Corporations find democracy at the very least inconvenient but in Missouri, the will of the people is not a problem. Pesky voters with weird ideas that would cost corporations money can be brought to heel with astonishing ease.

(We, the American people, suffer from unfettered corporate power. May vengeance live amongst us and justice return.)

In Missouri, corporate power clearly seen to undo and reverse democracy. Before I get into the details, let us discuss the right and wrong of it.

Why am I discussing this in a business ethics blog? Because it is wrong for corporations to run the government be it city, county, state or federal. “We the People of the United States,” in the preamble of the United States Constitution enshrines in law the power of the citizens, not corporate or monopoly power or even worse, our newly minted oligarchs.

The people of Missouri voted for paid time off for illness or illness in the family like that of a child. It wasn’t a narrow win, it was a big margin. The people had spoken.

But the legislature and the governor nullified the will of the people. Can you think of a sadder sentence? The men elected to do the will of the people, at the very least, the very least protect them. And they failed. They directly defied the expressed will of the people of their state.

It was evil and wrong of the legislature and the governor to do this. In a democracy the people rule. But not in Missouri.

The corporations and businesses that defeated the people’s will are in the wrong and they should suffer fro what they did. But the Republican super majority in the legislature protect them from the repercussions of their pitifully evil acts.

But there are currents in the lives of men, and the haughty attitude of the bought (should I say “rental”) men in the Republican Party will get their comeuppance in time.

Are there good people in Missouri who will not stand idly by and take this injustice? Where are the heroes who would reverse this evil act? Time will tell if they appear.

Here is the story from my friends at the Progressive Magazine authored by Eleanor J. Bader.

https://progressive.org/latest/a-dark-moment-for-sick-leave-rights-bader-20250812/

When 58 percent of Missouri voters approved Proposition A in November 2024, they assumed that the ballot measure’s passage would finally grant private sector workers the ability to take paid time off when they were sick or needed to care for an ailing family member. But they were wrong.

Although the paid sick leave policy took effect on May 1, 2025, allowing workers in companies with fifteen or more employees to earn one hour of paid leave for every thirty hours worked, the state’s Republican-dominated legislature opted to override the popular vote and overturn key parts of the measure just two weeks later. Governor Mike Kehoe signed the repeal into law on July 10.