Are Corporate Political Donations Wise Decisions?
Our piece, Supreme Court Ruling May Push Political Donations Toward Trade Associations, addressed a then-new Supreme Court ruling in the case of Citizens United v Federal Election Committee. The gist of the decision was that corporations would have much greater freedom to engage in political speech. We also suggested, and still believe, that the end result will make trade associations more important as confidential conduits for political donations. Target, however, has gotten itself in a fix. It donated $150,000 to a group called Minnesota Forward, whose purpose is to elect Minnesota politicians who are in favor of low taxes and are focused on private sector job growth. Since Target pays a lot of taxes, it is perfectly understandable that it would like to see politicians who favor lower taxes elected. In fact, Target made no effort to hide its donation, doing it not through a 501c4 or 501c6 both of which could have protected Targets anonymity. It did it through an electioneering entity
