BIPAC
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BIPAC (Business Industry Political Action Committee) was formed in August 1963 by officials in the National Association of Manufacturers with seed funding from that organization.[1] With a goal of electing business-friendly candidates to the US Senate and House of Representatives, it gave money to 137 Republicans and 8 Democrats in the 1968 congressional races.[1] The group is nonpartisan, but has given much more support to Republicans than to Democrats.[2][3]
CorpWatch states that BIPAC's primary activity is "to influence how the employees of its 400 member companies vote," a process described in more detail by Mother Jones.[4][5] Before the Supreme Court's recent Citizens United ruling, businesses were allowed to circulate political information to their employees but not to campaign directly for specific candidates. Now that corporations can legally use corporate funds to support favored candidates, BIPAC planned to expand its operations and its budget.[4]
Several distinct legal entities operate within the framework of BIPAC:
- The Business Institute for Political Analysis is the operations and administrative core of BIPAC which provides the bulk of BIPAC services and programs. The Institute is a membership organization that does not lobby Congress on issues.[6]
- The Action Fund is the political action committee of BIPAC as recognized by the Federal Election Commission. Contributions to the Action Fund can come from individuals and other PACs, but not from corporations.[6]
- BIPAC 's Prosperity Project (P2) helps businesses to promote pro-business politicians to their employees.[7]
BIPAC's affiliated state deployment partners (those who officially host the Prosperity Project grassroots initiative in each state) include affiliates of the National Association of Manufacturers and more than twenty state Chambers of Commerce.[7]
References
- ^ a b Political brokers: money, organizations, power, and people by Judith G Smith, publisher Liveright, New York, 1972. Chapter 5 "Business-Industry Political Action Committee" by Jonathan Cottin, discusses the origins of the group and its activities through 1970.
- ^ [1] Business Communications in a Post-Partisan Era
- ^ List of BIPAC's Candidate endorsements for 2010
- ^ a b [2] All Checks, No Balances: Campaign Finance Sells Out
- ^ CorpWatch.org article
- ^ a b Source Watch page on BIPAC
- ^ a b "Business Lobby: We Will Outgun Unions By 2010"