Had to turn off comments. Poor guy can't take the heat.

There's no research that I know of, but most people would likely agree that one of the most corrosive aspects of American politics is the ability of megacorporations to wield repugnantly large sums of money to sway elections and policies. This ability is largely the product of a very questionable 1886 Supreme Court decision which is now embedded in the political fabric of the United States to the detriment of the vast majority of its "natural" citizens.

We might argue a bit about the question of whether it is fair to question the fairness and propriety of this state of affairs, but its unfairness and impropriety seems so obvious to me that I will simply take it for granted that the system is a source of corruption.  Let's simply discuss the potential of a cure for this disease.

Perhaps more than any time in American history, the general populace is aware of the unholy power of Corporate America and its ability to warp the political landscape. The awareness arises from the fact that corporate behavior, deservedly or not, is viewed as greedy and corrupt -- even by the Republican candidate for President -- and that such greed and corruption is currently having a direct impact on the lifestyle of many members of the middle class.

Further, it looks as though 2009 will find our nation under the sway of the most centrist -- certainly not progressive, but at least not extremist rightish as in recent decades -- collection of state and federal leaders that we have seen since the malignancy of Ronald Reagan infected much of the Free World in 1981.

So the iron is hot, and those politicos who recognize corporate personhood as a primary source of evil in America should strike by proposing and passing a constitutional amendment stripping corporations of their ugly position of ubermenschen with authority without responsibility, power without balance, wealth without limit.

The "artifical persons" will use their citizenship to fight furiously and expensively against what's best for the citizenry, but maybe, just maybe, the current economic debacle will enable enough "natural" citizens to recognize and insist on legislating their own self-interest for once.