Unions and Watchdog Groups to Shine Light on Corporate Cockroaches
Maybe cockroaches aren’t a good comparison. Unlike the six-legged variety, it’s not enough to turn on the lights and send the corporate cockroach scurrying back into the walls.
Corporate cockroaches — i.e. corporations and organizations that make secret undisclosed bribes and “campaign contributions” — need to be yanked out of their hiding places and revealed to the public. Voters have a right to know the identities of these anonymous cowards who are purchasing elections right out from under them.
Common Cause, Public Citizen, the SEIU and the Occupy Movement are teaming up for Operation Lift Up the Rock and See What’s Crawling Underneath It.
Super-PACs are required to disclose their donors’ identities. But the 501(c) non-profit groups that are affiliated with super-PACs are NOT required to disclose this information. There’s the rub.
Americans United for Change has offered $25,000 to the first whistleblower who proves that a company has donated to a 501(c) without disclosing it. Let’s hope this isn’t a one-time offer. Come on, smoke out the vermin.
Public advocate Bill de Blasio said:
“We’re going to challenge those donations. We’re going to challenge efforts to hide donations through (c)4s and (c)6s.”
He also referred to a 2010 boycott against Target for making secret donations:
“What happened to Target was child’s play compared to the strength that all of these organizations can bring to bear against companies that decide they’re going against the people’s will and involve themselves unduly in the political process.”
The executive director of Health Care for America Now said companies that make secret contributions are endangering their own reputation, their brand:
“If corporations want to use corporate dollars to influence elections, we will expose them. They will do so at their own risk. The groups represented in our coalition … all have different programs that will inflict economic damage on offending companies.”
Common Cause will be organizing rallies against secret donations at upcoming shareholder meetings of Target, 3M and Bank of America.
Common Cause and Public Citizen are also urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to require that all publicly traded companies disclose all of their political donations.
Go get ‘em! Or as the Teabaggers say, “We’re taking back our country!”
Labels: 501(c) secret donations, Americans United for Change, Bill de Blasio, Common Cause, Health Care for America Now, Public Citizen, SEIU
posted by Tom Harper @ 1:33 PM
11 Comments:
The Democrats are doing something similar to the House republicans. They have started the web site Republican House of Scandal to highlight republican corruption.
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Didn't you take enough of the country the last 4 years? Or maybe you really don't realize how much of it was already taken quite yet.
I guess that should apply to Media Matters because a tax exempt "501C" may not “attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities” or “participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.”
Just because it isn't money they are donating doesn't mean they aren't donating.
Oh but I guess they get a "waiver" from the Chicago corruption that is in the White House.
Obama corruption is a good thing I guess.
Didn't you take enough of the country the last 4 years? Or maybe you really don't realize how much of it was already taken quite yet.
Only someone as stupid as you are could make such a comment. What's the matter, didn't you get out of the kitchen after 1981? Or, especially, after 2001?
Cock roaches are vermin. What do you do with vermin? You exterminate them them.
Sorry JR did I offend your sluts?
Corporate Thieves have held sway over DC, and multiple states for decades. They far outstrip the Cosa Nostra in terms of scope of their theft.
But, what they have that most Mafia members have lost is political protection which makes their thievery legal.
The Republican party is wholly owned by the Corporate Plutocracy. They have also begun to worm their way into the Democratic Party.
Since, George W(orst President Ever) Bush inaugurated the Phony GWoT, 37 Corporations received $1.1 Trillion Dollars in Corporate Welfare, aka Defense Contracts. But, that's not enough for these cheats and swindlers as these companies have all committed Theft on a scale usually reserved for Wall Street Bankers.
Since 2000, Boeing has paid at least $644 Million Dollars to settle Fraud complaints. Remember how Republican scum buckets Nikki Haley and Jim DeMint cried about poor poor Boeing being targeted by mean old Obama! Did you ever wonder why Boeing ran to the Republican Party to defend them when Boeing tried to undercut American workers? It's because these Corporations are the biggest thieves in History and they couldn't get away with it without the Guards of the System looking out for them.
American Capitalism is a total sham. The Government of the US is being run by crooked gambling rings in wall Street and Warmongering cowards in DC. All to steal Trillions and then blame the mother using Medicaid...
Jerry: Interesting site. The more efforts to smoke them out, the merrier.
JR: Lisa is right. We've already socialized America and ruined her moral fiber, but there is still much work to be done Comrade.
Mr. C: Works for me.
Grung: Excellent description of our predicament. Hopefully more and more people will see the big banks and "defense contractors" as the leeches they are.
Good for those groups. They're doing us all a public service. Ultimately, they're even doing the fat cats and corporate donors a service, although many of them are too selfish and greedy to comprehend that.
so how many millions do you think it cost taxpayers for Obama to fly around campaigning for his buses,his protection,his fuel etc.?
I guess hat's OK because actual"people" are footing the bill for that.
SW: I agree, this ultimately benefits everybody, even though it'll take the 501(c) groups and their secret donors awhile to understand this.
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