CCP Chairman Bradley A. Smith in the Wall Street Journal. WSJ: The Corporate Disclosure Ruse
“Chances are, you’ve never heard from Bruce Freed. That’s because the founder of the Center for Political Accountability (CPA) is far busier ensuring you never hear from corporate America.
At least not when it comes to political free speech. In the growing liberal war against corporate free speech, its highest-grade weapon these days is “transparency.” By pushing disclosure, the left can tee up companies for activist boycotts, protests and other actions designed to make political engagement as painful as possible. Think of this not as disclosure in the name of voter education, but disclosure in the name of mugging.
Cue Mr. Freed’s outfit. While the White House and Democratic politicians have been writing their own proposals to force corporate tell-alls, CPA has taken the lead on the boardroom side. The group’s particular mission is ginning up shareholder resolutions that demand more corporate political disclosure. Thanks to it and a handful of activist allies, the number of such political spending proposals was up 50% this year among Fortune 200 companies, accounting for 21% of all the shareholder proxies.”
