Tag: corporations

Corporations Can Vote in Some Delaware Elections, Judge Says

Corporations, partnerships, trusts, limited liability companies, and other “artificial entities” have the right to vote in Delaware elections under some circumstances, a judge said in a novel ruling Tuesday.

Judge Craig A. Karsnitz rejected an ACLU challenge to a charter permitting voting in local elections by the entities that own most of the property in the Town of Fenwick Island, one of several municipalities in the state with similar provisions. Karsnitz dismissed the lawsuit from Delaware’s Superior Court, citing “the principle of one person/entity/one vote.”

“Visions of faceless large corporations or even HAL controlling a small town are frightening and the stuff of science fiction,” but “trusts, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations are expressly recognized as ‘persons’ in the Delaware Code,” the judge said.

The dispute over municipal voting in a tiny coastal community represents an unusual flashpoint in the decades-long fight over the free speech rights of corporations and the dark money flooding the American electoral system. The US Supreme Court held in 2010’s Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission that political spending counts as constitutionally protected speech.

Ever since that ruling effectively ended corporate campaign finance regulation, the prospect of outright voting by business entities has served as fodder for both critics and comedians.

Delaware, home to more corporations than people, is a fitting place for reality to outpace satire. The state constitutional provisions expressly enshrining corporate personhood reflect Delaware’s budgetary reliance on the billions in fees it raises annually from the more than 2 million business entities chartered there.

Karsnitz, writing in a 19-page opinion Tuesday, rejected an array of constitutional arguments advanced by the ACLU, including the claim that entity voting dilutes the political power of living people.

The lawsuit “does not allege discrimination based on race or political partisanship,” show “that entity property owners vote sufficiently as a bloc to usually defeat the preferred candidates of natural persons,” or assert “that Fenwick’s charter distinguishes between natural persons and entity property owners with the discriminatory intent to fence out natural persons,” the judge said.

Keep reading

Luigi Mangione fangirl who celebrated murder of Brian Thompson is the daughter of CVS Health exec: report

One of the fangirl “journalists” who has publicly supported Luigi Mangione is reportedly the daughter of a senior healthcare executive at CVS Health.

Lena Weissbrot is the daughter of Reina Natero, a longtime pharmaceutical industry executive who oversees prescription drug insurance coverage rules at CVS Health. Natero has worked in the industry for more than two decades.

Weissbrot is one of three supporters of Mangione who are referred to online as “Mangionistas.” They recently gained attention during Mangione’s pre-trial hearings after receiving New York City press credentials.

Weissbrot has publicly expressed support for Mangione for the alleged murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. On Monday, outside the New York State Supreme Court, Weissbrot said Thompson’s children were “better off without him.”

According to the New York Post, Weissbrot received a Fulbright-MTV fellowship in 2015 after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Florida State University. The grant allowed her to study “South African artists identifying as feminists who use Hip-hop music as a form of activism” at Rhodes University in South Africa.

“This has become an archetype at this point, when activists become defined as the ‘anti’ of what their parents were,” Stu Smith, analyst at the Manhattan Institute, told The Post. “There’s no self-awareness.”

Weissbrot also makes music, and a music video she appeared in that was posted on Vimeo last June includes lyrics that say, “The CEO’s a parasite and now they getting shot up.”

“While I’m looking cuter, you be looking deader, the kind of hit that makes you wish for universal healthcare,” she sang.

She has also called for “copycats” of Mangione to “put billionaires in body bags,” though she included a disclaimer stating that she doesn’t “promote, condone or endorse violence.”

According to The Post, Weissbrot denied that Reina Natero was her mother, avoiding questions about their relationship and saying her mother was unemployed and they were “rather estranged.” The next day, Natero edited her LinkedIn profile and removed her last name from it.

Public records list Natero as Weissbrot’s mother, and they lived at the same address in Weissbrot’s hometown, per The Post.

Keep reading

Outrageous! Panda Express Employees Call the Police on Man for Wearing a MAGA Hat Inside and Flashing a Harmless Gesture at Cook

The disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome is now infecting employees at one of the most famous Chinese restaurants in America.

As Fox News reported on Tuesday, a conservative influencer has revealed that a pair of employees at a Panda Express in Washington state called the cops on conservative influencer Chris Sims and his friend @DannyRebel333 over a MAGA hat and flashing an innocuous gesture to a cook inside the establishment.

Fox News confirmed the incident in Lakewood on May 10.

In the video below, Sims, wearing the hat, is livestreaming his visit to Panda Express. Shortly after entering the restaurant, he notices they don’t like the hat he’s wearing.

Sims then gives a thumbs-up to one of the cooks. Upon seeing this, the employees behind the counter then kicked Sims and his friend out of the restaurant.

After exchanging words with a pair of employees outside the restaurant, Sims learns that the police have been called.

Keep reading

Seattle Democrat Who Welcomed New ‘Socialist’ Mayor Now ‘Gravely Concerned’ About Businesses Fleeing the City

Seattle’s new socialist Mayor Katie Wilson made headlines a few weeks ago as she laughed off the idea of millionaires fleeing the city over new and higher taxes.

Now some people in the city, including other Democrats, are starting to realize just who they put into this position of power.

One city council member who reportedly ‘welcomed’ the change the new mayor was bringing to the city is now ‘gravely concerned’ about the parade of wealth that is going to march out of the area.

FOX News reports:

Dem who welcomed socialist mayor’s ‘change’ now sounding alarm over billionaire exodus: ‘Gravely concerned’

A Democratic city council member who once welcomed the “change” from socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is now admitting he is “gravely concerned” about the business exodus affecting the major American city.

This comes as blue states like Washington and New York face a business exodus in favor of more market-friendly red states. Starbucks, a major player in Seattle’s business scene, recently announced a major expansion into Nashville while simultaneously cutting Seattle-based corporate jobs, a move that has intensified concerns about Seattle’s business climate and economic competitiveness.

Wilson, a self-proclaimed socialist, recently went viral for laughing off the exodus of billionaires and business leaders from her city, saying, “I think the claims that millionaires are going to leave our state are super overblown,” and adding, “the ones that leave? Like, bye.”

Now, less than five months into Wilson’s term, Seattle Democratic Councilmember Rob Saka admitted to the New York Times, “I am gravely concerned,” telling the outlet, “This is real.”

Saka previously welcomed Wilson after she defeated incumbent Bruce Harrell, saying in a statement, “The voters have spoken, calling for change and a renewed focus on affordability, community, and fighting back against a resurgent Trump agenda.”

Who is going to fund the new socialist utopia when all of the wealthy people leave Seattle?

Keep reading

Walgreens Closing Chicago Location Due to Massive Theft, Local Political Leaders Who Enable the Crime Are Outraged

Walgreens has announced that it is closing a store in the Chatham neighborhood of Chicago. They claim that the store is losing upwards of a million dollars a year to theft, so the reason for the closure is no mystery. They say that this particular store loses more in theft than any other store.

And yet… The political leaders in Chicago, who allow thieves to run wild, are angry at Walgreens.

They caused this, with their soft on crime policies, yet they are mad at Walgreens for closing the location.

FOX 32 in Chicago reported:

Walgreens to close Chatham store after more than $1M loss, cites theft and declining sales

Walgreens executives revealed the store lost more than a million dollars last year, partly due to declining prescription sales but also a massive amount of store theft.

“Theft at this store is 16 percent,” Johnson said. “That’s four times above the company average.”

And the company explained that they tried to stop theft.

“Lock boxes help us protect the merchandise in the store. A lot of the time, those lock boxes were getting destroyed. And that’s at a great cost to the company,” said Jason Vasquez, Walgreens District Manager.

They say Walgreens was spending $400,000 a year on security guards in the store, but there were still attacks on store employees.

“We’ve had people jump across the counters, because we sell liquor behind the counter, taking liquor, cigarettes… That wears. That wears down. Not so much the financial piece but the endurance of that day in and day out,” said Lonnie Fuqua, the store’s manager.

Keep reading

Hawaii Passes Bill To Undo Effects Of Citizens United, Urges Governor To Sign It Into Law

Friday, the Hawaii State Legislature approved a historic measure that would effectively undo the corrosive effects of the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision. The bill now heads to Gov. Josh Green’s (D) desk for his signature.

The measure would redefine corporate law so that corporations are no longer granted the power to spend in the state’s politics. In response, Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the Center for American Progress, issued the following statement:

Hawaii made history today in the fight against corporate and dark money that has sullied American politics for the past 16 years. Once the governor signs this measure into law, it will send a message that will be heard in legislatures far beyond the Aloha State. States can redefine the powers they grant to corporations. And they can choose not to give those corporations the power to spend money in state politics. This groundbreaking law makes Hawaii a leader in the national fight to get corporations out of politics and return power to the people.

The bill draws on a breakthrough legal strategy crafted by the Center for American Progress: States define the powers of the corporations they create, and a state’s corporate code can grant every power a business needs while withholding political spending power.

What would S.B. 2471 do?

The bill redefines the powers Hawaii grants to corporations that operate within the state. The powers that Hawaii grants to corporations would no longer include the power to spend in federal, state, and local elections in Hawaii. The bill also applies to out-of-state corporations that operate within Hawaii. It does not regulate corporate speech.

Keep reading

Woman Says Planet Fitness in New Hampshire Canceled Her Membership After Alerting Them to Man in Women’s Locker Room

After reporting that someone she believed to be a man was inside the women’s locker room at a Planet Fitness, a woman says her longtime membership was canceled.

Judy Walcott told Fox News Digital, “I was shaking. Like I was actually trembling because it freaked me out that bad.”

After initially reporting the issue, she was told that the staff could not do anything about it due to company policy.

Walcott raised the issue again with another staff member a few days later and was called “transphobic.”

Per Fox News:

“She showed concern until I started telling her that there was a creepy guy in the ladies’ shower on Saturday, nobody checked him out… then before I could say anything else, she interrupted me, telling me she ‘thought’ she knew who I meant and what a wonderful woman that is,” Walcott told Fox News Digital.

She said the conversation went downhill from there, alleging the staff member did not address her concerns and instead “repeatedly” called her “transphobic” before she decided to walk away.

A couple of hours later, Walcott said, the gym’s manager called her to tell her that her membership had been canceled for a “policy violation.”

Walcott checked her member portal and found a ‘Member cancellation or freeze form.”

A copy of that document, which Fox News Digital cannot authenticate, shows an April 15 cancellation request with a request effective date of May 16. In the comment field, the form says, “Nondiscrimination Trans.”

This is not the first time the national fitness chain has put political correctness above the safety of women.

In 2024, The Gateway Pundit reported that the company banned a woman for taking a photo of a “transgender” biological man shaving in the women’s locker room at a Fairbanks, Alaska, location.

Keep reading

California farmers to destroy 420,000 peach trees after Del Monte collapses

Central California peach farmers are preparing to destroy around 420,000 clingstone peach trees afterDel Monte Foods shut down its canneries earlier this year.

Del Monte, the 139-year-old canned fruit and vegetable company, permanently closed its canneries in Modesto and Hughson in April following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing last July.

The closures left hundreds of workers without jobs and devastated growers, many of whom lost 20-year contracts with Del Monte and had few alternative buyers for their crops. Farmers could face an estimated $550 million in lost revenue, according to the Sacramento Bee.

In response, Senator Adam Schiff and Reps. Mike Thompson and David Valadao announced last week that affected growers could receive up to $9 million in federal aid to remove up to 420,000 clingstone peach trees before the upcoming harvest season, which typically runs from late May through September.

The approved emergency assistance will help growers remove about 3,000 acres of clingstone peach orchards. Removing about 50,000 tons of peaches from production could reduce oversupply and save farmers an estimated $30 million in additional losses, the officials said. The growers can then pivot to another crop.

“For generations, Central Valley family farms have relied on Del Monte’s Modesto facility to process their peaches,” Valadao said in a statement.

Keep reading

Honda’s Costly EV Fiasco Drives First-Ever Annual Loss

Honda announced a 423.9 billion yen ($2.7 billion) loss Thursday in a first-ever negative result for the fabled Japanese automaker, reportedly driven by heavy costs for its electric-vehicle plans underscored by President Donald Trump’s pro-U.S. manufacturing policies.

AP reports the longstanding automaker – established in 1948 by Soichiro Honda – conceded the dire losses related to its EV operations are estimated to total 2.5 trillion yen ($16 billion), incurred mostly in the fiscal year just ended and the current fiscal year.

Analysts cited by the outlet detailed Honda Motor Co. plunged into an EV-dominant strategy when the market simply was not interested.

As a result, the Japanese carmaker has now abandoned many of its plans for EV models including those in the works in a joint venture with Sony Corp. as it seeks to find a way out of the financial hole it has dug for itself.

Keep reading