Brand Name Companies Making Political Donations

[ClydeR]

The Micacle-Gro company donated to Romney's super PAC.


That makes Miracle-Gro among the first public companies with well-known consumer brands to publicly enter the new world of campaign funding. That world has been reshaped by the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which allowed direct corporate spending on election campaigns.

Spending by interest groups active in the presidential race has risen dramatically as a result of that landmark ruling. But the vast majority of donors that have been publicly disclosed are rich individuals and private companies that don’t have much to lose by aligning with a political party because they don’t mass-market brand products to consumers who might disagree with the contributions.

More... (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-influence-industry-scotts-miracle-gro-goes-out-on-a-limb-with-political-donation/2012/04/18/gJQAgUTThX_story.html)

Aside from the issue of what public policy should be, do you think it's smart business for a brand name company to identify itself as supporting a political candidate. I think that most brand name companies have more to lose than to gain from it.

[Tgo01]

Corporations are people too!

[Jarvan]

It would also depend on if your one of those stupid freaking nut jobs that would see something like this and go "I am never buying that product again cause I don't agree with who they support."

Man, could you imagine if Pepsi and Coke did this, and Pepsi picked Obama and Coke Romney.. Bring a whole new look at the Red Vrs Blue issue, huh.

[diethx]

It would also depend on if your one of those stupid freaking nut jobs that would see something like this and go "I am never buying that product again cause I don't agree with who they support."

Man, could you imagine if Pepsi and Coke did this, and Pepsi picked Obama and Coke Romney.. Bring a whole new look at the Red Vrs Blue issue, huh.

Someone is a nut job if they decide not to spend their money on a product when that money could eventually go to funding a group they disagree with?

It's like your posts make less and less sense as the count goes up.

[Jarvan]

Someone is a nut job if they decide not to spend their money on a product when that money could eventually go to funding a group they disagree with?

It's like your posts make less and less sense as the count goes up.

So what your saying is we all need to poll every single company in the entire world to make sure their political beliefs coincide with our own?

Do you watch any movies made by, or starring conservative actors/actresses? Better stop watching them, since they donate to republicans.
You could, in fact, stop using EVERY product in existence, because I am sure on the board of directors, there is at least 1 person donating to something you don't like.

Wait.. before you eat your next piece of food, better track down that farmer and ask what his political leanings are, you don't want your money going to someone that doesn't agree with you 100%.

It's funny, but no matter how many posts you have, you're still a simpleton.

[Tenlaar]

If I found out that an actor was trying to buy laws that help them at the expense of others, or simply to keep others from enjoying some form of liberty because they don't agree with it, I damn sure wouldn't be seeing any of their movies. Same goes for corporations and the heads of those corporations.

I don't see why that is such a difficult thing to understand. People who care will watch out for these things and factor them into decisions. People who don't care won't. Nobody is trying to force you to care.

[diethx]

So what your saying is we all need to poll every single company in the entire world to make sure their political beliefs coincide with our own?

Do you watch any movies made by, or starring conservative actors/actresses? Better stop watching them, since they donate to republicans.
You could, in fact, stop using EVERY product in existence, because I am sure on the board of directors, there is at least 1 person donating to something you don't like.

Wait.. before you eat your next piece of food, better track down that farmer and ask what his political leanings are, you don't want your money going to someone that doesn't agree with you 100%.

It's funny, but no matter how many posts you have, you're still a simpleton.

Yes, that's absolutely what I said. Everyone should make sure they know every single thing about every company they buy from. Forget knowing only about the company itself. I want to know about the CEO, the board, and every single executive-level employee. I especially want to know what each of them has for breakfast on Wednesdays, and I want to know if they generally poop in the mornings or in the evenings, or a mix of the two.

Or, I could've basically been saying that if you happen to learn a certain company sends funds to a group who's views or actions you don't agree with, there's nothing fucking wrong with making the decision to stop purchasing from that company.

[Jarvan]

If I found out that an actor was trying to buy laws that help them at the expense of others, or simply to keep others from enjoying some form of liberty because they don't agree with it, I damn sure wouldn't be seeing any of their movies. Same goes for corporations and the heads of those corporations.

I don't see why that is such a difficult thing to understand. People who care will watch out for these things and factor them into decisions. People who don't care won't. Nobody is trying to force you to care.

Umm.. BOTH sides try to buy laws that help them at the expense of others. OR are you trying to say that maybe, for example, the left do everything out of altruistic motives? Companies run by Dems hire non-skilled labor at 80k a year I bet, or pay more in taxes instead of lobbying for as many tax breaks as possible..

Stay on your political high horse, you'll need to be up there so you can't smell your own shit.

[Archigeek]

This is not a question about parties, it's a question about companies. I believe Clyde put it this way:


Aside from the issue of what public policy should be, do you think it's smart business for a brand name company to identify itself as supporting a political candidate. I think that most brand name companies have more to lose than to gain from it.

And I think Clyde is right. From a business person's point of view, I look at it this way: what gain am I going to have by getting this or that politician in office? And what loss am I going to have in a political environment where both sides are fairly evenly split and fairly evenly passionate about their beliefs? Chic-Fil-A aside, people are far less likely to support a business because they're in line with their political beliefs than they are to stop supporting them because they aren't. And when political beliefs are so strongly held as they are now, (on both sides), a business person is probably better off staying out of it entirely and remaining neutral. They can make their attempts at influence after the election via lobbying and other forms of financial support. That's probably your better play from a risk perspective.

[Back]

Taking a political side publically is a bad decision. You risk losing half your business. Democrat money and Repub money are worth the same.

[4a6c1]

I think the real question here is: Would Jarvan post on the PC if a donation was required and the funds went straight to Moveon.org??

[Tgo01]

If I found out that an actor was trying to buy laws that help them at the expense of others, or simply to keep others from enjoying some form of liberty because they don't agree with it, I damn sure wouldn't be seeing any of their movies. Same goes for corporations and the heads of those corporations.

Alright since you don't actively seek these people out apparently let me help you along the way.

The president of Amway (http://www.southfloridagaynews.com/news/national-news/6838-orlando-magic-amway-linked-to-anti-gay-group-donations.html) has supported anti gay movements. The president's father, who also supports such causes, owns the Orlando Magic basketball team. So like, make sure you don't watch any games that Orlando is playing in and don't buy any Orlando Magic sports memorabilia.

Best Buy (http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/04/26/beyond-chick-fil-a-these-other-corporations-donate-to-anti-gay-causes-too/) donated money to a politician who is very anti-gay, wants to ban abortions entirely and supports pharmacists' rights to deny contraception.

Target (http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/04/26/beyond-chick-fil-a-these-other-corporations-donate-to-anti-gay-causes-too/) donated to a PAC that supported the guy that Best Buy donated to.

Urban Outfitters/Free People/Anthropologie (http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/04/26/beyond-chick-fil-a-these-other-corporations-donate-to-anti-gay-causes-too/) (I have no idea what this company is but just listing it cause y'know, EVIL!) co-founder and CEO donated money to Rick Santorum who openly opposes gay rights.

Here is a list (http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?id=N00001380) of companies/organizations (note the donations either came from the organization's PACs, employees or owners, so just to be on the safe side boycott them all) that donated to Rick Santorum as well, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Boeing. Better make sure them planes you ride on are made in China!

Don't forget the Koch Brothers, they're evil people right? Let's list the products their companies make. (http://inspirationgreen.com/koch-brothers-products.html)

Angel Soft
Brawny
Dixie
Mardi Gras
Quilted Northern
Soft'n Gentle
Sparkle
Vanity Fair
Zee
Georgia-Pacific products including paper towels, napkins, soap dispensing systems, ink and offce paper under the labels: Advantage, GP, Imageplus and Spectrum products.
Plytanium Plywood
DryPly plywood
Ply-Bead
Georgia-Pacific is one of the country's largest suppliers of corrugated boxes and containers. So like, anything you buy that comes in a cardboard box, make sure it's not a Georgia-Pacific cardboard box.
Blue Ribbon
Clutter Cutter
DensArmor Plus
DensDeck
DensGlass
DensShield gypsum board
DryPly
Fireguard
Grant Forest OSB Board
GP Lam
Hushboard
Nautilus
Southern Gold
Sta-Straight
Thermostat
ToughRock
Wood I Beam

Let's not forget Textiles and Plastics via Invista Products:
Stainmaster
Dacron
Lycra
CoolMax
SolarMax
Polarguard
Thermolite
Antron
Comforel fiberfill
DBE® dibasic esters
Tactel
Tactesse Carpet Fibers
Terathane
ADI-Pure®
Polyshield®
Polyclear®
Oxyclear™
Performa®
Cordura fabric
Supplex® Fabric
Somerelle® Bedding

They're also in the chemicals, coal and oil business:

Through its subsidiaries Koch operates refineries in Alaska, Minnesota and Texas, with a combined crude oil processing capacity of more than 800,000 barrels per day. Koch Industries owns or operates about 4,000 miles of pipelines that transport crude oil, refined petroleum products, natural gas liquids and chemicals. Koch Minerals and its affiliates are among the world’s largest dry-bulk commodity handlers, marketing and trading more than 40 million tons of coal, coke, cement and other related products annually. Flint Hills Resources produces about 9 billion pounds of building-block chemicals per year. Koch is a leading producer of paving and roofing asphalt. www.kochind.com

Koch Industries Produces:


* Gasoline
* Diesel
* Jet fuel
* Naphtha
* Asphalt
* Benzene
* Toluene
* Metaxylene
* Paraxylene
* Orthoxylene
* Cumene
* Cycohexane
* Heavy reformate
* Pseudocumene
* Sure Sol ® 100
* Sure Sol ® 150
* Purified Isophthalic Acid
* Maleic Anhydride
* Trimellitic Anhydride
* Ethylene
* Chemical Grade Propylene
* Polypropylene
* Polyethylene

Just to be on the safe side I'd never buy gas again, it might be Koch Brothers gas or have been transported through pipelines owned by them!

They also produce 10 million tons of fertilizer annually that they distribute to dealers so this fertilizer has many labels. Just don't buy fertilizer, ever again.

They also operate three ranches that have a total of 15,000 head of cattle. So...I'd stay away from meat unless you can verify it didn't come from their ranches.

Make sure you write all of this down so you can be sure you aren't indirectly contributing to causes you don't believe in.

Or you could go the easier route and just pin the entire "anti-gay" and "anti-everything-I-believe-in" cause directly on a company you probably have only been to once or twice in your life and therefore can easily boycott.

[Tenlaar]

Umm.. BOTH sides try to buy laws that help them at the expense of others. OR are you trying to say that maybe, for example, the left do everything out of altruistic motives? Companies run by Dems hire non-skilled labor at 80k a year I bet, or pay more in taxes instead of lobbying for as many tax breaks as possible..

Stay on your political high horse, you'll need to be up there so you can't smell your own shit.

The fact that you are unable to see things outside of party affiliations does not mean everybody lives their lives that way. I do not identify with any major (or minor, really) political party.

If a bunch of wealthy gay democrats were trying to buy legislation to ban heterosexual marriage (to keep with the common Chic-Fil-A theme) I would be against that as well, and guess what? I wouldn't give them my money.

[Back]

The fact that you are unable to see things outside of party affiliations does not mean everybody lives their lives that way. I do not identify with any major (or minor, really) political party.

If a bunch of wealthy gay democrats were trying to buy legislation to ban heterosexual marriage (to keep with the common Chic-Fil-A theme) I would be against that as well, and guess what? I wouldn't give them my money.

Chic-Fil-Gay?

[Tenlaar]

Alright since you don't actively seek these people out apparently let me help you along the way.
Assumption.


So like, make sure you don't watch any games that Orlando is playing in and don't buy any Orlando Magic sports memorabilia.
Never have, never will.


Best Buy donated money to a politician who is very anti-gay, wants to ban abortions entirely and supports pharmacists' rights to deny contraception.
Not a company that gets my money.

Target donated to a PAC that supported the guy that Best Buy donated to.
Not a company that gets my money.

Urban Outfitters/Free People/Anthropologie (I have no idea what this company is but just listing it cause y'know, EVIL!) co-founder and CEO donated money to Rick Santorum who openly opposes gay rights.
Not a company that gets my money.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Boeing.
Doesn't get my money, doesn't get my money, only been on a plane twice in my life.

Blah de blah, bunch of stuff
Not a single product in that list that I have knowingly purchased.

Oil and meat are much tougher, even to the point of impossible many times, to keep track of by an average consumer. I eat very little red meat though, and gasoline is unfortunately not something that I am able to make a decision that I will not buy. Hopefully some day soon.

It seems your entire argument is based on an assumption and a list of things that I don't buy. What exactly are you trying to prove?

[Tgo01]

Assumption.


Not a single product in that list that I have knowingly purchased.

Oh the irony.


Oil and meat are much tougher, even to the point of impossible many times, to keep track of by an average consumer. I eat very little red meat though, and gasoline is unfortunately not something that I am able to make a decision that I will not buy. Hopefully some day soon.

Glad to see you're committed to your convictions as long as they don't get in the way of your life too much.


It seems your entire argument is based on an assumption and a list of things that I don't buy.

Wait what? You just admitted you buy some of these things and aren't sure if you've bought other things? At least try to keep up with your own arguments.

Thread: Brand Name Companies Making Political Donations

You're almost as big of a turd as Jarvan and Rocktar when it comes to politics.

You mad bro?

[Archigeek]

Chic-Fil-Gay?

Guy-Fil-A?

[Nathala Crane]

Guy-Fil-A?

Dick-Fil-A?

[Tenlaar]

Oh the irony.
Knowingly. It is not an assumption to say I have never knowingly purchased those products. There is the potential that some product was used in some manner on a different product that I have purchased. That is generally not knowable.


Glad to see you're committed to your convictions as long as they don't get in the way of your life too much.

If there was a reliable and usable public transportation system in my area I might have an option of not buying gasoline. Are you suggesting I ride a bike 60 miles a day? There is not always an alternative to every situation. I don't like having to buy gasoline.


Wait what? You just admitted you buy some of these things and aren't sure if you've bought other things? At least try to keep up with your own arguments.

I admitted to occasionally eating meat and to buying gasoline, neither of which are in any way guaranteed to come from the sources you listed. It is more likely that they come from other companies than these specific ones, especially the meat. I make every effort that I can to purchase goods that come from local sources.


You mad bro?
You done trying to "prove" that I support companies that I don't bro?

[Back]

Glad to see you're committed to your convictions as long as they don't get in the way of your life too much.

JFC, judge-fucking-mental much? Why do you give a shit if you think he shouldn't? Talk about being on a high horse except yours is inflatable with a bunch of fucking hot air.

[Tgo01]

JFC, judge-fucking-mental much? Why do you give a shit if you think he shouldn't? Talk about being on a high horse except yours is inflatable with a bunch of fucking hot air.

You're so cute when you're angry and missing the point.

Did you know that most members of the Walton family, the owners of Walmart (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/walmart-cuts-funds-to-conservative-group-flow-to-gop-continues/), have donated to Republican candidates and PACs this year while none of them have donated money to Democrats? I wonder if Tenlaar is going to come around and say he never shops at Walmart either.

[ClydeR]

Corporations are people too!

Yes, corporations are people. And governments should be run like businesses. But people are not businesses.


Question: Let’s frame the issue around your tax returns in a slightly different way. If you’re an investor and you’re looking at a company, and that company says that its great strength is wise management and fiscal knowhow, wouldn’t you want to see the previous, say, five years’ worth of its financials?

Romney: I’m not a business. We have a process in this country, which was established by law, which provides for the transparency which candidates are required to meet. I have met with that requirement with full financial disclosure of all my investments, but in addition have provided and will provide a full two years of tax returns.

More... (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-09/romney-says-small-government-will-boost-productivity-interview.html)