29 Apr 2013 National Center for Public Policy Research to Participate in Five Shareholder Meetings this Week, Bringing Total to 18 So Far for this Shareholder Meeting Season
National Center Quizzes Corporations that Engage in Cronyism, Lobby to Expand Government, Impose “Greenwashing” Cost-Raising Regulations on Suppliers or Cave in to Foolish Demands from the Radical Left
National Center Also Visits Companies that Stand Up for the Free Market
Group Quizzing Boeing, Stryker, Pepsi, Sears and Duke Energy This Week on Numerous Issues
Washington, D.C. – The National Center for Public Policy Research will directly address five major U.S. corporations this week as part of the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project, which calls major corporations to account for activities that undermine the free market and/or a free and prosperous United States.
Activities of particular interest include 1) corporations engaging in cronyist practices that suck money from taxpayers; 2) corporations lobbying to expand the size of government; 3) corporations imposing expensive private regulatory regimes on suppliers, often for greenwashing purposes, in the name of “sustainability;” and 4) corporations caving in to ridiculous left-wing demands, for example, demands to shun the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
The National Center also attends meetings to compliment CEOs who stand up for freedom and the free market.
Activities scheduled for this week include:
Boeing: Today, in Chicago, National Center Executive Director David Almasi is asking Boeing CEO W. James McNerney, Jr. about missile defense strategies in light of continued threats from North Korea and Iran.
Stryker: Tuesday, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Stacy Swimp of the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network plans to present medical equipment maker Stryker CEO Kevin A. Lobo with a proposal to repeal ObamaCare’s medical device tax while simultaneously putting a halt to federal wind subsidies. The National Center presented this proposal, as set forth in a new paper by National Center health care analyst David Hogberg, Ph.D., to the CEOs of General Electric and Johnson & Johnson last week.
PepsiCo: On Wednesday, in New Bern, North Carolina, National Center Free Enterprise Project Director Justin Danhof, Esq. will seek to ask PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi about the propriety of forcing taxpayers to subsidize purchases of PepsiCo’s non-nutritious beverages through the SNAP (formerly “food stamp”) program. PepsiCo has lobbied government at multiple levels to keep soda products eligible for food stamps. Last week, National Center Executive Director David Almasi attended the Coca-Cola shareholder meeting and asked its executives essentially the same question.
Sears: On Wednesday, Horace Cooper, co-chairman of the National Center’s Project 21 black leadership network, plans to ask Sears CEO Louis D’Ambrosio about sustainability efforts that may raise prices.
Duke: On Thursday in Charlotte, Justin Danhof plans to ask Duke Energy CEO James Rogers about his company’s position regarding the extension of North Carolina’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards. Danhof also plans to applaud the company for its continued membership in the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) despite pressure from left-wing outfits.
Last week, the National Center participated in the Honeywell, Exelon, Pfizer, General Electric, Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson shareholder meetings.
Last week’s Free Enterprise Project work was covered by over 150 publications, including the Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch, the Washington Examiner, the Washington Free Beacon, Fox Business, the Baltimore Sun, the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Houston Chronicle, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Denver Post, the Arizona Republic, the Boston Globe, the Columbus Dispatch, CBS Moneywatch and many others.
Previously during this shareholder season, the National Center has participated in meetings at Disney, Apple, John Deere, Costco, Walgreens and Zales.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than 4 percent from foundations, and less than 2 percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 96,000 active recent contributors.
Contributions to The National Center are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated.