| 22.05.2008 |
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| It was that time again: The presidential candidates filed their monthly fundraising statements with the Federal Election Commission. And again, no surprise. In April, Barack Obama easily beat his two competitors in the money race raking in $31 million. So let's look at a more interesting aspect of that race. Foreigners are by law barred from donating money to federal, local, and state elections in the U.S. It is, however, possible for foreign companies to contribute to political causes through Political Action Committees (PAC) set up by their American subsidiaries. And some international corporations are doing just that. According to Opensecrets.org, one of the best political money tracking sites, foreign-connected PACs in the current election cycle so far have contributed roughly $7.3 million to Democrats and Republicans, with both parties basically splitting the money. With almost $6.7 million, the overwhelming majority of donations stem from companies headquartered in Europe. Of those, most are based in Britain ($2.4 million) and Germany ($871,000). Among those listed are well known firms such as Deutsche Bank, SAP, GlaxoSmithKline and Rolls-Royce, but also lesser known companies such as Lehigh Cement or Kennecott Holdings. According to Opensecrets.org, the largest contribution from a German headquartered corporation came from T-Mobile USA with $220,000, the largest contribution from a British headquartered company came from GlaxoSmithKline with $478,000. By the way, most of the money doesn't go towards presidential but to state and congressional candidates. What do foreign-connected PACs hope to gain from their donations? The same as domestic PACs: access and influence to candidates. So the big question is: Why aren't more foreign companies with business interests in the U.S. pouring money into the campaigns? |
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| 1 Comment |
| "The big question is: Why aren't more foreign companies with business interests in the U.S. pouring money into the campaigns?" One answer to this question is: Because of globalization where globalization means big companies at home already represent companies abroad. From this fact you have to analyze this: -If big companies can influence economies to the point where crude oil influences the world ecomomy today, then politicians are becoming a lower force of economic and social control and groups of power at home representing global interests are acting in better ways than pouring money into political campaigns.- If we do not give Trade and Labour Unions more credit today, WE COULD REGRET TOMORROW COMPANIES BECOMING A ROOTLESS FORCE OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONTROL. |
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| Riggo Villafuerte | Homepage | E-Mail | 23.05.2008, 16:25 | ||