Increase your rights — Incorporate now

I need a Free Speech Corporation.

The recent Supreme Court decision to allow corporations to spend freely on political campaigns has opened the floodgates of money into politics. I’m not the first to point that out. The tortured logic is that money is akin to free speech, and free speech should not be abridged. Therefore, money can flow to whatever political candidate a corporation wants to talk about.

The obvious challenge is, individual free speech is limited. Beyond just preventing hate speech or screaming “fire” in a crowded theatre. No, We the People cannot spend an unlimited amount on our political candidates. Our money and thus our free speech is limited by campaign finance caps.

So while Bill Gates, with his massive wealth, financial acumen, and legal structures has more free speech than I do, there is one way we can all catch up. We can all create our own corporations.

It’s easy, and in fact a quick search of the internet will give you loads of quick ways to incorporate. Then, you can throw as much of your money to whichever candidate you’d like.

And with that loophole open to us all, the notion of campaign finance limits has been destroyed. Whether Congress even bothers to remove the limits or candidates start encouraging their big donors to create “Free Speech Corporations” or FSCs, the limits are gone.

And we’re all going to have to create corporations to keep some small voice in a process that feels increasingly removed from the people.

I can hear the chanters in front of Capitol Hill now . . . “FREE SPEECH (corporations)! FREE SPEECH (corporations)!”

Dear Congress: “expense” is not “investment”, and that’s OK

When proposing his budget in the Joint Session of Congress, President Obama used the words “invest” or “investment” 11 times – to support energy research, healthcare and education.  Since then, “investment” is the new budgetary buzzword.  Every government proposal is an “investment”.  Are they really?

Investment is when capital is committed with the intent of getting more capital back.  And when is an “investment” really just an “expense”? When it doesn’t pay back.

There are clear investments, like a toll road that will collect money to pay for itself and then some over time.

There are questionable investments, like a toll road that will collect money that WON’T pay for itself over time.

There are long-term investments, like education, healthcare, and energy, that eventually lead to better citizens, jobs, and more tax dollars.  It is difficult to calculate the return on these investments in both dollars and timing, but one could build an excel spreadsheet that would argue for a positive return, eventually, to the US Treasury.  Plus, they  have a clear “social benefit”:  they make our citizens happier and better off.

Then there are things that we call investments that are really only expenses and social benefits.  Like rebuilding levees in New Orleans.  This is absolutely necessary, and can avoid costs down the road.  But this is an expense, with a social benefit of the well-being of a city.  It will not generate a positive financial return on investment for the Federal government.

Likewise Social Security, which is designed to provide a more comfortable life for our senior citizens.  It is a noble and proper decision we’ve made to provide benefit for our elders.  But to be clear, it is an expense.  The federal government will not see that money multiplied and returned.

When I mention this, people want to argue.  Because the word “investment” is so much more palatable than “expense”.

Expense isn’t a bad word.  It’s OK to spend money.  Cultures and economies decide where to spend their resources.  It’s the fruits of success.  Sometimes it’s on noble ideals and just causes like New Orleans levees and Social Security.

Sometimes we re-invest the fruits of our success – on capital goods and people that will generate more resources for the government in the future, refilling the coffers.  Let’s keep the two separate, lest we begin to believe our fiscal coffers will be re-filled with difficult to spend social benefits like happiness and joy.