First saw this mentioned in the LA Times
Group offers $25,000 reward for exposing secret corporate giving
A Coalition of Public Interest, Consumer, Labor, and Progressive Groups Announce Major Campaign to Target Companies that Use Corporate Funds to Make Contributions to Super PACs/Non-Profits to Influence the Fall Election
I know that some gazillionaires are giving big bucks to fund political pockets in CT to get the charter school thing going. Now I (and others ) have another nice reason to do some serious digging, (beside being a public school teacher).
Tried to find out more, going to some of the progressive groups it mentioned. Most had buried it somewhere in their websites.
I finally discovered the press release at Common Cause.
Washington DC – A large coalition of public interest, government reform, consumer, labor, grassroots and progressive organizations today announced a major national campaign to target corporations that use corporate treasury funds to influence the fall election, especially contributing to shadowy Super PACs or to 501c4s that run ads but are not legally obligated to disclose their donors. Groups include: Common Cause, Public Citizen, Coalition for Accountability in Political Spending (CAPS), Service Employees International Union, MoveOn.org, Americans United for Change, Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Public Campaign Action Fund, Campaign for America's Future, National People's Action, Progress NOW, Every Child Matters, Health Care for America Now, Occupy Wall Street, and USAction.
The release has quotes from Common Cause, SEIU, and the money one:
Americans United for Change announced that it would offer a $25,000 reward to the first employee who documented that his employer was using corporate funds to secretly contribute to a non-profit organization like American Cross Roads GPS that buys ads to affect the election and is not required to disclose its donations.
They are not messing around:
“This reward is intended to make CEO’s think again if they believe they can keep corporate donations to politics secret,” Tom McMahon, executive director, Americans United for Change said in a statement. “It is intended to reinforce the fact that in a digital age it is virtually impossible today for a big corporation to be certain that a donation of this type will not become public and materially damage its brand and the loyalty of its customers. Fair warning, Corporate America.
”
Hee hee:
De Blasio said that the new campaign will monitor corporate behavior over the next weeks and then decide which corporations to select as its targets.
“We will choose among any of the corporations who make the mistake of deciding to give to Super PACs or c4’s using its corporate funds – and select several of the most vulnerable to make them an example for the corporate community as a whole,” said de Blasio.
“Here’s the bottom line,” said de Blasio “If you want to make your company a potential target for this campaign, go ahead, make our day.”
Love it!