Vote with Your Dollars - A HOWTO

Introduction

You know who you vote for, but who does your money vote for? Does your money vote for lawmakers who share the same values you do on important issues? Or does your money "go behind your back" and support lawmakers who do things you don't like? And ... how would you ever figure out the answer to these questions?

The goal of this blog post is to take some tools, data sources, and methods and present a creative way of combining them to help sort these issues out.


Why this is important

Vote with your dollars! Take your business to companies that support lawmakers who agree with you on important issues.

Money has a big impact on politics. Lawmakers are heavily influenced by companies, labor unions, and other organizations that fund their campaigns. Then these same lawmakers make the rules which govern how you live, for good or for ill. If some of the dollars you spend with companies end up in a lawmaker’s campaign coffer, make sure it's a lawmaker you like. Choose your companies wisely.


What to do

Use the ideas on this site to see how your dollar votes flow from you, to a company, to a lawmaker, and then translate into impacts on any issue important to you.

How much time do you want to spend learning about this today? Think about if you want to spend (A) one minute or (B) one hour.



A) One minute
If you have one minute, make one connection between a company with whom you do a lot of business and its political leanings.

How to do it:

(i) Think of a company you do business with regularly (ex: your bank, your cell phone company), or a company with whom you spend a lot of money (ex: the TV you just bought)

(ii) Look them up on Good Guide's "vote with your dollars" page

> Go to Good Guide (www.goodguide.com)

> “Learn about the issues” on top navigation bar

> “Vote with your dollars” at the bottom

OR

Jump straight there - www.goodguide.com/contributions


Think about it:

You’ve learned something interesting! But, keep in mind that "Democrat vs Republican" probably doesn't tell you very much about a real issue that you care about...



B) One hour
If you have one hour, make one connection between a company with whom you do a lot of business, the lawmakers they support, and where those lawmakers stand on one issue important to you.


How to do it:

(i) Choose a company you do business with regularly (ex: your bank, your cell phone company), or a company with whom you spend a lot of money (ex: the TV you just bought)

(ii) Try to estimate how much you spend with the company in a year. You might look back over some old bills, or just do a quick calculation in your head. (Ex: "If my monthly phone bill is around $40 a month, that's about $500 a year…")

(iii) Look up the company's political contributions via the Center for Responsive Politics

> Go to the Center for Responsive Politics (www.OpenSecrets.org)

> "Influence & Lobbying" tab, “National Donor Profiles” drop-down menu item

> Scroll down to "Search for an organization by name" and search for the name of the company you chose (ex: “Bank of America”)

> Click your selection on the page that comes up

** You can see State and Federal political contributions on this page. Take a look, but don't stop yet. In particular, read the CRP's note that these contributions did not technically come from the company itself, but rather its Political Action Committee (PAC), employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families.

> Click the "Recipients" tab towards the top of the content pane

> Select view "Contributions to All Federal Candidates" for "All Parties" on the drop down menu


(iv) Look at the lawmakers to whom the company gives money

** Does the company give money to lawmakers whom you strongly support or oppose?


(v) Think of an interest / advocacy group that you feel represents your views on an issue that's important to you.

** Ex: If environmental protection is important to you, your views might be in line with those of the Sierra Club, Republicans for Environmental Protection, or Environment America. If your right to own a gun is important to you, you might feel the National Rifle Association represents your views on gun issues.

** Choose your interest group carefully, to make sure their views are a good match for your views on the issue. For example, the Sierra Club and Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP) both favor environmental protection, but they probably have different views on the best way to achieve that goal...


(vi) Go to Project Vote Smart and see how your chosen interest group rates some of the lawmakers supported by the company you’re investigating.

> Go to Project Vote Smart (www.votesmart.org)

> Scroll down to "Issues and Legislation" on the side menu

> "Issue and Interest Group Ratings"

> Pick a national issue of interest (ex: "Environmental Issues")

> Scroll through the list and click on a particular set of ratings, for a particular interest group, for a particular year (ex: "2008 Sierra Club Congressional Endorsements" or "2008 Environment America")

** Note that some sets of ratings are simply a short list of lawmakers which the an interest group endorses, while others are finer-grained ratings on a 0-100 scale or other scale.


(vii) Look at the interest group's ratings of the lawmakers who got the most money from the company you’re investigating.


Think about it:
Now you have a sense of whether the company you deal with supports lawmakers who are in line with your views on a particular issue. Did your issue organization endorse them or give them an especially high/low rating?

Are you spending your "dollar votes" in a way that’s consistent with your views on the issue you chose?