by Tom Hamburger
Target and Best Buy executives are feeling heat for making six figure contributions to a fund backing the Republican candidate for Governor of Minnesota, who has a record of opposing gay rights.
The campaign against the companies by left leaning groups has inspired broad questions about whether corporate giving will meet expectations in the first election since the Supreme Court sanctioned the use of corporate and union funds in electoral campaigns.
It's too early to know whether corporate giving will be chilled. But a new study by the Center for Responsive Politics finds that wealthy CEOs and corporate executives and some companies contributed over $20 million to political groups during the second quarter of 2010.
The Republican Governors Association, for example, brought in well over a million dollars from two business moguls. David Koch, a co-owner of Koch Industries an oil and refining company, gave $1 million to the group and Hedge Fund executive Paul Singer gave $500,000, the study said.
The biggest donor in the quarter was Wayne Hughes, founder of Public Storage, who gave $1.3 million to American Crossroads, the GOP-oriented non-profit founded partly by GOP strategist Karl Rove. Trevor Ree-Jones, founder and CEO of Chief Oil and Gas, gave $1 million to the Crossroads group.
The new study points out that left leaning groups are also getting help from generous individual donors. The Democratic Governors Association, for example, received $400,000 from another Texan, lawyer Steve Mostyn. A company that reported a second quarter loss, MTR Gaming Group Inc., still managed to contribute $225,000 to both governors associations during the same period, the Center reported.
Comments
This a stupid artcile. Try Target & Best Buy are supporting the Republican
candidate simply because the democrats are anti business and cannot create jobs so people can make money and buy items in their respective stores. It has nothing to do with gay rights. But the left will now try to demonize the support by Target and Best Buy as anti gay. I'm sure they will go and picket the stores and make some kind of stupid spectacle for the liberal news media outlets like the Tribune to run with.
Saul Alinsky would be proud.
Posted by: conservativemaster | August 12, 2010 4:34 PM
Yes, I love the Left's thought that if you are against gay marriage then you must be anti-gay. Hmmmm, Obama is against gay marriage too. Does that make him anti-gay?
And, so, since about 65 percent of the populace is not in favor of gay marriage, does that make those folks anti-gay too? And, is Elton John anti-gay? He doesn't support gay marriage either. He believes in civil unions.
The more the Left plays the race and hate card, the more they are going to get pounced come November. People are tired of it!
Posted by: John D | August 12, 2010 5:27 PM
If companies are going to make huge contributions to any party, there should be public disclosure of such contributions. Shareholders in the companies should be fully aware of where their money is being spent. If they don't agree, they can sell their stock. I really feel it should be up to a vote if you own stock, whether the profits should be spent on lobbying/political contributions. I hope the current legislation makes this perfectly clear.
Posted by: lochnessmonster | August 12, 2010 5:31 PM
The article only seems to mention business executives who contributed to the Republican Party and left out big contributors to the Democratic Party and their 527's. Unfortunately any attempts to control campaign spending has failed due to court decisions and the candidates themselves. The Presidential Campaign of 2008 showed that campaign reform(McCain - Finegold Reform ) was dead and the presidency was open to the biggest bidders. Just watch the 2010 November Elections. I am sure we are going to get some very expensive races including the one for the Senate Seat in Illinois.
Posted by: depot jim | August 13, 2010 10:08 AM
lochnessmonster
And should not the unions do the same thing.
Posted by: Crooks_In_ DC | August 16, 2010 11:01 PM