The elections last night were not the only place big government advocates have been scoring victories as of late.  Pro-government activists have been winning the fight for the heart and soul of the corporate boardroom.  Consider the following quote from Business Ethics magazine:

"Until the 1990s, Kelly said, people had the idea that unethical business practices were caused by 'a few bad apples.' But gradually it became clear that corporations came under systematic pressures that could lead good people to act unethically.

Of course don't fear about unethical businesses.  The writers at Business Ethics Magazine and other self proclaimed experts on what is socially responsible for a company to do are here to correct businesses from their inevitable sins.  All that is needed is defacto government regulations to control the free market -- or what is known as Corporate Social Responsibility.

The left, using the trojan horse that is CSR, have been using the corporate boardroom to set the tone of the debate and implement their favored policies.  Now that the Democrates control Congress, fighting these advocates in the boardroom has become more imperative than ever.  To find out more visit:

www.freeenterpriser.com or http://www.csrwatch.com/

The Business Ethics story can be viewed at:
(http://www.business-ethics.com/whats_new/Some_Are_Getting_It_M_Kelly.html)

Taking a page from the playbook of the liberals, the Free Enterprise Action Fund has tailored corporate activism for those of us that believe in free markets and small governments.  

A recent blog entry sums up the benefits of this fund:

"1) Instead of giving $500,000 every year, donate $10 million to an anti-environmentalism organization. The entire amount will be returned to you after a certain number of years, or whenever you decide to stop your activism.

2) The organization invests the money in an extremely diversified portfolio of S&P500 companies. The idea here is not to use any special financial expertise. The idea is not to try to do better than your S&P500 index fund. The idea is simply to replicate the results of an S&P500 fund, mechanically. So, for instance, $10 million across 500 companies would be $20,000 in each. That's enough to buy about 400 shares in most S&P500 companies.

3) Assuming that the S&P500 (including dividends) goes up 5% a year, the organization can withdraw about $500,000 out of the corpus each year.

Now comes the part that's different from other endowments:

4) The couple of guys employed by this anti-environmentalist organization are not really fund managers. They are activist/campaigners against the environmentalism-friendly policies of S&P500 companies. They can do this more effectively now, because they are shareholders!!"

For the complete Blog entry see: http://softwarenerd.blogspot.com/2006/10/activist-fund.html.

Companies that give more money to Democrats outperform companies that give more money to Republicans.  This outrageous claim is made by a new mutual fund run by two Democratic operatives.  The details can be found at: http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=FEAOX:US&sid=a.lcqb8Ye17g. 

As any investor knows of course, giving to Democrats cannot be the sole judge of a company's returns.  The founders of the Blue Fund know this as well.  Therefore, their fund's stock picking criteria also includes screens based on how well a company adheres to CSR principles.  What are these principles?  In short, a company should serve the interest of stakeholders, not shareholders.  For more information on this, see: http://www.freeenterpriser.com/. 

In other words, the Blue Fund is contending that all a company needs to do is give to Democrates and charities and they will outperform their peers.  Despite the ridiculousness of this fund's claims, the Blue Fund represents a truly dangerous trend.  Liberals are continually bringing the political beliefs into the corporate boardroom where they do not belong.  If not stopped, the U.S. economic powerhouse will begin to falter.  The political fight has a new battleground: Corporate America.  The Right must show up for this battle, else the Left will win through forfeit. 

 

Foreign corporations participate in our political processes -- they hire lobbyists, and they also implement government-like programs under the guise of Corporate Social Responsibility.  Despite these activities, domestic shareholders had no say in their activities.  If U.S. Senator James Inhofe has his way, this will change.

Generally, U.S. shareholders of foreign corporations do not hold shares in that company.  They hold was is known as American ADR Receipts of foreign companies.  These holdings do not give American shareholders any say in shareholder resolutions, even if these resolutions are designed to impact policy or social programs in the U.S.

In order to redress this situation, Senator Inhofe has officially requested the Securities Exchange Commission to amend a rule to allow holders of American ADR Receipts of foreign companies the ability to participate in corporate government affairs issues through shareholder resolutions. This is an important step towards giving US investors equal say when a company is making critical social policy decisions.  To see a copy of the letter and read more about this topic, click here: http://www.freeenterpriser.com

 

In Ann Coulter’s latest best selling book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, she notes that individuals who have suffered personal tragedy are shielded from criticism. Notwithstanding the controversy over the “The Jersey Girls”, her astute observation of special immunity rings true not only for these proponents of liberal dogma but also for CEOs who are disciples of corporate social responsibility (CSR). In this instance, the Left welcomes these converts from capitalism with open arms - as long as they promote the social activist agenda.

CEOs of some of the largest companies have become the biggest advocates for expanding the responsibility of business beyond financial performance to include social and environmental goals. With the public outraged over executive compensation, and high profile cases of corporate fraud, CSR is an insurance policy for image-sensitive CEOs.

By paying an ideological and financial cover charge to social and environmental causes, CEOs gain admittance to Club CSR and enjoy a host of membership privileges. One major club benefit is protection from advocacy actions such as protests and boycotts wielded by anti-business activists.

Membership requires the creation of a public relations campaign or business strategy that serves the CSR agenda. By feeding into politically correct themes, these campaigns frequently distract the media and shareholders from failed business practices and poor stock performance. Being viewed as socially responsible buys great latitude for struggling CEOs. No longer considered selfish capitalists, these CEOs can finally gain access to elite social circles.

Global warming, the Holy Grail of CSR topics, provides the greatest cover for a distressed CEO. For example, under the leadership of John Browne, the giant energy company BP has enjoyed a free ride from activist attacks because of the company’s aggressive advertising campaign promoting global warming concerns, carbon footprints and alternative energy.

Meanwhile, BP’s record includes a deadly explosion at one of its refineries and a major oil pipeline leak in Alaska. Because of these incidents, the company is under investigation by an alphabet soup of federal and state agencies – EPA, OSHA, and DOJ – for possible law violations. More recently, the company has been accused of illegally controlling propane prices, which drove up cooking and heating costs for consumers – many of them poor.

Even though the company is responsible for the tragic loss of life, polluting the environment and potentially ripping off poor consumers, there is a deafening silence of criticism from social and environmental activists.

Instead, BP is heralded as an environmental leader for its position on climate change. For example, BP received the top score in a ranking of 100 Global Companies on Climate Change Strategies last March by CERES – a coaliton of organizations that are working to advance environmental stewardship by businesses.

Another global warming disciple is GE – the giant industrial, entertainment and financial conglomerate. Through its environmental public relations campaign – Ecomagination – the company touts its investments in alternative energy and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

GE is now partnered with the World Resources Institute – an environmental activist non-profit – in seeking national regulations to address global warming. By joining the global warming cult, GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt is enjoying the benefits of a capitalism convert – favorable media coverge for the company’s green strategy and protection from critical reporting on GE’s profitability.

Media scrunity of GE’s business would expose the fact that its share price has been flatlined ever since Immelt took the helm. Moreover, aggressive reporting would expose that GE’s pursuit of greenhouse gas regulations will negatively impact GE’s earnings because of the effect of higher energy prices on its business and the entire economy. But these details get lost in the fog of CSR. The excitement of a giant company taking a leadership role addressing global warming trumps reality.

Today, CSR gives CEOs immunity from criticism, allowing them to enjoy a peaceful and highly prosperous tenure. Until it’s recognized that company support for CSR initiatives is often a sign of a troubled business, CEOs will be eager participants. In the meantime, shareholders and consumers will be left paying the price.

The U.S. Congress is back to town sifting through the pieces of the latest oil patch disaster -- pipeline corrosion that threatened to shut down the giant Prudhoe Bay oil field in Alaska. With hearings planned in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, officials with British Petroleum (BP Plc). -- the London-based oil giant that operates the field -- took heat from irate lawmakers, already suspicious of the industry's spotty environmental record.

Not surprisingly, British Petroleum (aka Beyond Petroleum) has been touted as one of the best energy firms in terms of its Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR). How touting the virtues of wind and solar power (and backing up these musings with hard dollars) while simultaneously allowing one’s oil infrastructure to literally decay in front of one’s eyes is mind boggling. To learn more about BP and the dangers of CSR see the Free Enterpriser at www.freeenterpriser.com.