Big Companies and Political Money: A Shady Game

Big companies with government contracts are playing a risky game with political money. They're pouring cash into political groups while still working with the government. This might not be legal, but no one is stopping them. Some well-known names are involved. United Healthcare, Chevron, and Coinbase are just a few. They're giving money to groups that support different political parties. This includes groups like the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Lincoln Project. Experts say this is a big problem. Craig Holman, who works on campaign finance issues, points out that companies think they can get away with it. The rules are not enforced well, and companies know this. Take Chevron, for example. They gave $100, 000 to a political group while having millions in government contracts. They tried to argue that different parts of their company did different things. But this excuse didn't hold up in other places, like Connecticut.United Healthcare did something similar. They gave $5 million to a pro-Trump group while having a government contract. They said different parts of their company did different things, but this doesn't make it right. The government has fined some companies for this in the past. But the fines are small, and enforcement is weak. This makes companies think they can get away with it. Some companies say they made mistakes. r4 Technologies said they didn't mean to give money for federal politics. But it's unclear if other companies did the same thing. This is a big problem. Companies with government contracts should not be able to influence politics. But right now, they can. And they are.