January 6, 2021 shocked the world, to the point where even some CEOS were horrified by what they witnessed. They all know corporations do better in stable countries. Obviously, oligarchs in Russia do well, as long as they haven’t offended Putin. (Offenders may be murdered.) Many of the CEOs, or their teams, announced they would no longer donate money to people who voted against democracy.
Some corporations have kept this promise.
Others have not.
The time to put pressure on them is NOW, when the January 6 Select committee is releasing more details and especially when it is holding televised hearings.
But who are they? Some organizations have been keeping track, more or less.
Citizens for Ethics (crew) has a recent report (Angela Li and Areeba Shah, Jan 3, 2022). Here are some excerpts:
Their lede paragraph:
Here's what you need to know:
Since the insurrection, 717 corporations and industry groups have funneled over $18 million to the re-election of members of Congress who objected to the 2020 presidential election results. As calls for insurrection accountability reach the one year mark, one thing is for certain: our democracy cannot recover from the insurrection while Corporate America continues to spend millions of dollars bankrolling seditionist members of Congress.
Then there are plenty of specifics:
- Boeing ($346,500), Koch Industries ($308,000), American Crystal Sugar ($285,000), General Dynamics ($233,500) and Valero Energy ($207,500) are the top corporate donors to those who objected to the election and their party committees.
- Some companies resumed giving almost immediately. Toyota, which called the January 6 attack “horrific” and promised to reevaluate its giving criteria, poured $9,000 into the pockets of 9 Sedition Caucus members within a month of the riot. Cigna and AT&T also resumed giving to seditionists within two months of the riot.
- After the attack, corporations rushed to pay lip service to democracy. Companies including Aflac, Ford Motors, and Valero Energy pledged to pause donations and re-evaluate their giving criteria, but these performative statements would soon give way to business as usual. These three companies have contributed more than $300,000 to seditionists, including lawmakers who sit on committees with power over the companies’ business interests.
CREW has another page which shows donations made by various corporations. Despite the date of June 23, 2021, another part of the page indicates that it is being kept current.
Do you have relationships with these companies?
- Boeing
- Koch Industries
- Valero Energy
- Lockheed Martin
- United Parcel Service
- Raytheon
- Toyota
- General Motors
- Reynolds American Incorporated
- Rocket Mortgage
- Marathon Petroleum
- Pfizer
- Anheuser-Busch
- Merck & Co., Inc
- UBS Americas
- Walmart
- Chevron
- PNC
- Delta
- Aflac
- iHeartMedia
- Ford
- FedEx
- EliLily
- Johnson & Johson
- H&R Block
- PG&E
- Publix Supermarkets, Inc
- AT&T
- Anthem, Inc
- DTE Energy
- T-Mobile/Sprint
- Navient Corporation
- DISH Network
- Motorola
- Cigna
- CVS Health
- Verizon
- Alphabet Inc (Google)
- Comcast
- General Electric
- Intel
- Rolls-Royce
- AstraZeneca
- Wells Fargo
- Bloomin’ Brnads
- Charter Communications Inc. (Spectrum)
- Best Buy
- Conoco Phillips
- American Airlines
- Fox Corporation
- JP Morgan Chase
- Liberty Mutual Insurance
- Humana Inc
- United Airlines
- Home Depot
- Lowe’s
- New York Life Insurance
- Blue Cross Blue Shield
- 1-800 Contacts, Inc.
- Scotts Miracle-Gro COmpany
- Tyson
- Booz Allen Hamilton Holdings
- Garmin International Inc.
- Marathon Oil
- Gap
- AutoZone Inc
- Dow Chemical
- Molson Coors Beverage Group
- Spirit Aerosystems
- Deere & Company
- The Wendy’s Company
- Kroger
- Discover Financial Services
- Stanley Black & Decker
- Wawa Inc
- JetBlue Airways
- Southwest Airlines
- Bacardi USA Inc.
Note I don’t believe I’m violating fair use by showing this list; when you go to the CREW website, they supply you with a pdf to download. They want it shared, naturally! However, there’s a lot more information there, so please visit if you’re curious. And not all companies are equally guilty.
If you’re frustrated by this, because so many, many companies are involved, here’s a cheering comment:
- Dozens of companies suspended donations in the aftermath of the Capitol violence. While many have failed to stick to their commitments to democracy, it isn’t all bad news. More than half of the nearly 250 companies that said they would evaluate their political giving in the wake of the attack have not made a donation to seditionists since. Toyota stopped giving to seditionist members as a result of public pressure and after receiving pushback from CREW. Hewlett Packard and Charles Schwab shut down their PACs entirely. Hallmark Cards went as far as requesting that Senators Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) return its PAC’s donations. These examples show accountability is possible, and highlight the failures of companies who have continued to support the Sedition Caucus.
➡️My hope is that people here will take action by contacting the companies with whom they have relationships — customer or shareholder or employee — and tell them what they think.
➡️ Make a point to praise those companies doing the right thing, too.
➡️ If you have suggestions about good companies, or at least better companies, for products, please put them in the comments!
If you have better information out there, please link to it in the comments.
I noticed that opensecrets.org also tracks money in politics. I don’t know much about them, and they listed both CNN and FOX News as relying on them for information, so I am not sure what to make of the organization.
We have to remember that some representatives raise money off of being seditionists. Raising awareness can backfire.
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and the sequel, Scavengers of Mind. (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here.