If you've been wondering which consumer businesses are funding the anti-labor agenda, here is the answer.
By Scott Keyes and Adam Peck on Jul 19, 2012
Have you eaten at White Castle recently? Or caught a movie at Regal Cinemas?
If so, you may be unwittingly helping finance right-wing attack ads.
That’s because many of the country’s most common brands are run by rich conservatives who are using their personal wealth to bankroll outside spending groups that are running attack ads smearing progressives. From Marriott Hotels to Brawny paper towels, and from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Coachella music festival, corporate executives at these organizations have given millions of dollars to groups like Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future.
Some corporations, like Waffle House, give direct donations to conservative attack ad groups like Karl Rove’s American Crossroads.
The following list of consumer brands either have leaders who wrote checks to outside right-wing attack ad groups or gave money directly from the corporation. Only entities that gave $25,000 or more were included in this guide.
Hotels
Marriott Hotels is a subsidiary of Marriott International, whose chairman J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr. has contributed $1,000,000 to Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future. [Source]
Omni Hotels is a subsidiary of TRT Holdings, a private corporation whose co-founder Robert Rowling has given more than $1,000,000 in total to American Crossroads and Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future. [Source]
Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas is owned by Sheldon Adelson, who along with his wife have pledged $71 million to right-wing attack groups, including Newt Gingrich’s Super PAC Winning Our Future, Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future, Crossroads GPS, a group set up by former Eric Cantor aides named the Young Guns Network, and a group tied to John Boehner named the Congressional Leadership Fund. [Source]
Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is a subsidiary of Marriott International, whose chairman J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr. has contributed $1,000,000 to Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future. [Source]
Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas is owned by Sheldon Adelson, who along with his wife have pledged $71 million to right-wing attack groups, including Newt Gingrich’s Super PAC Winning Our Future, Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future, Crossroads GPS, a group set up by former Eric Cantor aides named the Young Guns Network, and a group tied to John Boehner named the Congressional Leadership Fund. [Source]
Household items
Angel Soft toilet paper is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, headed by Charles and David Koch who are planning to funnel approximately $400 million to groups like the National Rifle Association, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the National Right to Life Committee, Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, the 60 Plus Association and the American Future Fund. [Source]
Brawny paper towels is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, headed by Charles and David Koch who are planning to funnel approximately $400 million to groups like the National Rifle Association, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the National Right to Life Committee, Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, the 60 Plus Association and the American Future Fund. [Source]
Dixie cups is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, headed by Charles and David Koch who are planning to funnel approximately $400 million to groups like the National Rifle Association, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the National Right to Life Committee, Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, the 60 Plus Association and the American Future Fund. [Source]
Georgia Pacific is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, headed by Charles and David Koch who are planning to funnel approximately $400 million to groups like the National Rifle Association, Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, the National Right to Life Committee, Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, the 60 Plus Association and the American Future Fund. [Source]
Entertainment
Coachella Music & Arts Festival is an affiliate of AEG, whose parent company Anschutz Corporation is run by Philip Anschutz. He has made many political donations, including a $50,000 to the Boehner-linked Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC. [Source]
Regal Cinemas is an affiliate of AEG, whose parent company Anschutz Corporation is run by Philip Anschutz. He has made many political donations, including a $50,000 to the Boehner-linked Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC. [Source]
Food
Blue Bell Creameries, the ice cream manufacturer, gave $40,000 to the Boehner-linked Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC. [Source]
Waffle House, the 24-hour breakfast food restaurant, gave Karl Rove’s group American Crossroads $100,000 from its corporate fund. [Source]
White Castle, the Ohio-based burger chain, gave $25,000 to the Boehner-linked Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC. [Source]
Athletics
New Balance, the shoe company, is headed by Jim Davis who has donated $1,000,000 to Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future. [Source]
Gold’s Gym is a subsidiary of TRT Hodlings, a private corporation whose co-founder Robert Rowling has given more than $1,000,000 in total to American Crossroads and Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future. [Source]
Sports franchises
Houston Dynamo, the MLS team, is an affiliate of AEG, whose parent company Anschutz Corporation is run by Philip Anschutz. He has made many political donations, including a $50,000 to the Boehner-linked Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC. [Source]
Los Angeles Galaxy the MLS team, is an affiliate of AEG, whose parent company Anschutz Corporation is run by Philip Anschutz. He has made many political donations, including a $50,000 to the Boehner-linked Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC. [Source]
Los Angeles Kings, the NHL team, is an affiliate of AEG, whose parent company Anschutz Corporation is run by Philip Anschutz. He has made many political donations, including a $50,000 to the Boehner-linked Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC. [Source]
Los Angeles Lakers the NBA team, is an affiliate of AEG, whose parent company Anschutz Corporation is run by Philip Anschutz. He has made many political donations, including a $50,000 to the Boehner-linked Congressional Leadership Fund Super PAC. [Source]
Orlando Magic, the NBA team, is owned by Richard DeVos, a Michigan billionaire who has given more than $1,000,000 to the Koch Brothers’ 2012 anti-Obama efforts. [Source]
Miscellaneous
Charles Schwab Corporation, an investment company founded and run by Charles Schwab, who along with his wife has given $250,000 to Mitt Romney’s Super PAC Restore Our Future. [Source]
Menards, the Midwestern home improvement chain, whose founder and owner John Menard pledged more than $1,000,000 to the Koch Brothers’ 2012 anti-Obama efforts. [Source]
Nina Liss-Schultz and Christina Lewis contributed to this report.
UPDATE
Monday, July 23, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
More Groups Flee ALEC
This Post-Dispatch editorial lays out the reasons for corporations to finally leave ALEC. We are looking forward to getting that Missouri Ethics Report to see which Missouri companies are sponsoring ALEC's "Missouri Night." We also want to know which legislators take the free junket.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-express-scripts-right-to-end-its-participation-in-alec/article_f48b9352-3b71-5700-b882-f644950ec6ac.html
Missouri corporations know when they're lobbying.
The companies sponsoring ALEC's Missouri Night will report their expenses to the Missouri Ethics Commission under lobbying laws, just as they did after last year's ALEC convention, where they wined and dined Missouri lawmakers in New Orleans.
Because Missouri has no limits on lobbyists' gifts (unlike most other states), lawmakers can take any amount of money they desire from lobbyists and corporations seeking to "educate" them about various legislative proposals.
That corporations want to influence legislation is not unusual or inappropriate. But corporations should be honest about it and not use layer upon layer of obfuscation to hide their support for the sort of legislation that might embarrass their shareholders or their customers.
Good for Express Scripts for ending its part in the charade.
Who's next?
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-express-scripts-right-to-end-its-participation-in-alec/article_f48b9352-3b71-5700-b882-f644950ec6ac.html#ixzz21CVB3PCd
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-express-scripts-right-to-end-its-participation-in-alec/article_f48b9352-3b71-5700-b882-f644950ec6ac.html
Missouri corporations know when they're lobbying.
The companies sponsoring ALEC's Missouri Night will report their expenses to the Missouri Ethics Commission under lobbying laws, just as they did after last year's ALEC convention, where they wined and dined Missouri lawmakers in New Orleans.
Because Missouri has no limits on lobbyists' gifts (unlike most other states), lawmakers can take any amount of money they desire from lobbyists and corporations seeking to "educate" them about various legislative proposals.
That corporations want to influence legislation is not unusual or inappropriate. But corporations should be honest about it and not use layer upon layer of obfuscation to hide their support for the sort of legislation that might embarrass their shareholders or their customers.
Good for Express Scripts for ending its part in the charade.
Who's next?
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-express-scripts-right-to-end-its-participation-in-alec/article_f48b9352-3b71-5700-b882-f644950ec6ac.html#ixzz21CVB3PCd
Monday, July 16, 2012
Sign on to Labor's Second Bill of Rights
Start playing offense by pushing labor's Second Bill of Rights:Time for a Second Bill of Rights
Friday, July 6, 2012
Department of Labor To Investigate Union Busting on Army Base Following ITT Report
In case there was any question that who occupies the White House matters, comes this story from Working In These Times. Under the Bush administration, federal contractors were able to charge taxpayers for the cost of their anti-union campaigns. Yes, really. President Obama put a stop to charging us for union busting with an executive order.
What may be more amazing is that the Department of Labor is investigating General Dynamics for a number of violations, including charging us to bust unions. Think about it, would this investigation happen under President Romney? We will track this investigation and let you know how it ends. Let's hope with sanctions against General Dynamics. Anything less will not discourage other companies from engaging in the same behavior in the future.
Working In These Times
By Mike Elk
After reading an exclusive report that appeared at Working In These Times, the Department of Labor has opened an investigation into captive-audience anti-union meetings held on an army base in Fort Lewis, Washington. Ayofemi Kirby, spokeswoman for Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 286 union organizer Jeff Alexander both say their respective offices were contacted by a Department of Labor agent looking into whether General Dynamics violated the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act during a recent union election held at Fort Lewis. The DoL's Office of Labor-Management Standards would neither confirm nor deny that the investigation was taking place.
But Alexander and General Dynamics' pro-union worker Jason Croic were contacted by an agent of the Office of Labor-Management Standards concerning the anti-union activities carried out by General Dynamics and its consultants on the Fort Lewis Army base. The agent told Alexander and Croic that he had learned of the union-busting activity from reading Working In These Times.
The investigation stems from General Dynamics' failure to report to the Department of Labor any money spent on persuasion activities during a union election, as required by federal law. The law requires corporations to file an LM-10 form within 30 days of hiring an outside third party to assist in a union election. Third-party firms must also file LM-20 forms within 30 days of being hired.
Yet the Department of Labor has no disclosure forms on record from either General Dynamics or any of the third parties that the IUOE alleges it brought in to stop the union drive. The union claims that General Dynamics hired three lawyers – Thomas M. Stanek, Elizabeth M. Townsend and Janet Madsen – from the law firm of Ogletree Deakins to fight the union drive. It also claims that the anti-union captive-audience meetings were conducted in part by Paul Belsito, who claimed that he owned a consulting firm specializing in union elections. A General Dynamics spokeswoman contacted for this story stated that she was on vacation and could not respond at this time. Ogletree Deakins did not respond to request for comment and Belsito could not be located for comment.
Alexander believes General Dynamics may not have filed financial disclosures firms with the Department of Labor in order to hide evidence that they were billing the federal government for union-busting expenses in violation of federal law. Under President Obama’s Executive Order 13494 that went into effect in 2011, federal contractors can no longer receive reimbursement from the federal government for expenses spent on trying to persuade employees against joining a union. If evidence is found that General Dynamics did indeed charge the federal government for union-busting expenses, General Dynamics, which received $19 billion in federal contracts last year, could face debarment from bidding on federal contractors for a period of time.
Croic claims that up until April General Dynamics managers at Fort Lewis instructed the military contractors to bill the anti-union meetings on their timesheets under the training charge code. Costs of training can be reimbursed by the federal government, but anti-union expenses cannot be billed. The union claims that only after it complained to Rep. Smith did General Dynamics instruct the workers to bill the anti-union meetings with a code that could not be billed to the federal government.
General Dynamics has previously denied billing the federal government for the costs of anti-union efforts. In a May 31 letter to Rep. Smith, General Dynamics Land System President Mark C. Roualet wrote, “Meetings held since January 2012 have not been charged as training and have not been billed to our customer."
What may be more amazing is that the Department of Labor is investigating General Dynamics for a number of violations, including charging us to bust unions. Think about it, would this investigation happen under President Romney? We will track this investigation and let you know how it ends. Let's hope with sanctions against General Dynamics. Anything less will not discourage other companies from engaging in the same behavior in the future.
Working In These Times
By Mike Elk
After reading an exclusive report that appeared at Working In These Times, the Department of Labor has opened an investigation into captive-audience anti-union meetings held on an army base in Fort Lewis, Washington. Ayofemi Kirby, spokeswoman for Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 286 union organizer Jeff Alexander both say their respective offices were contacted by a Department of Labor agent looking into whether General Dynamics violated the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act during a recent union election held at Fort Lewis. The DoL's Office of Labor-Management Standards would neither confirm nor deny that the investigation was taking place.
But Alexander and General Dynamics' pro-union worker Jason Croic were contacted by an agent of the Office of Labor-Management Standards concerning the anti-union activities carried out by General Dynamics and its consultants on the Fort Lewis Army base. The agent told Alexander and Croic that he had learned of the union-busting activity from reading Working In These Times.
The investigation stems from General Dynamics' failure to report to the Department of Labor any money spent on persuasion activities during a union election, as required by federal law. The law requires corporations to file an LM-10 form within 30 days of hiring an outside third party to assist in a union election. Third-party firms must also file LM-20 forms within 30 days of being hired.
Yet the Department of Labor has no disclosure forms on record from either General Dynamics or any of the third parties that the IUOE alleges it brought in to stop the union drive. The union claims that General Dynamics hired three lawyers – Thomas M. Stanek, Elizabeth M. Townsend and Janet Madsen – from the law firm of Ogletree Deakins to fight the union drive. It also claims that the anti-union captive-audience meetings were conducted in part by Paul Belsito, who claimed that he owned a consulting firm specializing in union elections. A General Dynamics spokeswoman contacted for this story stated that she was on vacation and could not respond at this time. Ogletree Deakins did not respond to request for comment and Belsito could not be located for comment.
Alexander believes General Dynamics may not have filed financial disclosures firms with the Department of Labor in order to hide evidence that they were billing the federal government for union-busting expenses in violation of federal law. Under President Obama’s Executive Order 13494 that went into effect in 2011, federal contractors can no longer receive reimbursement from the federal government for expenses spent on trying to persuade employees against joining a union. If evidence is found that General Dynamics did indeed charge the federal government for union-busting expenses, General Dynamics, which received $19 billion in federal contracts last year, could face debarment from bidding on federal contractors for a period of time.
Croic claims that up until April General Dynamics managers at Fort Lewis instructed the military contractors to bill the anti-union meetings on their timesheets under the training charge code. Costs of training can be reimbursed by the federal government, but anti-union expenses cannot be billed. The union claims that only after it complained to Rep. Smith did General Dynamics instruct the workers to bill the anti-union meetings with a code that could not be billed to the federal government.
General Dynamics has previously denied billing the federal government for the costs of anti-union efforts. In a May 31 letter to Rep. Smith, General Dynamics Land System President Mark C. Roualet wrote, “Meetings held since January 2012 have not been charged as training and have not been billed to our customer."
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