Hours before the televised GOP debate, Republican front-runner Mitt Romney drew scrutiny after publicly declaring that “corporations are people.” In an appearance at the Iowa State Fair, Romney made the assertion in response to crowd members who urged him to back tax hikes on the wealthy in order to fund Social Security and Medicare.

Mitt Romney: “For the coming decades going to be able to balance our budget and not spend more than we take in, we have to make sure that the promises we make in Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are promises we can keep. And there are various ways of doing that. One is we could raise taxes on people.”

Heckler: “Corporations!”

Romney: “Corporations are people, my friend. We can raise taxes on — of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to people. So, where do you think it goes?”

Heckler: “In their pocket.”

Romney: “Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People’s pockets. OK. Human beings, my friend.”