A new study by the Washington, DC-based Leadership Institute highlights how companies divvy their political dollars.
The Leadership Institute has released its study of the largest corporate and business-related Political Action Committee (PAC) contributors. The study is more or less a compilation of publicly available data from the 2005-2006 election cycle. Institute spokesman Ian Ivey says, although they do not draw any conclusion from the data, it is published on their website so browsers can see whether companies line up with their political views. "People who visit our website and take a look at this can examine what companies that they do business with and they can decide whether they want, for example, to have a membership at Costco or at Sam's Club. Or if they want to buy Hershey's candy bars or Nestle candy bars, and so on," Ivey explains. "And there are differences among companies and how they give, and how they use their money for philosophical purposes." For example, the study found that the PACs of Hershey and Nestle both contributed about $30,000 during the 2005-2006 election cycle. Hershey gave 100 percent of that money to conservative candidates, while Nestle sent 42 percent of its contributions to liberals. Shoe company Nike gave 80 percent to conservatives and 20 percent to liberals. In a Leadership Institute news release, President Morton C. Blackwell notes that this study gives the consumer the power to frequent businesses that share the same values and belief systems. With information obtained from the Federal Election Commission, the report also provides an easy way for a patron to learn about the giving patterns of well-known businesses. Access to the complete study is available at the Leadership Institute's website.
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