the FTC, and the Justice Department to address it.
Wall Street should not get its hands on Americans' hard-earned Social Security savings. The Social Security system is not in financial crisis, but it faces the same political crisis much of our government faces: the pressure to privatize.
I am working to prevent the privatization of Social Security, of water, of municipal services, and of our democracy.
http://kucinich.us/issues/corp_power.php
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