Corporations are legal and economic entities so how can they have a human characteristic? Look to the Supreme Court’s January 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission 5-4 decision, which stated that corporations were entitled to free speech. While free speech and morality are not the same thing, they both can only be attributes of human behavior.
I bow to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy institute focused on democracy, for a brief discussion of the Citizens United decision.
“In the court’s opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that limiting ‘independent political spending’ from corporations and other groups violates the First Amendment right to free speech. The justices who voted with the majority assumed that independent spending cannot be corrupt and that the spending would be transparent, but both assumptions have proven to be incorrect. With its decision, the Supreme Court overturned election spending restrictions that date back more than 100 years. Previously, the court had upheld certain spending restrictions, arguing that the government had a role in preventing corruption. But in Citizens United, a bare majority of the justices held that ‘independent political spending’ did not present a substantive threat of corruption, provided it was not coordinated with a candidate’s campaign.” See www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained for more information.
Needless to say, corruption became a definite substantive threat. In addition, the hypocritical nature of corporations in their public persona and political giving is a crisis of morality, not to mention law and ethics. Here’s an example based on research by Judd Legum at Popular Information, https://popular.info Most of what follows is a matter of public record.
Let’s start with Walmart. Their Chief Sustainability Officer, Kathleen McLaughlin, posted on LinkedIn, “Walmart is encouraged by the many climate-related policy proposals being debated by Congress, including proposals made through budget reconciliation and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, as well as additional ideas being surfaced in policy circles. We urge our national leaders to find ways to enact much-needed legislation to enable the U.S. to move forward on climate action now to avoid the worst effects of climate change in the future….We need to act now and with urgency.”
At the same time, “Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, is leading a multi-million dollar campaign to defeat the reconciliation package….McMillon is the current chair of the Business Roundtable, a group of influential CEOs who are participating in a ‘massive lobbying blitz’ to kill the reconciliation package and its Clean Energy Standard. In a press release…,which featured quotes from McMillon, the Business Roundtable said its efforts to defeat the reconciliation bill would include ‘direct CEO engagement to Capitol Hill and the Administration, as well as high-frequency radio print and digital ads in over 50 media markets across the country, generating calls and letters from constituents in target states.’ Walmart is also part of another well-funded campaign to defeat the reconciliation bill by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.” Email from Legum’s Popular Information, popularinformation@substack.com
GM issued a statement in late September endorsing the Reconciliation/Build Back Better bill as a “once-in-a-generation opportunity for our nation….Build Back Better lays the foundation for sustainability policies that will help address climate change and improve environmental quality and resiliency. GM supports those goals and, critically, we support those provisions that accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles and establish the U.S. as a global leader in electrification today, and into the future.” On September 29, I believe 1 day after the previous release, the Business Roundtable announced the election of Mary Barra, GM’s Chair and CEO, as their Chair to succeed Doug McMillon on January 1, 2022. The Business Roundtable is the very organization lobbying hard against the Reconciliation/Build Back Better bill and other similar bills.
The Business Roundtable, a nonprofit lobbying organization based in Washington, D.C., is made up of only CEOs of major U.S. corporations. Reading their website, not surprisingly, makes them appear very ‘charitable’ and working for workplace equality and fairness. The reality, however, is somewhat different. Increasing profits, lowering corporate taxes and expenses via public policy is their primary focus. See www.businessroundtable.org for more information.
I’ve also written a previous post about Senator Manchin’s conflicts of interest. As reported also by Legum: “Earlier this year a senior ExxonMobil lobbyist was caught on camera bragging that he spoke with Manchin’s office weekly. Manchin said these claims were exaggerated. [In 1 week shortly thereafter] ExxonMobil spent $275,000 on Facebook ads opposing the reconciliation [aka Build Back Better] bill.”
Walmart, GM, and Senator Manchin aren’t alone, nor is the Reconciliation/Build Back Better bill the only target of large corporations or powerful individuals. I wrote in an earlier post about AT&T’s hypocrisy about the Texas draconian abortion law.
Walmart, GM, AT&T, and Senator Manchin are just a few of the hypocrites operating in Washington and state capitols to influence legislation and our lives to their benefit and wealth.
Feeling overwhelmed? We all are busy with our own lives, but letters help both to corporations and newspaper editors as does informing others either in formal ways or the occasional conversation.
The Washington Post has a tag line: “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Exposing lies, immorality, misinformation, hypocrisy to the light does help. That’s why I write these posts. Do whatever works for you. In the meantime, take a long, thoughtful look at a tree and consider what it does to survive. Just one way to put things in perspective. Thanks for reading!
Old Piñon and Young Ponderosa
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Piñons and Ponderosas at Sunrise
Take care, stay masked, at least for awhile, get all 3 of the Covid-19 vaccinations, and have a lovely Thanksgiving! Although you may hear from me again before that. Best, Doann Houghton-Alico