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Judd Legum Profile picture
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17 Jun, 7 tweets, 3 min read
1. There is an opportunity RIGHT NOW to bring transparency and accountability to corporate political spending

Right now, a lot of corporate political spending is kept secret

But that could change VERY SOON

Follow along if interested

popular.info/p/how-to-pull-…
2. Right now corporations can send money to trade orgs (like the Chamber of Commerce, which is fighting against federal voting rights legislation) or non-profit advocacy orgs (like Heritage Action, which is pushing anti-trans laws) and keep it secret

popular.info/p/how-to-pull-…
3. But the SEC has authority to require public companies to disclose any info that's "material" to investors

Increasingly, investors are interested in political spending

The SEC can issue a rule requiring corporations to disclose all political spending!

popular.info/p/how-to-pull-…
4. A proposal for the SEC to require corporations to disclose political spending has been under consideration since 2011

But it was shelved by former SEC chair Mary Jo White

After White left the SEC in 2017, she returned to being a corporate lawyer

popular.info/p/how-to-pull-…
5. Last December, Congress tucked in a rider into the massive budget bill prohibiting the SEC from spending any money creating a rule that requires disclosure of corporate political spending

popular.info/p/how-to-pull-… Image
6. So for this to become a reality: 1. Congress needs to remove the rider, 2. The SEC needs to propose & finalize the rule

The good news is Congress can do it through reconciliation, which can't be filibustered

And the new SEC chairman seems supportive

popular.info/p/how-to-pull-…
7. In my newsletter I'm going to be extensively covering the corporate political spending we know about (PACs, 527s, etc) & the corporate political spending we mostly don't know about (trade associations, advocacy groups etc)

Sign up and stay informed ➡️ popular.info/subscribe

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
18 Jun
1. The @NRSC is chaired by @SenRickScott, who voted to overturn the election

Scott is using the @NRSC to legitimize & amplify Trump's lies about the election

But corporations, including those who pledged not to donate to Republican objectors, are still contributing to the @NRSC
@NRSC @SenRickScott 2. Scott traveled to Mar-a-Lago to kiss Trump's ring and present him with a fake award from the @NRSC

Scott also featured Trump in an @NRSC fundraising video where Trump gave a winking reference to the conspiracy theory that he will be "reinstated" as president soon Image
3. After 1/6, @comcast said it would "suspend all of our political contributions to those elected officials who voted against certification."

On 5/16, @comcast donated $15,000 to the @NRSC
Read 7 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
16 Jun
Here's how much companies that claim to be champions of LGBTQ rights in June have donated to anti-gay politicians in the last two years:

@comcast ($1.1M)
@ATT ($1.1M)
@homedepot (839K)
@UPS (685K)
@Deloitte (662K)
@exxonmobil (614K)
@Chevron (567K)

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…
@comcast @ATT @HomeDepot @UPS @Deloitte @exxonmobil @Chevron Here's how much companies that claim to be champions of LGBTQ rights have donated to anti-gay politicians in the last two years (con't):

@UnitedHealthGrp (535K)
@Verizon (525K)
@Walmart (485K)
@GM (474K)
@Amazon (459K)
@Google (434K)
@Cigna (367K)

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…
Here's how much companies that claim to be champions of LGBTQ rights have donated to anti-gay politicians in the last two years (con't):

@Ford (297K)
@Anthem (293K)
@jpmorgan (278K)
@CVSHealth (266K)
@JNJNews (230K)
@Facebook (152K)
@WellsFargo (130K)

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…
Read 4 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
15 Jun
1. Politicians in Washington, DC could learn a lot from Texas.

Texas House Democrats blocked a voter suppression bill. It was derided as a "stunt" that would only delay the inevitable.

Then extraordinary stuff started happening.

popular.info/p/update-somet…
2. Forced to defend their voter suppression bill, Republicans quickly abandoned some of the very worst provisions.

First it was the ban on Sunday voting before 1PM.

Now it's the section that would have made it easier for judges to overturn elections

popular.info/p/update-somet…
3. Texas House Democrats did everything in their power to protect voting rights, and good things are happening.

In DC, the Senate is struggling to pass federal legislation to protect voting rights.

They are running into problems.

popular.info/p/update-somet…
Read 5 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
14 Jun
1. This will be a thread of corporate PRIDE tweets + the FACTS of each company's political giving to anti-gay politicians over the last two years.

Follow along if interested.

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…
2. Since 2019, @Comcast has donated $1,095,000 to anti-LGBTQ members of Congress that received a ZERO rating from @HRC

It also donated $35,300 to state legislators who sponsored anti-trans bills this year.

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…

3. Since 2019, @ATT has donated $1,079,500 to anti-LGBTQ members of Congress that received a ZERO rating from @HRC

@ATT also donated $59,450 to state legislators who sponsored anti-trans bills this year.

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…

Read 22 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
14 Jun
1. 25 major companies that sponsor Pride parades, and turn their Twitter avatars into rainbows and present themselves as champions of LGBTQ rights have donated more than $10 million to anti-gay politicians in the last two years

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…
2. We looked at the contributions from corporations that tout their commitment to LGBTQ rights to:

Members of Congress with a ZERO rating from @HRC

Sponsors of anti-trans legislation in AR, TN, NC, TX, and FL

The results were not pretty

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…
3. @CVSHealth, for example, has turned their Twitter avatar into a rainbow heart

It also donated 4K to two sponsors of a TX bill to change the state’s child abuse law to make it a crime for parents to allow kids to receive gender-affirming medical care

popular.info/p/corporate-pr…
Read 12 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
12 Jun
1. This is a cute tweet but if @BurgerKing really supports LGBTQ+ rights maybe the @BurgerKing Franchisee PAC should stop donating so much money to so many members of Congress THAT RECEIVED A ZERO RATING FROM @HRC.

Receipts to follow.
@BurgerKing @HRC 2. In the 2020 cycle, the @BurgerKing Franchisee PAC donated $113,500 to 31 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS WITH A ZERO RATING ON @HRC's CONGRESSIONAL SCORECARD.

Now @BurgerKing is trying to position itself as a champion of LGBTQ rights.
3. I'm going to be publishing an in-depth piece on corporate hypocrisy during pride month in my newsletter very soon.

It looks at corporate PAC donations to anti-LGBTQ politicians at the federal & state level

Sign up (it's free!) to receive the report ➡️ popular.info/subscribe
Read 5 tweets

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