Political Giving Analysis
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An Analysis of Walmart & Walton Family Political Spending 2000-2012 C ONTENTS Introducon ......................................................................................................................................... 1 Walmart and the Walton family spend millions to influence the democrac process, disproporonately supporng conservave policians and causes .................................................... 3 The Walton family, while disproporonately supporng Republican candidates, has not limited themselves to moderates within the GOP ........................................................................................... 5 Case study: Steve Womack (R, AR-03) gets tens of thousands from Walmart and the Waltons in one month ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Acons speak louder than words ......................................................................................................... 8 Walmart forces costly special elecons, perverng the democrac process and reinforcing its reputaon as a drain on local economies ......................................................................................... 15 Case study: The Waltons’ pet cause, undermining public educaon ............................................... 16 THIS REPORT WAS PRODUCED BY MAKING CHANGE AT WALMART . FOR MORE INFORMATION , VISIT WWW .C HANGE WALMART .ORG I NTRODUCTION Walmart has gone to great lengths in recent years to burnish its reputaon as a posive, environmentally- friendly contributor to communies across the country and around the world. But for even longer, the company has been increasing its presence both in Washington, DC, and in local polics naonwide. The sides it takes and the policians it contributes to are more telling than any press release or PR stunt. Just as the total amount of money in polics increases with each passing presidenal elecon cycle, 1 Walmart and the Walton family have dramacally increased their spending compared with a decade or more ago. Through corporate polical acon commiee spending, contribuons by execuves and family members associated with the company, direct spending by the corporaon on state-level polics where permied, and likely many more undisclosed channels, Walmart is a major player seeking to advance an extreme parsan agenda, typically in ways counter to average Americans’ interests. Walmart’s political action committee Like many companies, Walmart has a polical acon commiee—Wal-Mart Stores Inc. PAC for Responsible Government—that solicits money from employees and then spends it to advance the company’s polical objecves. There was a me when company founder and family patriarch Sam Walton said that Walmart had no place in polics, but those days are clearly over. 2 The Walmart PAC has gone from spending virtually nothing in federal elecons in the early ninees to topping $2 million in three of the last five federal elecon cycles. 3 Addionally, many states permit direct corporate spending on elecons, and Walmart engages in this as well. 4 The Walton family and political spending At the same me, the Walton family, whose members own over half of Walmart common stock and occupy three seats on the company’s board, use their vast fortune to influence the polical process at all levels. Heirs to the founders of Walmart, the Waltons are the richest family in America, with over $115 billion. 5 In many ways, the Walton family is the public face of the company founded by Sam Walton and his brother Bud. Their wealth is inextricably linked to Walmart’s success, since it comes almost exclusively from their holdings in the company and their acons—polical or otherwise—are o en seen as reflecng on the company itself. The Waltons are able to wield their fortune in ways ordinary Americans cannot, influencing our democracy and contribung to a polical system where the strength of voters’ voices is relave to the size of their wallets, not the number of ballots cast. 6 During the 2012 elecon cycle, members of the Walton family spent over $1.3 million in federal elecons, favoring conservave candidates and causes by a landslide. 7 They spent hundreds of thousands more at the state and local levels, forcing their values—and vision of corporate-style educaon reform in parcular—on communies where they do not even reside. 8 1. hp://www.opensecrets.org/bigpicture/ 2. hp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/lobby.html 3. Analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Polics: hp://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php? strID=C00093054&cycle=2012 4. hp://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=2772&y=All&incy=1&ince=1&incs=1&incf=1 5. hp://www.forbes.com/billionaires/ 6. The following Waltons are included in this analysis: Ben Burdi, Whitney Kroenke Burdi, Elizabeth Laurie Dubbert, Pat- rick Bode Dubbert, Ann Kroenke, Josh Kroenke, Stanley Kroenke, Bill Laurie, Nancy Laurie, Melani Lowman-Walton, Carrie Penner, Greg Penner, Joseph Thomas Proie, Annie Proie, Alice Walton, Benjamin Sharpe Walton, Carolyn Walton (through 2000), Christy Walton, Helen Walton, James M. Walton, Jim C. Walton, John Walton, Lucy Walton, Lukas Walton, Lynne Walton, Rob Walton, Sam Walton, Samuel R. Walton, Steuart Walton, Thomas Walton, Tillie Walton. 7. Analysis of Data from Center for Responsive Polics: opensecrets.org 8. hp://walmart1percent.org/educaon/ 1 Walmart Lobbyists On top of direct contribuons to elected officials and candidates, Walmart also employs and contracts with an army of lobbyists who are charged with advancing the company’s interests in Washington, DC. The company’s spending in the capital increases with each passing year, and its scores of lobbyists advance Walmart’s interests on a surprising breadth of issues at dozens of federal agencies. In 2012, Walmart spent $6,130,000 on federal lobbying. The company employed or contracted with 81 lobbyists, the vast majority of whom have made their way through the “revolving door” between Capitol Hill and lobbying firms. 9 The company’s top lobbying issues were taxes, labor, homeland security, trade, consumer product safety, and the food industry. 10 While federal law requires that Walmart disclose the issues it lobbies on and what it spends, unfortunately, Walmart does not have to explain what side it takes. So while it is clear that Walmart has lobbied on the formaon of unions, corporate tax reform, port security, and online privacy, the company’s stance on these issues must be surmised. Walmart and the Waltons are able to hide much of their political activity While federal, state, and local regulaons require the disclosure of much polical spending, there is a potenally vast array of polical spending by both the company and the family that goes unreported. Walmart belongs to a number of trade associaons and other tax-exempt groups that influence elecons and the polical process. Walmart is not required to and currently does not disclose the amount of its dues and other payments made to these organizaons that are used for polical purposes. Some of the higher profile organizaons of which Walmart is a member include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Retail Industry Leaders Associaon, Business Forward, and the Business Roundtable. Trade associaons and nonprofit “social welfare” organizaons like Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS or Americans for Prosperity are shrouded in secrecy: they are not required to disclose their donors, and their spending is not reported to any public agency. 11 This is commonly referred to as “dark money.” In a report by Demos and US PIRG Public Educaon Fund last June, the authors wrote that “there is mounng evidence that nonprofits will again outspend Super PACs in 2012” just as they did in 2010, 12 and the public has no way of knowing who is behind much of the funding. As Lee Fang recently wrote in The Naon , “the hundreds of millions slushing in secret money is bound to lead to another major scandal. And that scandal will likely to produce a lot of liability for the corporaons involved.” 13 At the state level, Walmart was a longme member of the controversial American Legislave Exchange Council (ALEC) unl May 2012. ALEC is infamous for promong legislaon that advances a conservave ideological agenda and benefits its members at the expense of everyone else. The organizaon developed and promoted an-union legislaon in Wisconsin and Ohio, 14 as well as Arizona’s an-immigrant SB 1070. 15 It has also been an ardent supporter of the privazaon of educaon, 16 voter-ID laws 17 –which distort our democracy by making it 9. hp://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientlbs.php?id=D000000367&year=2012 10. hp://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clienssues.php?id=D000000367&year=2012 11. hp://www.demos.org/sites/default/files/publicaons/MegaphonesMillionaires-DemosUSPIRG.pdf 12. Ibid. 13. hp://www.thenaon.com/blog/173590/why-mandate-disclosure-because-corporaons-lie-voluntary-polical- transparency 14. hp://www.commoncause.org/a/cf/%7Ba3c17e2-cdd1-4df6-92be-bd4429893665%7D/MONEYPOWERANDALEC.PDF 15. hp://www.prwatch.org/node/10980 16. hp://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/07/14-12 17. hp://www.propublica.org/arcle/everything-youve-ever-wanted-to-know-about-voter-id-laws 2 harder for low-income people and people of color to vote–and is becoming increasingly known for having developed the “Stand Your Ground” law that became notorious following the death of Trayvon Marn. 18 Under intense public pressure, Walmart withdrew from ALEC in May 2012. The Walton Family Foundaon has clear