How would you feel if a federal government agency, funded from a combination of tax dollars and fees, used some of its money to fund political campaigns? You’d be pretty pissed, wouldn’t you? Your tax dollars shouldn’t be going to fund political campaigns!
I agree. Private companies have the right, as free associations, to engage in political speech and make political donations if they wish, but the federal bureaucracy is a different animal. Of course individual bureaucrats can do whatever they want, and can even create their own free associations if they want, but government agencies themselves have a responsibility to serve the American public under the guidance of their elected or appointed leaders. They are not permitted to engage in political campaigns.
Well, according to the Wall St. Journal (as reported on AutoBlog), federally owned General Motors has broken its self-imposed moratorium on political donations and has spent $90,000 on its preferred candidates in the upcoming elections.
General Motors, despite the appearance of being a private company, is 61 percent owned by the United States government, and it’s ‘profit’ of late is probably some combination of tax money ‘investment’ and sale of product. The company’s very existence is predicated on many billions of that tax dollar ‘investment.’ As long as the government owns any of General Motors it is a government agency, not a private company. As such, it has no right to make political donations of any kind. Period.