What is a Political Action Committee?
A Political Action Committee (PAC) is one of the oldest sources of funds for a political campaign. PAC’s are sources of money for Presidents, State Senators, and State Representatives. PAC’s are allowed to contribute $5,000 in primary, general, or special election cycles to a candidate (Gill, n.d.). The origin of PAC’s dates back to 1955, when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was formed. According to Gill, there were 4,268 in 1998 and corporations accounted for 43% of all PACs; non-connected PACs accounted for 26% (Gill, n.d.) In 2008 there were reported 4,234 (Gill, n.d.). During the 2012 presidential election PAC’s contributed 1,076,496 to Mitt Romney’s campaign.
Wal-Mart’s Role as a PAC …show more content…
PAC for Responsible Government. So far this year, 51% of Wal-Mart’s donations have gone to the Republican party and 49% to the Democratic party (Opensecrets.org, n.d.). These donations come in part from employees being solicited. Berman points out that, approximately $2 million was spent by The Walmart Political Action Committee in three of the last five federal election cycles (Berman, 2013). Still, Wal-Mart’s generous donations are not without controversy as they have been accused of disproportionately giving to conservative groups. Since the 2000 election cycle The Wal-Mart PAC along with the Walton Family has given nearly 70 percent went to Republican candidates and committees (Berman, 2013). Below are two charts depicting the examples of Wal-Mart PAC donations to House members and a Special Interest Group (National Rifle Association-NRA) that are pro Republican …show more content…
So, it is not surprising that more than half of the donations went toward supporting candidates that are endorsed by the NRA. The Wal-Mart PAC donated approximately $2 million to NRA endorsed candidates from 2005-2012 (MakingchangeatWal-Mart.org, n.d.). In addition, Wal-Mart is also funding politcians that oppose proposed legislation to address climate change. Moreover, Wal-Mart is also against pro-gay rights legislation. Again, Wal-Mart strongly supports candidates that oppose LBGT right (MakingChangeatWal-Mart.org, n.d.). Furthermore, 95% of Wal-Mart’s donations from 2005-2012 went to support politicians that were not in favor of increasing minimum wage. It is quite clear that The Wal-Mart PAC and The Walton’s are staunch supporters of the Conservative/Republican agenda. This is evident in their overwhelmingly Republican favored donations for anti-immigration, anti-gun reform, and anti-gay
A Political Action Committee (PAC) is one of the oldest sources of funds for a political campaign. PAC’s are sources of money for Presidents, State Senators, and State Representatives. PAC’s are allowed to contribute $5,000 in primary, general, or special election cycles to a candidate (Gill, n.d.). The origin of PAC’s dates back to 1955, when the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was formed. According to Gill, there were 4,268 in 1998 and corporations accounted for 43% of all PACs; non-connected PACs accounted for 26% (Gill, n.d.) In 2008 there were reported 4,234 (Gill, n.d.). During the 2012 presidential election PAC’s contributed 1,076,496 to Mitt Romney’s campaign.
Wal-Mart’s Role as a PAC …show more content…
PAC for Responsible Government. So far this year, 51% of Wal-Mart’s donations have gone to the Republican party and 49% to the Democratic party (Opensecrets.org, n.d.). These donations come in part from employees being solicited. Berman points out that, approximately $2 million was spent by The Walmart Political Action Committee in three of the last five federal election cycles (Berman, 2013). Still, Wal-Mart’s generous donations are not without controversy as they have been accused of disproportionately giving to conservative groups. Since the 2000 election cycle The Wal-Mart PAC along with the Walton Family has given nearly 70 percent went to Republican candidates and committees (Berman, 2013). Below are two charts depicting the examples of Wal-Mart PAC donations to House members and a Special Interest Group (National Rifle Association-NRA) that are pro Republican …show more content…
So, it is not surprising that more than half of the donations went toward supporting candidates that are endorsed by the NRA. The Wal-Mart PAC donated approximately $2 million to NRA endorsed candidates from 2005-2012 (MakingchangeatWal-Mart.org, n.d.). In addition, Wal-Mart is also funding politcians that oppose proposed legislation to address climate change. Moreover, Wal-Mart is also against pro-gay rights legislation. Again, Wal-Mart strongly supports candidates that oppose LBGT right (MakingChangeatWal-Mart.org, n.d.). Furthermore, 95% of Wal-Mart’s donations from 2005-2012 went to support politicians that were not in favor of increasing minimum wage. It is quite clear that The Wal-Mart PAC and The Walton’s are staunch supporters of the Conservative/Republican agenda. This is evident in their overwhelmingly Republican favored donations for anti-immigration, anti-gun reform, and anti-gay