The financial community spent some time this week looking at Walmart’s potential liability relative to possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Some have come to believe that Walmart will probably be put in a position where they have to pay a substantial fine to the United States.
We see a lot of fine paying today. The problem that I have with it is that you and I (the consumers) are in reality the ones paying the fine. The Department of Justice or the Securities Exchange Commission or some other agency wrestles a company to the ground and gets them to cough up a large sum of money for some sort of wrong doing. The company pays the fine as though it is simply a cost of doing business. The cost of doing business gets passed on to the consumer.
If our government wants to punish wrong doing it should not involve money that consumers end up paying. Charge the stockholders? That could be more fair in that they are the ones that hired management. Sanction the company? Maybe the government should negotiate a settlement where the company or the individuals involved cannot participate in some activity for a period of time. Fine the individuals? That could be an option. Put people in jail? If humans can be proven to have broken the law, maybe so. The problem with jail terms is that the government does not fight fair and many simply plead guilty to some lesser charge because they feel they cannot win against the government.
The problem with these fines is that you and I end up paying them. That to me is just another form of tax.
I am not talking about reimbursement here. If a company does financial harm to an individual or another company reimbursement may be in order, as long as the reimbursement goes to the party that was harmed.
The government now is little different than a bounty hunter. They want the money. Justice in government circles is pronounced “Just Us”.
We deserve better.
elpasospeak 