HOW ARE CORPORATIONS ENGAGED IN POLITICAL ACTIVITY AT PRESENT?
Although corporations cannot vote, they can and do disrupt the concept of “one person, one vote” levying their financial power at both the state and local levels. In 2005, 181 registered lobbyists are representing 359 clients as they try to influence lawmakers and policymakers. Their clients include 13 multinational corporations and at least 37 Fortune 500 companies who can afford to lunch with legislators on both sides of the aisle and take the regulators out to dinner. The more influence they have on Maine’s direction, the less voice Maine citizens have in their own government. One way that the influence of big corporations hurts smaller businesses and everyday citizens is in our tax laws. While private citizens and small business owners carry a heavy load of property and income taxes, corporate income taxes play a steadily shrinking role in Maine’s tax revenues just 3.4 percent in 2003. Meanwhile, subsidies to corporations have risen steeply. Business Equipment Tax Reimbursements (B
