Microsoft ends donations to lawmakers who refused to certify election
…fron Axios News
[ Editor’s Note: Trump may still have good political control over his Trumper army, but his Congressional supporters might be looking at big future losses in corporate funding.
The corps are looking more long term than Trump is, and they have branding concerns for real businesses, versus the chimeras that Trump has, where their net worth minus liabilities could be in the tank.
That said, I was surprised to read a report that Georgia Republican Taylor Greene raised $2 million during her Congressional vote upheaval to remove her from House committees. I did watch one small town “on the street” series of interviews where several people were all embarrassed by her, which of course could have been people pre-interviewed before being taped.
Axios is a newer platform. They keep it short and sweet, articles in the 300 word range, seeming to be targeting the busy audience that wants bullet highlights during the day where they can read the rest when they get home.
The list of companies below that are reappraising their political donations is impressive. If I were a Republican fundraiser, this would have me worried. As for Trump, I can’t see him self funding any future campaign, when his claims to have been funding his first one turn out to be a hoax. Little did we know how many were going to follow… Jim W. Dean ]
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First published … February 06, 2021
Microsoft announced Friday it will suspend contributions for the rest of the 2022 election cycle to all members of Congress who voted to object to the presidential election results.
Driving the news: The decision comes after Microsoft held listening sessions with employees to discuss the future of its political action committee after the Capitol riot.
The big picture: Businesses are seriously reconsidering their approaches to political giving following the riot, and future giving will surely not go without scrutiny.
Yes, but: It’s possible regular giving resumes after this election cycle, once businesses feel enough time has passed since the riot and emotions aren’t as high.
What’s happening: In addition to suspending of giving to certain members of Congress, state officials and organizations who said the presidential election should be overturned, Microsoft will now allow employees to donate directly to causes like campaign finance reform and voting rights.
- The company is also renaming its PAC to the Microsoft Corporation Stakeholders Voluntary PAC.
- Microsoft had previously suspended all political giving pending the review that led to Friday’s announcement.
What they’re saying: “We believe these steps are appropriate given the importance of these issues for the stability and future of American democracy,” Fred Humphries, VP of U.S. government affairs for Microsoft, wrote in a blog.
Several corporations and tech giants are restricting or suspending political contributions after the siege on the Capitol.
Why it matters: The politics of pandering to the mob have become too dangerous for many of America’s business leaders.
What’s happening:
- Charles Schwab is shutting down its PAC. (Schwab, the company’s chairman, has given millions to pro-Trump and GOP groups, as the New York Times reports).
- Nike “will not support any member of Congress … who voted to decertify the Electoral College results” through its PAC, the company said in a statement.
- Walt Disney Company will pause political contributions in 2021 to lawmakers who voted to reject certification of Electoral College votes. “The insurrection at our nation’s Capitol was a direct assault on one of our country’s most revered tenets: the peaceful transition of power,” a spokesperson told Axios.
- Facebook, Microsoft and Google are all pausing political spending.
- Walmart‘s PAC is “indefinitely suspending contributions to those members of Congress who voted against the lawful certification of state electoral college votes,” spokesperson Randy Hargrove told Axios in a statement.
- Aerospace giant Northrop Grumman is pausing its PAC donations and “evaluating the way forward,” spokesperson Tim Paynter told Defense News.
- Comcast said it was suspending political contributions to elected officials who challenged the certification of Electoral College votes.
- Verizon also said it was suspending political contributions to lawmakers who protested the Electoral College results.
- Amazon said, “given the unacceptable attempt to undermine a legitimate democratic process, the Amazon PAC has suspended contributions to any member of Congress who voted to override the results of the U.S. presidential election.”
- BP’s employee PAC will pause all contributions for six months and reevaluate its criteria for candidate support.
- AT&T’s Federal PAC board decided to suspend contributions to members of Congress who objected to the certification of Electoral College votes.
- JPMorgan Chase is pausing all giving to both parties for six months. “The country is facing unprecedented health, economic and political crises,” said Peter Scher, chair of the Mid-Atlantic Region and head of corporate responsibility. “There will be plenty of time for campaigning later.”
- Citi’s head of global government affairs, Candi Wolff, said in a letter to colleagues that the bank will pause all contributions in Q1, and that after that, “[W]e will not support candidates who do not respect the rule of law.”
- Marriott International said the hotel giant will pause donations “to those who voted against certification of the election.”
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Association said it will suspend contributions to “lawmakers who voted to undermine our democracy” by challenging Electoral College results.
- Boston Scientific, the medical device maker, is pausing all federal gifts.
- Goldman Sachs is freezing donations through its PAC. The company told The New York Times it will conduct “a thorough assessment of how people acted during this period.”
- Dow, the chemical giant, told Bloomberg it will not donate to lawmakers who voted against the certification for one election cycle — two years for those in the House and six years for senators.
- BlackRock said it will pause all PAC donations, and will meanwhile “conduct a thorough review of the events and evaluate how we will focus our political activity going forward,” according to a company memo obtained by Axios.
- Airbnb said its PAC will withhold donations to lawmakers “who voted against the certification of the presidential election results.”
Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus. He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022. He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews. He now writes and posts periodically for VT.
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I do not think Tump will be done until the criminal trials are finished. I saw the interview mention today that to avoid Trump dragging that process out like a snail’s crawl, that the House will jump start its own so all the information they gather can be turned over to the Grand Jury. The benefit there is that congressional tesimony will be public, while everything that the DoJ is doing, we will not hear anything about that as they cannot disclose.
“….It’s possible regular giving resumes……. once businesses feel enough time has passed since the riot and emotions aren’t as high…”
That’s the trick, as Giuseppe di Lampedusa wrote….”se vogliamo che tutto rimanga com’è bisogna che tutto cambi”…. which translated means… For everything to remain the same, everything must change! 🙂
I can’t imagine that Trump will wait around to be prosecuted. My guess is that he flees to Israel and leaves his true-believer supporters to take the fall for storming the Capitol. Just like with 9/11, the real perps of 1/6 will skate off to somewhere that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the USA.
Hillary is walking in public….you don’t think she was NY Senator for no reason….no running to is-reel…. the US pimp….when traitors are totally safe in the US.
You think somehow over 70 million imbeciles in the US wised up overnight ?
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