PepsiCo

SEC: Pepsi Must Allow NLPC Proposal on Lobbying Priorities Like Cap and Trade

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 21:18

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has ruled that PepsiCo may not exclude a shareholder proposal filed by NLPC that asks the company for a report on its lobbying priorities. PepsiCo is a member of the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of corporations and environmental groups that lobbies for the disastrous cap and trade legislation.

Our resolution will appear in PepsiCo’s proxy materials, and I will speak in its support at the company’s annual meeting this spring.

By trying to preclude a shareholder discussion of this and other issues, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi seems unwilling to publicly defend the company's controversial public policy positions, which is exactly the point of our resolution. Maybe the company should change its positions on cap and trade, and other issues where it sides with anti-business activists.

BP, ConocoPhillips and Caterpillar Quit Cap-and-Trade Lobby Group; PepsiCo Should Do The Same

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Wed, 02/17/2010 - 11:14

Nooyi photo Although they never should have been a part of it in the first place, three major companies have exited the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a coalition of corporations and environmental groups. USCAP’s mission is to “quickly enact strong national legislation to require significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.” The House has obliged and the result, the Waxman-Markey bill, is too strong for both the Senate and the American people.

Instead of taking a principled stand against massive government intervention in the energy economy, corporate executives argued that global warming legislation was coming anyway, so it was better to be inside the room when it was negotiated. This was the same argument made by pharmaceutical companies when they threw their support behind Barack Obama’s health care plan.

Gingrich Must Sever Ties With Sharpton

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Sun, 10/25/2009 - 21:38

Sharpton/Gingrich It is time for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to end his association with Al Sharpton. The two have been appearing together around the country as part of something called the Education Equality Project.

As Dr. Carl Horowitz of our staff has documented in a Special Report released earlier this year, Sharpton has promoted fake hate crimes against blacks, and has inspired racial antagonism against whites and Jews. Indeed, this long-established pattern of behavior continues to the present.

Wal-Mart, PepsiCo Unapologetic About Bankrolling Sharpton After Rush Limbaugh/NFL Flap

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 15:47

Emailers protesting Wal-Mart support for Al Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network, are getting the following response:

Walmart supports the National Action Network (NAN) as part of an ongoing effort to partner with national organizations that support issues and initiatives of importance to our customers, and the communities we serve.

Our support for NAN is focused on addressing health and wellness issues and other issues important to our customers and associates. Our company will continue to support organizations that can further our mission to help people live better.

Colgate-Palmolive Denies Supporting Sharpton Group in Wake of Rush Limbaugh/NFL Controversy

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 14:45

Colgate ad Emailers protesting Colgate-Palmolive’s support for Al Sharpton’s group, the National Action Network (NAN), are getting a response that reads, in part:

We did not participate in the 2009 NAN Conference in New York City.

That’s interesting, because the conference program identifies Colgate-Palmolive as a “sponsor.” Even more interesting, a Colgate-Palmolive ad in a separate program from the same event states, in part:

Colgate-Palmolive is honored to be named Corporation of the Year by the National Action Network…

Sharpton’s Corporate Sponsors Funded Anti-Rush Limbaugh Campaign

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Wed, 10/14/2009 - 21:38

Sharpton photo Al Sharpton’s platform for his assault on Rush Limbaugh’s NFL ownership bid was the National Action Network (NAN), which is bankrolled by corporate America.

The following companies were identified this year by NAN as “sponsors”: American Honda, Anheuser Busch, Colgate-Palmolive, Comcast, Entergy, Ford Motor Company, Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, Macy’s, PepsiCo, Pfizer and Wal-Mart. Sponsorship reportedly cost $50,000.

NLPC is asking these companies to end their support for Sharpton and NAN. Here’s how to contact them:

American Honda
phone: 1-800-999-1009 (Mon.-Fri., 6:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m., Pacific Time)
Fax: 310-783-3023 (24 hours)
Click here to find your local dealer.

Special Interests Help Rangel Pay Lawyers $928K in Last Year

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Wed, 07/22/2009 - 22:34

Rangel photo John Bresnahan reported in Politico on July 15:

Embattled House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, facing a multi-pronged investigation by the House ethics committee, shelled out nearly $280,000 to four different law firms over the last quarter, according to his newest campaign disclosure report.

Overall, Rangel has paid $928,000 to his attorneys during the last year as his personal finances have come under scrutiny on a variety of fronts.

Much of the money was spent fending off allegations by NLPC.

Sharpton Rakes In Corporate Bucks But Stiffs Hotel

Submitted by Peter Flaherty on Fri, 06/12/2009 - 09:23

Sharpton photo According to today’s Memphis Daily News:

The South’s Grand Hotel is trying to collect a grand sum of money it claims is owed by the Rev. Al Sharpton’s nonprofit civil rights group.

The Peabody hotel has filed a lawsuit in Shelby County Circuit Court against Sharpton’s National Action Network seeking payment of almost $70,300, plus more than $17,000 in attorney’s fees and other costs. The lawsuit, which puts the total close to $88,000, was filed Tuesday…

The Peabody was the site of the 2008 national convention of the National Action Network (NAN). Corporate sponsors included Abbott Laboratories, Allstate, American Honda, Anheuser-Busch (since acquired by InBev), Chase Foundation, Chrysler, Colgate-Palmolive, Continental Airlines, Entergy, FedEx, Ford, GM, Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Pfizer, UPS Foundation and Wal-Mart.

Corporate America Sells Out Public By Jumping On Cap-and-Trade Bandwagon

Submitted by John Carlisle on Fri, 05/22/2009 - 11:59

Waxman Communist Godfather Vladimir Lenin is alleged to have famously said, "The capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them."

No where is that observation more relevant than in the sorry spectacle taking place in Congress as corporations, in exchange for short-term government handouts, fall over themselves to endorse a carbon dioxide regulation bill that will impose a crushing energy tax on the American people.

New NLPC Special Report Exposes the Real Al Sharpton

Submitted by NLPC Staff on Thu, 05/14/2009 - 10:05

NLPC today released a special report titled Mainstreaming Demagoguery: Al Sharpton’s Rise to Respectability. It is a thorough examination of the character, career and impact of the controversial Reverend by Dr. Carl Horowitz of the NLPC staff.

Click here or on the cover to the right to download a 50-page pdf version.

Sharpton has been the subject of extensive media coverage and criticism in the past. But nothing so far has delved into Sharpton’s beliefs and tactics the way this report does. In particular, the report seeks to set the record straight, with details of Sharpton’s history, which includes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence.