@Facebook pledged to suspend political donations for the first 90 days of 2021, then donated $50,000 to @RSLC, a Republican group pushing voter suppression laws
@Facebook@RSLC 3. @Facebook routed the donation through a fundraising vehicle that the RSLC set up in Virginia, a state with lax campaign finance laws that allows unlimited direct corporate contributions.
6. @Facebook tells Popular Information that the $50,000 donation to the RSLC was "standard practice" and represented "membership dues" to the Republican Lieutenant Governors Association.
7. There is nothing that prevents the RSLC from using Facebook's funds for any purpose. Even if the RSLC represented that Facebook's donation would only support the RLGA, it would have no practical effect.
8. Regardless, GOP Lieutenant Governors have also been pushing voter suppression laws around the country. In Texas, Lt Gov Dan Patrick has made "election integrity" a priority & attacked @AmericanAir for opposing voter suppression laws in the legislature
1. Mitch McConnell took $4.3 million from corporations over the last 5 years to fund his campaigns and now he wants corporations to "stay out of politics"
2. First, we don't know the effect of this law in the future. Nate admits the shortened runoff period could impact "turnout in exactly the kind of close, low-turnout race where it could easily be decisive"
Well, a close runoff election just determined control of the Senate!
3. So I don't think running these changes through an algorithm is the right approach. We need to look at the intent. And this bill is sponsored by the people who falsely claimed the election was stolen from Trump. The intent of the bill is to validate Trump's claims.
REMINDER: @ATT has donated $574,500 over the last three years to the Texas officials pushing voter suppression legislation and now CEO John Stankey says that election laws are too "complicated" for the company to take a clear position
@ATT If you work for @ATT and have thoughts or information about your company's position on Texas' legislation to restrict voting, please contact me
DMs open, jlegum@protonmail.com
I will protect your identity
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2. Prior to Georgia's new law, there were four potential weekend early voting days and only one was mandatory and three were optional.
The new law makes two mandatory and two optional.
BUT major urban and suburban counties like Fulton County already used all four.
3. So if you like in Fulton or similar counties, where you'll find most of Georgia's Democrats and people of color, this second mandatory day does not expand access AT ALL.
It only expands access in rural Republican counties.
2. Yesterday, @Delta CEO Ed Bastian released a memo calling Georgia's new law to restrict voting "unacceptable," counter to Delta's values, and "based on a lie."
So will Delta continue to donate to the politicians that promoted the legislation?
@Delta 3. @Delta did not rule out future donations to the sponsors of voter suppression legislation in Georgia. Instead it send me this statement, which doesn't commit the company to any particular course of action.