The first rule of argument is that you have to describe the other side’s position accurately. But if the anti-ESG crowd did that, everyone would think they were crazy. And so we get a misinformation campaign and outright lies like this from the ultra-right Association of Mature American Citizens, which says its goal is “recovery…
Tag: dark money
Public Companies and Politics: How to Co-Exist
Easier to say than to do! David Lopez, and Jonathan Povilonis of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, say. that companies should stay out of politics except when they decide it’s in their economic interest to do so. There are three general directions that public companies could head toward:First, corporate America could evolve to mirror…
Republican Witnesses Nothing More Than Industry Mouthpieces: Accountable US
Accountable US has a new report with the unsurprising but still dispiriting news that the witnesses at the new Republican-led House Financial Services Committee hearing on ““Revamping and Revitalizing Banking in the 21st Century” are industry shills who paid to be there. The hearing is not about revamping or revitalizing, it is about protecting industry…
Comcast Is a Media Outlier After Contributing $360,000 to Election Deniers
According to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets, Comcast’s political action committee was high on the list of financial supporters for politicians who openly questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election. In early 2021, Comcast said it would suspend donations “to those elected officials who voted against certification of the electoral college votes” and would review its…
WSJ Gets Duped on Fake News ESG “Study”
The Wall Street Journal was either duped or disingenuous in an op-ed from Vivek Ramaswamy (author of anti-ESG book Woke, Inc.) and Riley Moore (Treasurer of coal-economy West Virginia) about a study giving bad grades to pension funds and fund managers for supporting the proxy contest at ExxonMobil in 2021. See below: Insight ESG Energy is…
The billionaires buying the midterm elections
Two primary super PACs seek to establish Republican majorities in the Senate and House — the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) and the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF). Those two groups, which can accept unlimited donations, collectively raised $188.3 million through March 2022. Nearly half of the money, $89.4 million, has come from just 27 billionaires, according…
Shareholder Proposal at Home Depot on Political Spending Contrary to Stated Policies
A Home Depot shareholder proposal has been submitted to the SEC requesting that the company publishes a report, at least annually, “analyzing the congruence of political and electioneering expenditures during the preceding year against publicly stated company values and policies.” A proxy memo in support of the proposal from Tara Health Foundation cites data from…
AT&T Shareholder Resolution Calls Out PAC Spending ‘Incongruent’ With Stated Values Following Mass Donations to Anti-Democratic Lawmakers – Accountable.US
An AT&T Inc. shareholder resolution has been recently submitted criticizing the company’s “politically focused expenditures” that “appear to be misaligned with its public statements on Company values, views, and operational practices.” The resolution – which the AT&T Board of Directors “unanimously recommends” shareholders vote against during a May 19th shareholder meeting – cites research from…
Dark Money from the US Now Polluting the UK
Investigative reporting by Open Democracy found that a Koch-funded dark money organization has now extended its reach to the UK. Shadow climate secretary Ed Miliband said: “US right-wing groups with links to big oil are desperate to stop action against the climate crisis. Now they are trying to extend their reach into UK political debate.”…
GOP Pushes to Outlaw Divestment
Once again, we see those who love to rhapsodize about the purity of the free markets working to disrupt and distort the free market with subsidies. Donald Shaw of The Lever reports on political initiatives to make divestment of fossil fuel companies illegal. Republican state and federal lawmakers, their campaign coffers filled with fossil fuel…
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