CEOs Resist Political Contribution Disclosure

The Bush administration, as part of its “all enemies on the left and center” strategy to infuriate a majority of people in the world, is moving to impose harsh new red tape requirements aimed at weakening unions’ political efforts.

Unions, acting as institutional investors through their pension funds’ stock portfolios, have begun introducing shareholder resolutions calling on corporations to disclose if their executives are working as “bundlers” who gather high-dollar contributions and forward them on to Bush.

Not surprisingly, the CEOs aren’t excited about offering that kind of transparency in the political process:

Almost two dozen companies asked the SEC for permission to omit from proxy ballots union-drafted resolutions seeking to know how much top executives gave to political candidates. Organized labor, led by the AFL-CIO, which must comply with similar disclosure rules imposed by the administration of President George W. Bush last year, is targeting executives who have contributed to his 2004 re-election campaign.

Companies that received the union resolutions include New York-based AIG, the world's largest insurer, SBC Communications Inc. and Safeway Inc., whose chief executive officers have all been named Bush ``Rangers'' for collecting at least $200,000 for his campaign. Comcast Corp., whose cable unit president, Stephen Burke, 45, was named a ``Ranger'' last month, also faces a resolution.