A Radical Proposal: The 29th Amendment

Presumably the ERA will become the 28th, since 38 states have approved the amendment**,  but here is US Person's (aka, The Cur's) idea for the 29th:

Wherever used in this Constitution the term "person" shall mean a natural person. Nothing in this amendment shall deprive a corporation or other legal entity their rights in property without due process of law.

As PNG readers may understand, this proposed intends to counteract the long line of decisions* from the US Supreme Court culminating in Citizens United v. FCC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010) that recognizes the "personhood" in law of corporations and other associations (e.g. PACs) which have come to dominate our system of government in the United States. Only a fundamental change in jurisprudence enshrined in the Constitution can alter the further decline of our democracy into corporatocracy, or oligarchy, if not outright fascism.

*The United States. Supreme Court first declared in dicta a corporation is a "person" under the law in the case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, 118 U.S. 394 (1886) .Justice William O. Douglas wrote in the Columbia Law Review for 1948, "the Santa Clara case becomes one of the most momentous of all our decisions.[...]Corporations were now armed with constitutional prerogatives." 

Since US Person is talking about "radical" proposals, here is another one for readers to consider. The economic importance of the United State's private central bank, known as the Federal Reserve, cannot be ignored . Its monetary policies affect every American. So it is appropriate that the instituion be public and not private in a country that still claims to be a democracy and not an oligarchy. US Person, alleged by pseudo-populist extremists to be a seething Marxist radical, suggests replacing the current federal reserve system with a system of publicly owned state banks organized into regions with each region sending a representative elected by bank shareholders to a US National Bank Open Market Committee, which would set national interests rates. The chair of the US National Bank would be selected by the President. State residents would be allowed to purchase shares in their state bank. North Dakota's state-owned bank is a successful example of public state bank. It has made a profit every year since its opening in 1919. This proposed system is more accountable to the public, and insures monetary policy coincides with the public's policy choices and not the billionaire boys' choices. US still thinks central banks are a good idea, just like Marx did in his Communist Manifesto, so go ahead color him red.

**The ERA is in legal limbo right now.  The amendment did not receive the necessary state ratifications within the stated seven year deadline.  The US Department of Justice issued a memo concluding the deadline provision is constitutional, and the US Archivist has said in a letter that more action by the courts or Congress is needed before the amendment is enacted into law.

TWIT: "Unrepentant Racists"

credit: N. Anderson
BC Idonwanna sez: Note two-tone face makeup!

Latest:  Speaker Mike Johnson lost his first bid to become the Speaker of the 119th Congress despite endorsement from 'Der Führer'. The Repugnant majority in the House is razor-thin. The party lost three votes on the first ballot, enough to result in a 215-215 tie between Johnson and Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader.  He is expected to squeeze out a victory in subsequent ballots. But it is becoming increasingly clear that Repugnants cannot govern without Democratic support. Probably in an attempt to gain MAGA support, Johnson announced the House will investigate the Select Committee that investigated January 6th.  Biden should offer members of that committee pardons before leaving office in order to insulate them against future prosecution by Trump's DOJ. 

In what may be the final capitulation to the political circumstances surrounding Trump's  convictions for fraud, Judge Merchan upheld his convictions, but indicated he would not imposed a jail term on the President-elect, but instead allow an "unconditional discharge" of his felony convictions.  He has scheduled January 10th for a sentencing hearing.  Trump, with nearly unlimited funding, will appeal the decision despite evading incarceration for his crimes.

{31.12.24} US Person expected the coalition of right-wing crazies that put a felon in the White House to eventually collapse. But it is happening sooner than he expected. Uber-billionaire Elon Musk is having a very public fall-out with MAGA supporters over visas for skilled foreign workers. His businesses are heavily reliant on these immigrants, and he wants to continue to be able to use them. MAGA lumps these mostly professional workers in with the unskilled migrants crossing the southern borders, and objects to any immigrant perceived to be taking jobs away from Americans. The exchanges have become rather heated.

Musk labeled some of Don the Con's supporters "unrepentant racists". The only thing surprising about his outburst is how long the billionaire to realize the economic conflict of interests operating beneath the surface. For his part, Musk's partner at the non-existent "Department of Government Efficiency", Viveck Ramaswamy, called American workers, "mediocre"--a result of a culture, “that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers”. This statement may have some truth to it, but calling resentful nativist supporters mediocre will not win Ramaswamy, the son of immigrants, any friends in MAGA world.

Always knowing which side of his bread is buttered, Don Trumpilini publicly sided with Musk in the dispute saying that skilled worker immigration is needed by America to maintain its competitive edge. But a recent poll revealed that 46% of Repugnant supporters want the US military to round up illegal immigrants and put them in concentration camps!  Don Olde exposed his pandering to racist supporters by immediately categorizing the New Orleans New Year's attack after it occurred an example of the danger posed by illegal immigration over the southern border. What he failed to mention in his twit on the subject is that the perpetrator was an American citizen and an Army veteran. So was the terrorist in Las Vegas who parked his rented Tesla truck in front of the Trump International hotel, blew his vehicle up, and committed suicide. This resident of Colorado Springs was on active duty with the Special Forces. Once again the corrupt, fundamentally fraudulent character of the 'MAGA movement' is exposed for all who care to look objectively.

Ten Wins for the Wild

Be inspired by this video and stay in the fight!