The Problem In America

Big businesses often donate to both political parties and say that their support is tied to narrow issues of specific interest to their industries. That became increasingly fraught last week, after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol and some Republican lawmakers tried to overturn Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s win in the presidential election.  A flurry of companies have since reviewed political giving via their corporate political action committees, according to the DealBook newsletter.  Some big banks are pausing all political donations:

• Goldman Sachs is freezing donations through its PAC and will conduct “a thorough assessment of how people acted during this period,” a spokesman, Jake Siewert, told DealBook.
• JPMorgan Chase is halting donations through its PAC for six months. 
• Citigroup is postponing all campaign contributions for a quarter. 
• Some companies are pausing donations to specific politicians. Morgan Stanley is suspending all PAC contributions to members of Congress who did not vote to certify the results of the Electoral College.
• Marriott said it would pause donations from its PAC “to those who voted against certification of the election.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield, Boston Scientific and Commerce Bancshares are taking a similar, targeted approach to donation freezes. 
• Other banks, including Bank of America and Wells Fargo, said they would review their corporate contribution strategy.

The suspensions coincide with the first quarter after a presidential election, which is typically light on fund-raising anyway. Efforts by some companies to pause PAC donations to all lawmakers — those who voted to uphold the election as well as those who sought to overturn it — are raising eyebrows. And companies can still give to “dark money” groups that don’t disclose their donors but often raise far more money than corporate PACs.  This, in a word, is the problem wit politics in America today.  The only contributors to any political campaign should only be registered voters, eligible to vote for and contribute to a specific individual.  PACs need to be outlawed as is corporate contributions which, in many cases, end up being deducted as business expenses and therefore subsidized by taxpayers. Until that takes place ther will not be an end to income inequality.