Boycott Republicans

[Ramsey]

I would like to propose that we at DU develop a resource for people who want to boycott companies that support Bush and the Republicans and their agenda. I have found some helpful web resources. But I haven’t yet found a really good source listing US companies that support Bush. There are also lots of resources about socially responsible investing, a broader topic that overlaps the Boycott Republicans issue though. I've cross posted in Activism/Events where things move slower.

Can anyone with additional ideas or information please post it here.

Boycott Republicans Resources:

http://www.boycott-republicans.com/
This is really a petition generating site, it does not seem to list companies to avoid

www.ethicalconsumer.org
http://www.boycottbush.net/

These are both UK sites. Boycott Bush lists the top 25 corporate donors to Bush and their UK products, many of which are sold in the US. Does anyone know of a comparable resource for US products and a more comprehensive list?


Socially Responsible Investing:
There are a lot of resources on this. I’ve listed a few that seem really good. It would be really helpful if any DUers with experience or professional knowledge in this area would post their ideas and advice.

http://www.goodmoney.com/
http://www.socialinvest.org/
http://www.socialinvest.org/
http://www.greenmoneyjournal.com/

[Ramsey]

1. Kicking

Any more information out there folks?

[auburngrad82]

2. Opensecrets.org has quite a bit but most about major donors

ie, Wal-Mart, Wachovia, Home Depot, etc. I am working on making up a list of major donors to the Republican party. I'll post it tomorrow.

[Ramsey]

3. Thanks for your help

I think there are a few threads on this subject. Can we try to bring them all together and get a comprehensive list going, DUers!

[AllyCat]

4. Please help me understand...

...I know corporations can't give money to candidates outright. How does this money show up as coming from a certain company? Is it the part of the donation form that asks you your occupation and then people list their employer?

Do these sites list how much money also went to Dem or other party candidates?

I really want to boycott these schmoes, but I want to make sure I'm not boycotting a company that gave more money to non-Shrubites.

[auburngrad82]

5. I don't know how the law works but most companies give money to both

the GOP and Dems. You can discount companies that are basically fair in the distribution of contributions. There are some major companies, however, that are very skewed towards the GOP. Home Depot, for example, gave 97% of their contributions to GOP candidates. 75% of Wachovia's contributions (totalling over $850,000) went to GOP candidates. I would boycott the companies that are 1) Prominent and 2) Give a disproportionate amount of money to GOP candidates in relation to Dems. I'll create a small list of companies and post it in this thread sometime today.

[AllyCat]

7. Thank you!

I am anxious to see your list. Right now, I am just boycotting businesses here in Milwaukee who posted B/C signs on their property. Cannot believe businesses have started to do that. It's tacky I think.

[auburngrad82]

11. List of major Republican contributors

from http://www.opensecrets.org

Banks:
Wachovia Corp ($851,000+, 75% to GOP)
Wells Fargo ($950,000+, 62% to GOP)
US Bancorp ($297,000+, 78% to GOP)
Fifth Third Bancorp ($242,000+, 92% to GOP)
National City Corp ($230,000+, 93% to GOP)
BB&T Corp ($229,000+, 79% to GOP)
AmSouth Bancorp ($193,000+, 81% to GOP)
Sun Trust Banks ($182,000+, 81% to GOP)

Tv, Movies, and Music:
Clear Channel Communications ($670,000+, 70% to GOP)
Chartwell Partners ($240,000+, 81% to GOP)
Salem Communications ($185,000+, 100% to GOP)
Bresnan Communications ($148,000+, 98% to GOP)
Univision ($207,000+, 71% to GOP)

Agribusiness:
Reynolds American ($821,000+ 91% to GOP)
Pilgrim's Pride ($300,000+, 97% to GOP)
Dean Foods ($275,000+, 69to GOP)
PepsiCo ($262,000+, 65% to GOP)
Tyson Foods ($228,000+, 65% to GOP)

Computers and Internet:
EDS Corp ($393,000+, 68% to GOP)
Dell Computer ($352,000+, 79% to GOP)
EMC Corp ($289,000+, 86% to GOP)
Collazo Enterprises ($206,000+, 100% 5o GOP)
Unisys Corp ($162,000+, 69% to GOP)

Insurance:
AFLAC ($1,300,000+, 63% to GOP)
Independent Insurance Agents of America ($732,000+, 76% to GOP)
Cigna Corp ($640,371, 84% to GOP)
American Financial Group ($624,688, 97% to GOP)
United Services Automobile Assn Group ($480,950, 81% to GOP)
Northwestern Mutual ($457,720, 75% to GOP)
AON Corp ($452,859, 85% to GOP)
St Paul Travelers Companies ($443,028, 72% to GOP)
Zurich Financial Services ($380,263, 85% to GOP)
State Farm Insurance ($349,781, 81% to GOP)

Oil Companies:
Shell Oil is the only one that didn't contribute considerably more to GOP than to Dems. Other than Shell, the oil companies contributed AT LEAST 61%, and several contributed 100%, to the GOP)

Pharmaceuticals:
Only Roche (48% to GOP) and AdvancePCS (50% to GOP) were even remotely fair. Everyone else contributed heavily to the GOP.

Telecommunications:
Verizon Communications ($1,190,627, 61% to GOP)
Sprint Corp ($489,025, 63% to GOP)
IDT Corp ($226,850, 93% to GOP)
US Telecom Assn ($191,966, 66% to GOP)
TDS Telecommunications ($26,105, 62% to GOP)
Cincinnati Bell ($18,450, 71% to GOP)
Network Telephone Inc ($18,188, 100% to GOP)
Citizens Telephone Co ($15,400, 92% to GOP)
Granite Telecommunications ($15,000, 100% to GOP)

Tobacco:
Tobacco is heavily skewed to the GOP. The following companies give less than 50% of their contributions to the GOP. I don't smoke so I can't tell you what brands they sell. Vector Group, Liggett Vector Brands, Swisher International, Seneca Hawk Tobacco, and General Cigar.

Health Professionals:
Unfortunately every health professional organization gave more to the GOP than to Dems EXCEPT the American Nurses Association. Go out today and HUG A NURSE!

Miscellaneous Business:
Wal-Mart ($1,875,557, 81% to GOP)
National Restaurant Assn ($756,132, 90% to GOP)
General Electric ($745,486, 67% to GOP)
National Fedn of Independent Business ($700,640, 98% To GOP)
Home Depot ($677,370, 94% to GOP)
Accenture ($603,072, 70% to GOP)
Outback Steakhouse ($485,698, 98% to GOP)
National Assn of Convenience Stores ($474,972, 83% to GOP)
Clark Consulting ($338,239, 84% to GOP)
3M Co ($322,470, 80% to GOP)
Cintas Corp ($322,222, 100% to GOP)

Hope this helps.

[Ramsey]

13. Excellent!

Thanks for putting together that list. That's exactly the kind of info we need.

[mrgorth]

24. My God

They're almost impossible to avoid.

[auburngrad82]

27. Yes, some of them are

Banking in Particular. You have to pick and choose. For instance, go to Lowe's instead of Home Depot. Or go to Costco instead of Wal-Mart. If you do have to go, spend only what you have to and order stuff like dvds and cds and books online from Amazon. They support Democratic candidates.

[AllyCat]

28. Great! But so much for buying a PDA...

...I was looking at a Dell and they bite. And I don't buy things from China since I believe we shouldn't be trading with them at all, much less granting them most favored nation status. Everything made there seems to still have the finger-prints of the 9 year old that made it for 2 cents a week. And it doesn't stop at China:(

Lots of patients hugging me today...maybe they read your post :D

[auburngrad82]

29. Sony supports Dems.

Do they make PDAs? The thing with Sony is it may be a Japanese company but they employ a lot of people in the US. Same with auto manufacturers. When people say they only buy American they usually mean they only buy cars made in Canada or Spain. Cars made in the US, like Toyota and BMW, are American-made despite the fact that the company ownership is foreign. I would rather employ Americans than worry about a label.

Anyway, think about Sony.

Here's an "e-hug" for you!

[liberal N proud]

6. Boycotting Christian business should be included.

They were fools enough to fall for this pack of lies.

[OnionPatch]

8. Thanks! This has been something I'm interested in

and have been thinking about since way before the election. I read somewhere, maybe it was a Hightower book, that voting with our pocketbooks may be even more powerful than voting at the polls!

My idea was to start a website that consolidated all the information you list above and more. Something really easy to use and something you can direct your less-enthusiastic friends to, to make it easier for them to get on board.

The second part of my idea was that we get our own symbol, similar to the fish that the fundies use on their businesses. Our website/ organization will allow businesses that pass the muster to use the symbol. Progressive business people can put the symbol on their products or advertisements.

I'm going to save your links for reference and hope that these ideas stay kicked here at DU.

PS The BIGGEST thing we can boycott right now is TELEVISION NEWS!!!! We must demand that they report the ugly truth or we stop watching them! If half the country stops watching them there will be a vacuum that only a left-leaning news network can successfully fill.

[DinahMoeHum]

9. Do y'all know of an org called Co-op America??

www.coopamerica.org

They publish an annual business directory for where you can buy sweatshop-free clothing, fair-trade goods, etc.

Don't just boycott - "Buy-Cott" and patronize those businesses that treat their employees like human beings. This place is a start.


:thumbsup:

[pdx_prog]

10. Excellent....

Kick it...

[Ramsey]

12. Referencing other related threads

In the interest of brining all of this information together, I've noticed some other threads on this topic, listed below. Help fill in with any other related threads you may have noticed.

Within these threads are more links:

Dem/Repug Owned Businesses

Campaign to starve the beast

Edited to add:

CostCo Christmas

Edited to add:

Follow Your Money

[Ramsey]

14. List of GOP donors by percent donated

These are the companies that gave 90-100% of their political contributions to Republicans. There are another 400 companies that gave over 50% of their contributions to the GOP.

I think what we need to do is start also developing a list of products or brands that these companies have, so we can make a reference list of stores and brands to avoid.

This is from Follow Your Money:

1. Erie Indemnity Company $36,312 100.00%
2. Tasty Baking Company $16,075 100.00%
3. Wellman, Inc. $10,000 100.00%
4. California Water Service Group $7,700 100.00%
5. ONEIDA LTD $7,200 100.00%
6. Ameritrade Holding Corporation $7,000 100.00%
7. PAR Technology Corporation $6,000 100.00%
8. Lifecore Biomedical, Inc. $4,967 100.00%
9. AmeriCredit Corporation $4,500 100.00%
10. FreeMarkets, Inc. $4,114 100.00%
11. Haemonetics Corporation $2,700 100.00%
12. Sun Healthcare Group, Inc. $2,000 100.00%
13. Waypoint Financial Corp. $1,250 100.00%
14. American Bank Inc $1,100 100.00%
15. WILLIAM LYON HOMES $1,000 100.00%
16. MetLife, Inc. $603 100.00%
17. Star Scientific, Inc. $500 100.00%
18. Valhi, Inc. $300 100.00%
19. Woodward Governor Company $100 100.00%
20. Marshall & Ilsley Corporation $39,969 99.92%
21. UNOVA, Inc. $61,721 99.91%
22. Frontier Oil Corporation $24,976 99.90%
23. Dana Corporation $53,893 99.80%
24. Overnite Corporation $128,625 99.61%
25. Carpenter Technology Corporation $38,673 99.16%
26. Cooper Industries, Ltd. $794,937 98.75%
27. McCormick & Company, Incorporated $6,806 98.64%
28. Illinois Tool Works Inc. $318,081 98.23%
29. Eaton Corporation $70,118 98.20%
30. Publix Super Markets $7,848 98.09%
31. American Ecology Corporation $21,469 97.74%
32. II-VI Incorporated $4,147 97.58%
33. Group 1 Automotive, Inc. $35,080 97.44%
34. Leggett & Platt, Incorporated $185,655 97.30%
35. Nova Chemicals Corporation $71,668 97.05%
36. First Financial Corporation Indiana $6,802 96.89%
37. Salem Communications Corporation $221,081 96.86%
38. ArvinMeritor, Inc. $43,075 96.44%
39. World Airways, Inc. $13,400 95.72%
40. Outback Steakhouse, Inc. $2,616,118 95.45%
41. Kraft Foods Inc. $497,779 94.89%
42. Gillette Company (The) $58,222 94.67%
43. Brunswick Corporation $94,747 94.57%
44. Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. $35,207 94.37%
45. Huffy Corporation $30,602 94.30%
46. Praxair, Inc. $338,118 94.24%
47. Halliburton Company $953,609 94.17%
48. Ruby Tuesday, Inc. $75,233 94.04%
49. First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. $24,959 93.98%
50. Libbey, Inc. $53,062 93.92%
51. Exxon Mobil Corporation $2,731,510 93.88%
52. Caterpillar, Inc. $1,082,391 93.83%
53. Russell Corporation $93,555 93.71%
54. Intrado Inc. $6,066 93.32%
55. Harris Corporation $923,098 93.07%
56. Student Loan Corporation (The) $11,719 93.00%
57. Pro-Fac Cooperative, Inc. $10,024 92.82%
58. Ball Corporation $146,494 92.48%
59. Lear Corporation $169,876 92.20%
60. Circuit City Stores, Inc. $367,063 92.01%
61. Otter Tail Corporation $6,883 91.78%
62. CryoLife, Inc. $31,288 91.75%
63. Harsco Corporation $106,209 91.70%
64. PACCAR Inc. $551,495 91.69%
65. Parker-Hannifin Corporation $22,801 91.57%
66. Deere & Company $1,368,252 91.55%
67. IDT Corporation $19,681 91.54%
68. DIMON, Inc. $94,478 91.50%
69. Fairchild Corporation (The) $5,022 91.30%
70. Waddell & Reed Financial, Inc. $189,346 91.26%
71. Boise Cascade Corporation $228,424 91.22%
72. Hershey Foods Corporation $119,713 90.80%
73. Southwest Gas Corporation $142,905 90.35%
74. KMart Holding Corporation $147,485 90.20%

[Lost Creek]

15. fundrace.org is the most complete list of doners on the net

I am doing on zip code at a time. Linking the people to the business take a little more time.

[Ramsey]

16. Top Democratic Corporate donors

From the same website. I'm sad to say that there are far fewer corporate donors to the Dems, they generally gave smaller amounts, and many fewer of them gave substantial proportion sof their contributions to Dems when they split them among the parties. This list really gives lie to the contention from some parts that the Dems are beholden to corporate America!

From Follow Your Money:

1. Southern Union Company $1,550 100.00%
2. Safeway Inc. $16,778 97.74%
3. Gilead Sciences, Inc. $11,212 93.44%
4. Burger King Corporation $79,976 92.99%
5. Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation $33,672 92.25%
6. Omega Financial Corporation $8,230 88.97%
7. Renal Care Group, Inc. $40,669 88.41%
8. Symantec Corporation $8,191 86.22%
9. Visa Corporation $20,638 85.99%
10. America Service Group Inc. $13,540 85.70%
11. Hercules Incorporated $80,793 85.30%
12. Harley-Davidson, Inc. $10,331 83.65%
13. DeVry Inc. $22,212 83.27%
14. IPSCO Inc. $20,382 83.19%
15. United States Cellular Corporation $6,927 80.55%
16. CVS Corporation $127,753 80.49%
17. Invacare Corporation $342,220 80.39%
18. Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. $113,111 79.94%
19. Apache Corporation $17,716 79.62%
20. Chiron Corporation $3,971 79.41%

These are the top donors to Dems by amount and percentage. What's interesting is that some of the companies I've seen listed as top GOP donors in other threads actaully gave a higher percentage of contributions to Dems, like Walt Disney, AT&T, Microsoft, Viacom, and Time Warner.

1. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. $4,966,570 49.99%
2. SBC Communications Inc. $3,360,380 43.77%
3. United Parcel Service, Inc. $3,039,189 28.32%
4. BellSouth Corporation $2,907,018 44.08%
5. FedEx Corporation $2,905,991 36.93%
6. Verizon Communications Inc. $2,731,262 32.26%
7. General Electric Company $2,449,019 48.34%
8. AFLAC Incorporated $2,400,270 45.66%
9. AT&T Corporation $2,293,987 51.73%
10. Citigroup, Inc. $2,241,491 48.68%
11. MORGAN STANLEY $2,139,623 48.18%
12. Microsoft Corporation $2,090,974 51.84%
13. Philip Morris Companies Inc. $1,858,586 32.26%
14. General Dynamics Corporation $1,626,439 39.58%
15. Raytheon Company $1,578,276 45.84%
16. Union Pacific Corporation $1,453,478 24.81%
17. Southern Company (The) $1,438,755 41.07%
18. DAIMLERCHRYSLER AG $1,410,154 44.15%
19. American International Group, Inc. $1,382,400 49.63%
20. HSBC Holdings, plc. $1,316,071 44.42%
21. Arthur Andersen Consulting $1,253,879 47.09%
22. AMR Corporation $1,186,835 53.26%
23. MBNA Corporation $1,089,793 29.18%
24. EDISON INTERNATIONAL INC $1,067,229 45.60%
25. Washington Mutual, Inc. $1,031,967 57.54%
26. Viacom Inc. $1,029,055 60.01%
27. Walt Disney Company (The) $981,853 70.72%
28. Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. $962,604 56.72%
29. Sprint Corporation $957,051 49.59%
30. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. $953,195 64.72%
31. Pfizer, Inc. $952,404 31.12%
32. Coca-Cola Company (The) $897,769 42.60%
33. Eli Lilly and Company $892,777 33.10%
34. Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. $891,456 50.31%
35. CSX Corporation $855,623 36.21%
36. Time Warner Inc. $830,255 57.65%
37. General Motors Corporation $825,012 33.01%
38. FORD MOTOR CO $824,042 28.83%
39. Northwest Bancorp, Inc. $823,451 48.99%
40. United Technologies Corporation $808,782 46.19%

[gauguin57]

17. I told my broker I wanted to invest in socially responsible mutual funds,

and asked her to do research for me. She was beside herself ... because it's all about MAKING MONEY. She has to deal with me and all my, "No tobacco ... no nuclear power ... etc.etc." restrictions on my portfolio.

Well ... she did her research, and found that some socially responsible funds were actually doing pretty well in the market. I taught her a thing or two that day (and made some investments that made my soul feel good).

[flygal]

18. I've been investigating all morning ...

We will be doing the same! Thanks for the list!

[lefthandedskyhook]

19. As we have seen with Sinclair

Stock market revolts can hurt companies in a big hurry. Public outrage must be channeled into both consumer and stockholder resistance.

[Ramsey]

20. Kick

Let's keep this going!!

[freebird04]

21. Do we really want to be the party of hatred?

Look, I voted for Kerry and am as disappointed as the rest of us. However, I do not think that lashing out childishly at Repbulicans will do anthing but diminsh the Democratic base further.

Feel free to flame me but consider the following:

The companies you guys want to boycott probably employ roughly half Democrats. The more you hurt those companies, the more poeple will lose their jobs - and it won't be the CEO's who contributed to Bush. Are you willing to sacrifice the jobs of others, including fellow Democrats, out of a sense of revenge?

If this were successful, how would it look to "the average American" when a party is focused on doing as much damage to the economy as possible? If you were undecided or middle of the road, which way would it make you lean?

Just think of how many voters who voted for Bush this time are probably already pushed further to the right by us calling them stupid and ignorant at every turn?

How would you react if Republicans starting boycotting everything Democratic had Kerry won?

These types of behavior are self-destructive and will only hurt the party in the long run. A procative approach towards doing a better job of getting the party's message out is much better than spiteful vengence.

It's time to act like adults.

[Ramsey]

22. You are making a lot of incorrect assumptions

I do not feel this is vindictive or spiteful idea, nor do I call people stupid and ignorant. Where did you see anything of the kind in any of the posts on this thread? And by the way, I do advocate getting the party's message out more effectively as well, that simply isn't the subject of this thread.

I believe in the power of the boycott to effect social change through economic pressure. I've boycotted a number of companies in the past because I do not like their business or labor practices. That is my right and my free choice as a consumer. I fail to see how that is not a mature attitude. Boycotting has been an effective tool for change in many instances, from dolphin-safe tuna to the Sinclair debacle. I never suggested that boycotting Republicans was intended to hurt the general economy as much as possible. This is a big capitalist country with lots of competition in most industries. I am choosing to patronize the ones whose practices I admire or agree with, that is all. Socially responsible investing is a well established concept, I certainly didn't come up with it.

I do not want my hard earned money going to companies that support the agenda that the Bush administration wants to implement. I strongly disagree with almost everything they want to do, and I think they are destructive and bad for the country and the world, including all those people working for such companies. I work hard to earn my money and I intend to be a responsible consumer. For me that includes not patronizing companies like Walmart that mistreat their employees, companies with poor labor practices or poor environmental records, and now, I want to avoid companies that overwhelmingly support the destructive Bush agenda. I am gathering information here so that like-minded people will have the information they need to be pro-active consumers and investors. I am certainly not putting my investment dollars in any mutual fund that includes Halliburton, for example.

As the lists I have posted clearly indicate, many companies support Republican and Democratic candidates. Personally, I would advocate choosing the worst offenders, those contributing the vast proportion of their political dollars to the GOP, rather than ones that give any money at all to the GOP.

You don't have to agree and you don't have to participate. This thread was meant to gather information for those who would like to be more responsible consumers. As you have nothing to add in the way of information, I am not sure why you posted just to criticize the effort. I am sure none of us appreciate being called childish for wanting to spend with a conscience.

[rniel]

23. Notice 18 posts

probably a mole here

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

26. You go right ahead and play pattycake with the republicans

good luck on them even giving you a tissue when they are done with you.

For me and mine, we are boycotting. Already have been.

[auburngrad82]

30. I have no doubt that McDonald's employs mostly Dems

or at least Democratic leaning people. They also market heavily to African Americans. So why do they give so heavily to a political party that is so opposite what most of their employees believe in? It's not the employees that make the decisions as to where the contributions go, it's the management. I'm pretty sure most of their employees don't realize where the contributions go. I will boycott them because I do not agree with their politics.

By the way, the religious right is always using boycotts to get what they want. Disney is a prime example. They give same sex benefits to their employees so the religious right boycotts them.

They also attacked the city of Atlanta over same sex benefits.

Fair is fair. We can and should use boycotts to send messages.

[Heath.Hunnicutt]

25. Revenge boycot on PAX

The showing of the "Stolen Honor" infomercial hurt us. This was PAX, right?