-Caveat Lector- Chris XXXX wrote: > > Any comments? > Yes. See bottom. - Nurev > **************** > > Corporate Power? > > By Mona Charen > > It's always amusing to hear left-wing critics assail the alleged > right-wing bias of the media. Ordinary mortals know that this doesn't > pass the laugh test. But some listeners to National Public Radio believe > it. Anyway, since they can never point to actual evidence from the > coverage itself, they point for proof to the "corporate" ownership of > CNN, NBC and the rest. Their unstated premise is that if corporations > are involved, we must be in the presence of right-wing influence. > > Would that it were so! One hates to burst anyone's bubble, but most > corporations are anything but conservative. The Capital Research Center > has been following patterns of corporate philanthropy for more than 15 > years (www.capitalresearch.org), and has found that most companies and > foundations give four times as much money to left-wing groups and causes > than to right-wing ones -- often to the disadvantage of the companies > themselves. > > In 1997, the latest year for which data are available, corporations gave > almost five times as much to left-leaning charities and public-policy > advocates than to right-leaning ones. Corporations like Aetna, Merrill > Lynch, Georgia Pacific and Target Stores -- along with many others -- > donated $38.7 million to left-of-center groups advocating bigger > government, more regulation and higher taxes, versus only $8.4 million > to groups advocating free market solutions, lower taxes and conservative > reform. > > In the aggregate, this works against the interests of the corporations > themselves, who presumably prefer, if only for business reasons, lower > taxes and less regulation. But in some cases, corporate giving is even > more directly at odds with the interests of the corporations. > > Leading automotive and oil companies, for example, heavily bankroll > environmental groups who seek to impose greater regulation on their very > industries. President Clinton's National Science and Technology Council, > for example, released a report in 2000 on global warming that was > heavily influenced by the World Wildlife Fund, the World Resources > Institute and the Progressive Policy Institute's Center for > Environmental Economics -- all left-of-center groups advocating more > regulation and higher taxes. The Clinton administration was certainly > within its rights to issue such a report. But guess who sponsors the > environmental groups who took such a large role? BP Amoco, > DaimlerChrysler, Ford and General Motors. > > Among the 10 largest recipients of corporate public-affairs grants, > eight are either liberal or leftist. These include the Brookings > Institution, The Nature Conservancy, the NAACP and the National Urban > League. The two more conservative beneficiaries are the U.S. Chamber of > Commerce, which is only center-right, and the American Enterprise > Institute (which leans right, but does host several center-left > scholars). AEI also ranked 10th in terms of grants received. > > Nearly all of the major corporate donors in America shy away from > contributing to faith-based charities. There is no constitutional > impediment to their making such grants. Nevertheless, GM gave only 2.3 > percent of its gifts in 1997 to faith-based charities. The numbers were > similar for other major donors like IBM, CitiGroup (whose official > explanation denies funds to religious groups "unless they are engaged in > a significant project benefiting the whole community") and GE. Perhaps > President Bush's emphasis on including faith-based organizations among > those competing for government grants will alter this pattern. > > Corporations are also highly vulnerable to intimidation and shakedowns. > Jesse Jackson has perfected the art. Through his 501(c)(3), the > Citizenship Education Fund, he has pressured major Wall Street firms to > pony up contributions to himself and his friends on pain of lawsuits, > boycotts and other forms of protest. AT&T, for example, contributed > $425,000 to CEF after Jackson agreed to withdraw his opposition to a > merger with TCI. AT&T also hired two companies associated with Jackson > to manage billions of dollars in bond offerings. > > Jackson pulled the same stunt when SBC and Ameritech proposed to merge. > When Jackson withdrew his opposition, he pocketed $500,000 from each > company. > > The Capital Research Center found these corporate givers to be very > secretive about their philanthropy. CRS had to resort to publicly > available IRS data for most of its information. > > But shareholders are not so handicapped. They can and should demand to > know how boards of directors are fulfilling their duties. Is it possible > that they, too, have bought the propaganda that corporations are right > wing? > > � 2001 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC. ================================= 6/17/01 The corporate culture has moved to Liberalism. When corporations made their money from the Nation State, they were essentially conservative in nature. Today, they have become trans-national because the economies of the nation-state are no longer producing the profits they want. This is because Capitalism ALWAYS overproduces and markets become saturated. In order to do business all over the world, corporate elites can no longer afford to be racist, or even nationalist. Hence they have become Liberal. To them, everyone is ( and should be ) green, like the color of the Dollar. There's nothing moral about it. They need to do business with everyone on the planet and Conservatism is not the mechanism which will achieve that goal. The Corporations which do extraterritorial business are Liberal in outlook. This especially includes the giant international media companies. Nurev <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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