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Judd Legum Profile picture
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30 Sep, 6 tweets, 6 min read
1. Corporations are trying to have it both ways

This week @Walmart endorsed the climate provisions of the reconciliation bill calling it the kind of "bold domestic action" we need "now"

Walmart's CEO is leading an aggressive campaign to kill the bill

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
@Walmart 2. @GM explicitly endorsed the Build Back Better plan, saying it was a "once-in-a-generation opportunity for our nation

Then @GM CEO @mtbarra announced she would be the next leader of the @BizRoundtable, which is spending millions to kill the bill

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
3. @Apple endorsed the climate provisions of the reconciliation bill. But CEO @tim_cook is on the board of the @BizRoundtable, which is doing everything possible to sink the legislation

Apple has ignored repeated requests for comment

popular.info/p/walmart-call…
@Apple @tim_cook @BizRoundtable 4. Media coverage of the corporate duplicity on this issue has been an abomination. There was extensive coverage of @mtbarra's selection as the next chair of the @BizRoundtable. No mention of the disconnect between what @GM says about reconciliation and @BizRoundtable's campaign
5. For a different approach, check out my newsletter.

Less corporate PR, more accountability journalism.

It's free to sign up.

popular.info/subscribe
6. To me its very frustrating how much of the media is devoted to simply copying corporate press releases and pasting them into articles instead of actually scrutinizing the claims made in those press releases.

We can do better.

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
29 Sep
This statement where Manchin says he's opposed the reconciliation bill does not discuss any specific policies because the policies he's opposing are extremely popular -- in West Virginia and around the country
Manchin calls the tax proposals "vengeful"

OK, let's get specific. What's vengeful?

Closing tax loopholes for private equity managers?

A 3% surtax on income over $5 million?

Increasing the top tax bracket from 37% to 39.6%?
That's really the crux of it. Manchin is opposing this bill on behalf of corporations and the wealthy, who don't want to pay more taxes

Manchin claims to be concerned about the deficit, but if you increase revenue, the deficit doesn't have to increase
Read 4 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
29 Sep
1. @BizRoundtable, a group of prominent CEOs, intensified efforts to defeat the reconciliation bill, launching a multi-million dollar ad campaign and producing a slick video in which CEOs warn the public of "consequences" if the corporate tax rate goes up

popular.info/p/updates-the-…
@BizRoundtable 2. The @BizRoundtable claims Trump's 2017 tax cuts spurred business "investment."

This has actually been studied extensively and the opposite is true. The corporate tax cut "held investment down rather than stimulated it," the Cleveland Fed found.

popular.info/p/updates-the-…
3. The @BizRoundtable includes the CEOs of @Apple, @Netflix, @GM and others who publicly claim to enthusiastically support the reconciliation bill's clean energy standard.

At the same time, they are involved in an aggressive effort to kill the bill.

popular.info/p/bad-apple
Read 5 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
28 Sep
1. We can't avert a climate catastrophe with corporate PR

We need government action

So if corporations care about the climate, now is the time to show it

Instead, companies like @Apple are trying to KILL meaningful climate legislation

popular.info/p/bad-apple
@Apple 2. @Apple says it supports a clean energy standard to cut carbon emissions from the energy sector 80% by 2030.

It says that it is "urgent" to pass the standard now

Apple is also trying to kill the reconciliation bill, which includes that standard

popular.info/p/bad-apple
3. @Apple CEO Tim Cook is a board member of the Business Roundtable which is part of a "massive lobbying blitz" to kill the reconciliation bill and its Clean Energy Standard.

BR has launched "a significant, multifaceted campaign" to defeat the bill

popular.info/p/bad-apple
Read 8 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
27 Sep
1. Last week, Tucker Carlson unambiguously promoted the white nationalist "great replacement" conspiracy theory

Fox News took Tucker's racist rant and promoted it on its homepage

You cannot separate Fox News from Tucker

He is the face of the network

popular.info/p/fox-news-emb…
2. To this point, major advertisers have attempted to thread the needle.

They've largely abandoned Tucker's show (because of the racism) but continued to advertise heavily on Fox News

Tucker, however, permeates all Fox News' programming

popular.info/p/fox-news-emb…
3. In a 6-month period between November 2020 and May 2021, clips from Carlson's show were featured 134 times on Fox News' other programming

Carlson makes dozens of guest appearances throughout the lineup

His rants are defended by Fox Corp's CEO

popular.info/p/fox-news-emb…
Read 10 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
24 Sep
1. So, in January, when @ATT PROMISED to cut off donations to Republicans who voted to overturn the election, it was covered by virtually every major media outlet.

@nytimes

@CNN

@Variety

@dallasnews

I could go on and on ImageImageImageImage
@ATT @nytimes @CNN @Variety @dallasnews 2. Now, 9 months later, @ATT has violated its promise

The only outlet to cover was my newsletter, Popular Information

None of the dozens of publications that covered @ATT's initial announcement have picked up the story

This seems screwed up

popular.info/p/at-and-t-aba…
3. To me, if you are going to cover the corporate press release announcing a promise but not follow up when the corporation BREAKS the promise, that's not journalism. That's PR.

I doubt that's what these outlets want to do. But that's the reality of what they are doing.
Read 4 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
24 Sep
The reconciliation package is a generational opportunity to address climate, the treatment of working families, and tax fairness

There is a massive lobbying campaign against it funded by virtually every major American corporation
The argument here, which I don’t think is well understood, is that America should remain the only developed country without any paid family leave because corporations don’t want to pay a penny more in taxes on corporate profits
As is so often the case, the coverage is oriented around the horse race. How will this impact 2022?

The reality is that this could have a real impact on people’s lives. It’s not a game.
Read 4 tweets

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