[jakelazaroff]

I think OP is moving the goalposts here. They also say "It's wrong when our elected officials bend to those business interest when it goes against the public interest", which is clearly a moral argument as opposed to a legal one.

[John23832]

I wasn't trying to move the goalposts. I was asked where that right was defined, and so I cited law.

[jakelazaroff]

Then is your position that businesses should not be expected to behave ethically, but politicians should? That's a pretty weird line to draw. There's no reason we shouldn't expect all members of society to adhere to a generally agreed-upon code of ethics, even if parts of that code shouldn't be made into law.

[John23832]

In a perfect society, everyone would act ethically. That isn't true sadly. We have to often force people to be ethical. We force businesses into ethics through law. We can't guilt trip a business. We can however expect ethics/morality from politicians because they are people. And really, they are elected into their positions because of their ethics.

[jakelazaroff]

> We can't guilt trip a business.

Sure we can. We can complain to them, boycott them, post stories on HN so other people know they're unethical, etc.

> We can however expect ethics/morality from politicians because they are people.

Businesses are just groups of people. A business behaves ethically only if the people who make it up behave ethically. We don't lose the ability to criticize them just because they're acting as a group.

[John23832]

> Sure we can. We can complain to them, boycott them, post stories on HN so other people know they're unethical, etc.

Sure, we could do that, but unless any of those things affect profit, the business won't change. Morality doesn't motivate business, profit/money does.

> Businesses are just groups of people. A business behaves ethically only if the people who make it up behave ethically. We don't lose the ability to criticize them just because they're acting as a group.

Sure, and if people feel morally conflicted an leave the business, they are replaced. If there comes a time where so many people are morally conflicted that there are not enough people to run effectively run the business, then the business will change or cease to exist. Even in that situation, you have a moral issue for the workers that became a financial issue for the business.

Businesses have no morals. The people who run it do.

[jakelazaroff]

All your arguments boil down to:

> Morality doesn't motivate business, profit/money does.

…which has literally nothing to do with the ethics of Intuit's and H&R Block's lobbying.

They are knowingly doing a thing that will hurt people. That's wrong. Full stop.