This fat old lady just doesn’t get it.

So a corporation is enough of a “person” that it has freedom of speech rights; and apparently, for a corporation, “freedom of speech” equals putting money in candidates’ pockets.

And now corporations want “freedom of religion rights” because they don’t want to offer certain mandatory health benefits to their employees.

HOWEVER, when it comes to doing jail time, suddenly corporations aren’t people at all! You can’t put a corporation in jail! That would be punishing all the innocent people who work for the corporation.

But it’s okay to put a man or woman in jail, even though that person’s innocent family will suffer?

And for some reason, the crimes done in the name of and/or on behalf of the corporation, are the corporation’s crimes, not the crimes of the individuals actually guilty of wrongdoing?

If a corporation does not have to suffer any consequences from the exercise of its “freedoms,” then I think it is ridiculous to give corporations individual freedoms.

You should not be able to have it both ways.

People form corporations in order to garner certain protections they would not be afforded if they acted as individuals. In garnering those protections, those individuals lose the right to have their corporation act in the same capacity as an individual.

If you want to exercise personal freedoms, then don’t incorporate. Put your own assets and ass on the line; put your fucking money where your mouth is.

I’m not saying that an individual doesn’t have the right to personal beliefs about religion, politics, etc. I’m saying that individual does not have the right to form a corporation and use that corporation to enforce personal beliefs on its employees. Corporation’s don’t have beliefs. They have mission statements, they have business plans, they do not have beliefs.

And corporations do not commit crimes. People commit crimes. People sometimes commit crimes when working for or in the name of a corporation. Those people should go to jail and the corporation should be fined. That’s how we punish corporations – we fine them; hopefully enough to hurt and hopefully enough to discourage future misbehavior.

One things corporations do seem to have in common with individual criminals – they seem to be repeat offenders. Why not? They get a slap on the wrist and told they have been very naughty, and then it’s back to business as usual.

Here’s some ideas. If you can’t put a corporation in jail, why not put them on probation?

For whatever jail time an individual would get for the crime, the corporation has to report to a designated authority or the government can send in a team to oversee the running of the corporation (at the corporation’s expense of course) or the corporation might be required to turn over a certain percentage of profits to a charity or to the community where they are located or put a certain percentage of profits aside to reimburse those damaged by the criminal action; and you can add a freeze on the upper management salaries and perks while you’re at it.