Mary Beth, I am sorry that I didn't understand your reply. Could you spell it out a bit more? Thanks. I was very interested the companies that contribute to voter suppression and wonder what more than a letter would be appropriate. The biggest donors are listed but there are many more companies making contributions to this despicable and undemocratic practice.
Mary Beth, I am sorry that I didn't understand your reply. Could you spell it out a bit more? Thanks. I was very interested the companies that contribute to voter suppression and wonder what more than a letter would be appropriate. The biggest donors are listed but there are many more companies making contributions to this despicable and undemocratic practice.
I really should be out of bed before I start responding to other people’s posts. (Lol). I was attempting to say, corporations that stop national donations but continue to donate to state and local politicians need to be held accountable. My more naive side prefers to think it has more to do with who you know on the local level than it does the corporate policy. After all, Coca-cola uses distributors to move its product. And the local distributor might get more benefit from supporting the republican (I refuse to capitalize that word) running for office than the their opponent. If I’m going to write a letter to Coca-Cola, then I need to also make those views knows at the local distribution company. It is not enough to address this on the national level. In fact, recent history would indicate that ignoring the local level is part of what has gotten us in the mess. Does that help? I don’t want to go on and on about something I believe you already know. To be clear, I agree wholeheartedly with your concerns and I’m grateful for the information and the links.
Thank you Mary Beth. I think you raise good questions about how to respond the companies. Public Citizen's report indicated that after the failed insurrection, the companies continued to shovel money to state legislatures for the purpose of voter suppression. I will follow your lead by writing to national and local offices. My idea is to have them explain themselves. I also think that voting-rights groups, Stacy Abrams, etc., should know about this in case they don't. AT&T, UnitedHealthcare, Pfizer...!! Every time I read their names or type them, by body tightens. Good communicating with you.
I've read the article twice now, and the only data on contributions that I can find is from 2015 to 2020.
Can you point me to the paragraph that says
Public Citizen's report indicated that after the failed insurrection, "the companies continued to shovel money to state legislatures for the purpose of voter suppression."?
I don't doubt that they do, I just couldn't find it in the Article - here's the actual link -
'•Three-fourths companies that paused some or all political contributions in response to the January 6 Capitol insurrection have contributed to state legislators who are supporting voter suppression legislation.' Steve, It's in the comment but thought to copy it for you.
The language you quoted is vague. It's vague and ambiguous becasue it doesn't say whether the companies made those contributions before or after they paused in response to the events of January 6, 2021.
In other words, it doesn't state what you implied - that the contributions are documented to have been made AFTER January 6, 2021. They may have been, but the article itself doesn't cite any evidence that they have.
The article leaves it to you to draw that conclusion - that they maintained their contribution patterns (well documented from 2015-2020) AFTER January 6, 2020. While it may indeed be a fair inference, Public Citizen never said that those companies started shoveling money to the pro-suppression state legislators AFTER January 6.
'The deadly January 6th Capitol attack was merely the first salvo. The next one is here (Georgia), in the form of S.B. 202, as well as bills like the one Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed earlier this month, cutting her state’s early voting period and closing the polls one hour earlier on Election Day. New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice has counted more than 250 bills like those proposed this year alone, in 43 states. '(Rolling Stone, 3/26/2021) I'm done now, Steve. You are on your own.
'...in response to the January 6 Capitol insurrection have contributed to state legislators who are supporting voter suppression legislation.'. Why don't you check the source?
You keep quoting that language as if it says that "corporations re-started contributions AFTER January 6, when they paused in response to events of January 6 and in light of voter suppression bills in 2021 legislative sessions."
It doesn't say that.
I've read the article 5 times now. All of the contribution data in every one of the tables is from 2015 to 2020.
None of the financial contribution data is from 2021.
The problem is that frequently these companies are the only or better source for their product. I live in an area where the telcomms choice is ATT or Spectrum (formerly Time-Warner Cable, aka The Doesn't Work Phone Company, where your service dies 2-3 days a month, and the costs are higher). Amazon is for me the place where the majority of my readers buy my books. The list, unfortunately, goes on, but it comes down to There's A Reason They're So Big. I literally can't do what I do without dealing with them.
What about letters and phone calls? You know how to corner them. Ask them to explain and to write and you a letter.. Why oh why do they hurt their customers so? "Voter suppression', Is that what they want to be know for?
Hi Mary Beth. I am communicating with you today as a result of zealous fact-checking on the part of subscriber, Steve Lord. He questioned my unsubstantiated claim, when writing the following to you, 'Public Citizen's report indicated that after the failed insurrection, the companies continued to shovel money to the state legislatures for the purpose of voter suppression.' He was correct. The report's language was vague on that score. The report did not have any information about contributions in 2021. I apologize for my error. Here is what the report had to say on the matter:
'Conclusion
After the January 6 insurrection many corporations announced they were pausing their campaign donations in some capacity. Public Citizen noted at the time that any measures short of lifetime bans on donations to federal level disenfranchisers likely amounted to nothing more than PR stunts'
I hope that you do not mind me posting a copy of this correction to Steve as an end note.
I recall question that article when I first saw it a few months back. While it’s important to get the facts right, and I do appreciate someone willing to go back and correct the record, I believe we need to be diligent nonetheless when it comes to state level politics. Your original comment prompted my thoughts about local beverage distributors in relation to the big soda manufacturers. I may not have made that connection with out our conversation. Thank you. Lovely Sunday wishes to you as well. ~mb
Thanks for this, Fern. One of the reasons I love this forum is because we are so sincere in our desire for accuracy and not afraid to admit when we are wrong. Nicely done.
I just wonder, if corporations have been defined as persons by the SC, shouldn't each corporation be limited to the amount a single human person is allowed to contribute? Chuck Theisen, Naples, Florida
I think the real money powering the gop core is 100-1,000 of the wealthiest Americans because they don’t have to disclose anything. Corporations do, and it does play a part, a percentage that can be directed by those few, but harder to keep a public Corp budget in the dark.
Fern, thanks for your informative contributions. Corporations will never move against their bottom line..unfettered access to profit. The second that this admin or any other moves towards regulations of any kind, especially with regard to taxes and labor, they will be motivated by a higher interest than courting the new consumer base. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but not all large corporations are consumer demand dependent, as in "defense contractors", for instance.
Mary Beth, I am sorry that I didn't understand your reply. Could you spell it out a bit more? Thanks. I was very interested the companies that contribute to voter suppression and wonder what more than a letter would be appropriate. The biggest donors are listed but there are many more companies making contributions to this despicable and undemocratic practice.
I really should be out of bed before I start responding to other people’s posts. (Lol). I was attempting to say, corporations that stop national donations but continue to donate to state and local politicians need to be held accountable. My more naive side prefers to think it has more to do with who you know on the local level than it does the corporate policy. After all, Coca-cola uses distributors to move its product. And the local distributor might get more benefit from supporting the republican (I refuse to capitalize that word) running for office than the their opponent. If I’m going to write a letter to Coca-Cola, then I need to also make those views knows at the local distribution company. It is not enough to address this on the national level. In fact, recent history would indicate that ignoring the local level is part of what has gotten us in the mess. Does that help? I don’t want to go on and on about something I believe you already know. To be clear, I agree wholeheartedly with your concerns and I’m grateful for the information and the links.
Most of them haven't really stopped on the national level, either. They are playing a shell game, trying to have it both ways.
Thank you Mary Beth. I think you raise good questions about how to respond the companies. Public Citizen's report indicated that after the failed insurrection, the companies continued to shovel money to state legislatures for the purpose of voter suppression. I will follow your lead by writing to national and local offices. My idea is to have them explain themselves. I also think that voting-rights groups, Stacy Abrams, etc., should know about this in case they don't. AT&T, UnitedHealthcare, Pfizer...!! Every time I read their names or type them, by body tightens. Good communicating with you.
Thanks Fern.
I've read the article twice now, and the only data on contributions that I can find is from 2015 to 2020.
Can you point me to the paragraph that says
Public Citizen's report indicated that after the failed insurrection, "the companies continued to shovel money to state legislatures for the purpose of voter suppression."?
I don't doubt that they do, I just couldn't find it in the Article - here's the actual link -
https://www.citizen.org/article/corporate-sponsors-of-voter-suppression-state-lawmakers-50-million/
'•Three-fourths companies that paused some or all political contributions in response to the January 6 Capitol insurrection have contributed to state legislators who are supporting voter suppression legislation.' Steve, It's in the comment but thought to copy it for you.
The language you quoted is vague. It's vague and ambiguous becasue it doesn't say whether the companies made those contributions before or after they paused in response to the events of January 6, 2021.
In other words, it doesn't state what you implied - that the contributions are documented to have been made AFTER January 6, 2021. They may have been, but the article itself doesn't cite any evidence that they have.
The article leaves it to you to draw that conclusion - that they maintained their contribution patterns (well documented from 2015-2020) AFTER January 6, 2020. While it may indeed be a fair inference, Public Citizen never said that those companies started shoveling money to the pro-suppression state legislators AFTER January 6.
'The deadly January 6th Capitol attack was merely the first salvo. The next one is here (Georgia), in the form of S.B. 202, as well as bills like the one Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed earlier this month, cutting her state’s early voting period and closing the polls one hour earlier on Election Day. New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice has counted more than 250 bills like those proposed this year alone, in 43 states. '(Rolling Stone, 3/26/2021) I'm done now, Steve. You are on your own.
Now you're diverting the discussion to introduction of voter suppression laws.
That's not the same as whether corporations have re-started their pattern of political donations after they paused them in January, 2021.
Wasn't that the main thesis of your main comment and the Public Citizen article?
I'm clearly not following you, so I guess I'm done here, too.
'...in response to the January 6 Capitol insurrection have contributed to state legislators who are supporting voter suppression legislation.'. Why don't you check the source?
You keep quoting that language as if it says that "corporations re-started contributions AFTER January 6, when they paused in response to events of January 6 and in light of voter suppression bills in 2021 legislative sessions."
It doesn't say that.
I've read the article 5 times now. All of the contribution data in every one of the tables is from 2015 to 2020.
None of the financial contribution data is from 2021.
The problem is that frequently these companies are the only or better source for their product. I live in an area where the telcomms choice is ATT or Spectrum (formerly Time-Warner Cable, aka The Doesn't Work Phone Company, where your service dies 2-3 days a month, and the costs are higher). Amazon is for me the place where the majority of my readers buy my books. The list, unfortunately, goes on, but it comes down to There's A Reason They're So Big. I literally can't do what I do without dealing with them.
What does that tell you about corporate oligarchy vs a free market with lots of buyers and sellers?
What about letters and phone calls? You know how to corner them. Ask them to explain and to write and you a letter.. Why oh why do they hurt their customers so? "Voter suppression', Is that what they want to be know for?
Hi Mary Beth. I am communicating with you today as a result of zealous fact-checking on the part of subscriber, Steve Lord. He questioned my unsubstantiated claim, when writing the following to you, 'Public Citizen's report indicated that after the failed insurrection, the companies continued to shovel money to the state legislatures for the purpose of voter suppression.' He was correct. The report's language was vague on that score. The report did not have any information about contributions in 2021. I apologize for my error. Here is what the report had to say on the matter:
'Conclusion
After the January 6 insurrection many corporations announced they were pausing their campaign donations in some capacity. Public Citizen noted at the time that any measures short of lifetime bans on donations to federal level disenfranchisers likely amounted to nothing more than PR stunts'
I hope that you do not mind me posting a copy of this correction to Steve as an end note.
Have a lovely Sunday, cheers.
.
I recall question that article when I first saw it a few months back. While it’s important to get the facts right, and I do appreciate someone willing to go back and correct the record, I believe we need to be diligent nonetheless when it comes to state level politics. Your original comment prompted my thoughts about local beverage distributors in relation to the big soda manufacturers. I may not have made that connection with out our conversation. Thank you. Lovely Sunday wishes to you as well. ~mb
Thanks for this, Fern. One of the reasons I love this forum is because we are so sincere in our desire for accuracy and not afraid to admit when we are wrong. Nicely done.
I just wonder, if corporations have been defined as persons by the SC, shouldn't each corporation be limited to the amount a single human person is allowed to contribute? Chuck Theisen, Naples, Florida
We'll know corporations are people when a Republican governor signs a death warrant for one.
Or gives corporations the franchise. Oh wait... is that what citizens United is?
A socio-political partner! Thank you, Ted. I'm smiling with amusement and satisfaction.
All talk and no action!
I think the real money powering the gop core is 100-1,000 of the wealthiest Americans because they don’t have to disclose anything. Corporations do, and it does play a part, a percentage that can be directed by those few, but harder to keep a public Corp budget in the dark.
Great question, Charles, clever and true.
Fern, thanks for your informative contributions. Corporations will never move against their bottom line..unfettered access to profit. The second that this admin or any other moves towards regulations of any kind, especially with regard to taxes and labor, they will be motivated by a higher interest than courting the new consumer base. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but not all large corporations are consumer demand dependent, as in "defense contractors", for instance.