[snap54]

They pay the government for that service in the form of taxes, both directly through corporate income taxes and property taxes, and indirectly through the income and payroll taxes of their employees. It is quite an expense they pay for that "deal".

[hedgetrimmer]

They pay the government for that service in the form of taxes, both directly through corporate income taxes and property taxes, and indirectly through the income and payroll taxes of their employees.

Its really simpler than that. The American people formed a covenant early on that "the whole people covenants with each citizen, and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall be governed by certain laws for the common good."

This covenant wasn't an association by which the American people became mercenaries for corporations brokered by the US government. If American corporations want to enter the covenant and be protected by the American people, then they have to do their part, and its not just paying taxes(for those few that do).