March 4, 2012

March 4, 2012. Wilmington. If you’ve ever been curious about the political affiliation of the companies and corporations you patronize with your hard-earned spending money, here’s a current list based on the 2012 election cycle. This complete list details which party each corporation belongs to, based on the financial contributions, as well as how much money they’ve funneled to their party and its candidates just this election alone. The results may surprise you.

For generations in America, consumers liked their brands and retailers to be a-political, meaning they’re not involved in the dirty and dangerous game of politics. Corporations liked it that way too. Knowing that the instant they make a public, political stand, either liberal or conservative, the brand will alienate and anger half of its customers. And when it comes to corporations, American consumers vote with their pocketbook.

The trend began in the early 1980’s when homeowners discovered that their various telephone and utility companies were making political contributions. A grassroots effort was even launched by regular Americans to collectively purchase Ma Bell – ATT. If enough stock was bought by average Americans, the strategy went, the shareholders could use the power, finances and influence of ATT to protect the interests of Main Street and Rural Road Americans. After purchasing millions of shares of ATT stock over the course of two or three years, the movement never had much of a meaningful impact on ATT policy and the idea slowly died out.

The idea of multinational corporations using their vast fortunes to affect US government policy and actions is as old as the US government itself. In recent years however, those corporations haven’t just endorsed and supported a party or candidate, they’ve managed to merge the world’s corporations and the US government into one entity. Our elected officials are all former corporate insiders or lobbyists. And lobbyists are all former elected officials.

In just one tragic example, when President Bush handed nearly a trillion dollars to the world’s banks to bail them out, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was in charge of the bailout. Mr. Paulson, along with a number of high-ranking officials within the incoming Obama administration, was a former employee of Goldman Sachs. In fact, Hank Paulson was the former CEO of the bank. It’s no surprise then that tens of billions of US taxpayer dollars flowed straight from Hank Paulson’s pen to the accounts of Goldman Sachs. Hundreds of millions of that bailout then went directly into the pockets of current Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his executives through record-setting bonuses.

That’s how the game of representing the American people is played and the Democratic and Republican Parties have proven themselves to be very adept.

For this current 2012 election cycle, here is a list of the top 40 corporations, unions and PACS, and their political payments based on which party and candidates are being funded. Donations to Super PAC’s are included and broken out separately. All data courtesy of the Center for Responsive Politics.

Democrats

Donor – Total – Pct to Dems – to SuperPACs

Bain Capital – $2.6 million – 70% – $2 million

AFL-CIO – $2.5 million – 59% – $2.3 million

Dreamworks – $2.2 million – 99% – $2 million

SEIU – $2.1 million – 100% – $1.8 million

AFSCME – $1.9 million – 100% – $1.2 million

Teamsters – $1.6 million – 97% – $1 million

Assoc for Justice – $1.6 million – 97% – $0.3 million

Communications Workers – $1.6 million – 98% – $1 million

Comcast – $1.6 million – 60% – $0

IBEW – $1.5 million – 98% – $0.1 million

AFT – $1.5 million – 100% – $0.7 million

Renaissance Tech – $1.4 million – 64% – $1.1 million

Unite Here – $1.1 million – 95% – $0.5 million

Microsoft – $1.1 million – 65% – $0

While the above list represents the largest financiers of America’s elections, the below list includes corporations that may be a little better known to the average American. The dollar amounts are less, but unlike the defense contractors, global banks, unions and special interest groups above, the below list includes everyday products, stores and services. The below data is again courtesy of the Center for Responsive Politics. However, some of the information is a few weeks old and dollar amounts may be higher now.

Democrats

Donor – Total – pct to Dems

COSTCO – $225,000 – 99%

RiteAid – $517,000 – 60%

Magla (Stanley/Mr.Clean) – $22,000 – 100%

Warnaco – $55,000 – 73%

Martha Stewart – $153,000 – 99%

Estee Lauder – $448,000 – 95%

Guess Inc – $145,000 – 98%

Calvin Klein – $78,000 – 100%

Liz Claiborne – $34,000 – 97%

Levi Straus – $26,000 – 97%

Olan Mills – $175,000 – 99%

Southern Wine – $213,000 – 73%

Seagrams & Sons – $2 million – 67%

Gallo Winery – $337,000 – 95%

Sonic – $83,000 – 98%

Triarc/Arby’s – $112,000 – 96%

Hyatt – $187,000 – 80%

Nat Education Assoc – $1 million – 91%

Laborers Union – $1 million – 74%

Plumbers/Pipefitters – $1 million – 90%

United Food Workers – $0.9 million – 100%

Time Warner – $0.8 million – 85%

Operating Engineers – $0.8 million – 69%

Google – $0.7 million – 71%

Letter Carriers – $0.7 million – 97%

Ironworkers – $0.7 million – 90%