Free Republic

[Sen. Carl Levin and] activists demanding more disclosure and regulations [of political donations] especially target corporations. So far as I know, the same activists are blithely indifferent to unions’ electioneering and have raised no criticism of the Obama administration’s roll-back of efforts by the Department of Labor to require more disclosure of what unions do with the monies they take from members. This silence on unions is odd, since they are at least as influential in elections as corporations, and unlike corporations, unions are far more focused in their giving; for example, they are far more likely to give to...

Big business primarily supports right-wing advocacy groups, right? Think again. A recent report from the Capital Research Center shows Fortune 100 corporate foundations give overwhelmingly to liberal groups. In fact, in the sample year studied (2001), these corporate foundations gave 14 times more money to liberal causes than business-friendly ones. Even more surprising, environmental causes got the most funding, approximately 75 percent of the $60 million from 53 corporate foundations.

Liberal blogger David R. Mark recently wrote, “Those that call themselves ‘compassionate conservatives’ would never think to touch their fat-cat supporters. It’s much easier to spin the ‘economic benefits’ of helping huge corporations fatten their bottom lines.” Liberal academic Thomas Frank, in his book What’s The Matter With Kansas?, claims that the corporate world “wields the Republican Party as its personal political sidearm.” Both Mark and Frank express a common view that corporations are major funders of the political right, and that when corporations make contributions to nonprofit advocacy groups they give to groups on the right because those groups...

A report issued recently by the Capital Research Center in Washington punctures illusions that tend to associate big corporations with right-wing or conservative causes. The report depicts a reality that is exactly the opposite. CRC researchers examined contributions made in 2004 by the foundations of the nation's top 100 corporations to nonprofit organizations. The result: Corporate contributions to left-leaning groups totaled $59 million and to right-leaning organizations $4 million. That's about 14.5 corporate dollars going to the left for each dollar going to the right. For purposes of the research, right-leaning organizations were defined as those generally supporting lower taxes,...