The Risks of ‘Business as Usual’ Corporate Political Contributions
Feb 22, 2021
In the wake of the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and concerns about a peaceful and democratic transition of power, many businesses are reconsidering their relationships with government – including the effects of corporate political contributions.
A reckoning with corporate political contributions
There is a growing list of companies responding to the situation in various ways; some business are speaking out against lawmakers who tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election by pausing their corporate political contributions, others are shutting down their Political Action Committees (PACs) and some are even asking lawmakers to return donations.
On January 19, then Department of Homeland Security Secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas was asked what he would do about the migrant caravan of mostly Hondurans headed for the US southern border. He responded that the United States would respect the law on asylum. According to Mayorkas, if people were found to qualify “under the law to remain in the United States, then we will apply the law accordingly. If they do not qualify to remain in the United States, then they won’t.”
The day before, nearly 8,000 people had crossed the border from Honduras into Guatemala. Some were heading to Mexico, but most wanted to seek safety in the US. Many of the people in the caravan reported that they were headed north in the devastating aftermath of two successive category four hurricanes that hit Honduras and Nicaragua in November 2020. Upon arrival to Guatemala, the caravan was almost immediately broken up by US-trained military and police that forced them, sometimes violently, from the hig
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) on Wednesday asked Treasury Secretary
Janet Yellen to investigate the role nonprofit organizations played in the Jan. 6 siege on the U.S. Capitol Complex which disrupted the Senate’s confirmation of
Joe Biden as president.
“[T]he IRS’s regulation and enforcement related to 501(c)(4) organizations has been woefully inadequate in the post-
Citizens United era,” a letter to Yellen reads. “We urge you to undertake a careful review of what the IRS has done, reform its approach, and rein in abuse by ‘dark money’ organizations.”
The underlying Warren and Whitehouse argument is that the regulatory agencies tasked with enforcing disclosure requirements left in place by the Supreme Court’s 2010
Just launched: One Lens: Sharing Our Common Views a statewide collaborative visual and storytelling project to document Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 experience.
Just launched: One Lens: Sharing Our Common Views a statewide collaborative visual and storytelling project to document Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 experience. ×
COVID UPDATE: 4.3 million doses of vaccine have been administered across PA. See if you qualify and find appointments. ×
Governor Wolf Proposes Plan to Cut Taxes for Working Class Families, Invest Billions in Education and Workforce Development
February 02, 2021
Working Class Families
Governor Will Deliver His Annual Budget Address Via Video Wednesday
Governor Tom Wolf outlined his budget plan to remove barriers and cut taxes for working class families in Pennsylvania while investing billions of dollars into Pennsylvania schools and workforce development initiatives. The governor’s plan would make Pennsylvania’s tax s