Today, I begin a multi-part series on George Allen's major donors. As with Jerry Kilgore last year, I contend that a candidate's major donors reveal a lot about that candidate. As with Jerry Kilgore last year, George Allen is a significant beneficiary of contributions from Smithfield Foods, a large, Virginia-based hog processing/meat packing company. Interestingly, Smithfield Foods is also a major employer of illegal immigrants, as we detailed last year on Raising Kaine. This is particularly the case at Smithfield's Tar Heel, North Carolina division. How much money has George Allen received from Smithfield Foods? According to the FEC disclosure database, Smithfield gave Allen:
*$1,000 on 11/30/00
*$5,000 on 7/16/03
*$2,000 on 1/23/06 (later returned)
According to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), Smithfield also has given $31,500 over the years to the Republican Party of Virginia,
George Allen and his right-wing buddies, of course, are out there talking tough on illegal immigrants because it's politically expedient to do so. Simultaneously, however, Allen and his pals are accepting large donations from a major employer of illegal immigrants.
Let's get something out of the way first. Yes, Smithfield Foods gives to both Democrats and Republicans. However, its contributions go overwhelmingly to Republicans, many of whom are the biggest immigrant bashing hypocrites around.
In fact, since 1998, Smithfield Foods has given $399,243 to Republicans and $124,500 to Democrats. That's a 3:1 ratio, Republican to Democrat.
As I mentioned above, Smithfield Foods is a major employer of illegal immigrants. Even worse, it is an exploiter and horrifying abuser of those immigrants. According to the Asheville Global Report:
Managers at the world's largest pork processing plant, the Smithfield Packing Company's slaughterhouse in Tar Heel, NC, committed "egregious and pervasive" labor law violations during two unionizing campaigns in the 1990s, an administrative law judge has ruled. The judge, John H. West, also ordered the company to adopt numerous policies giving the union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, a fair shot in its next election.[...]
Among the judge's findings was that company officials had sought to scare the plant's sizable Hispanic work force by warning that the union, if successful in organizing the plant, would report workers to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Since the 1997 [union] election, the number of Latino immigrant workers has drastically increased relative to the number of African Americans. Former supervisor Sherri Buffkin testified to the U.S. Senate that Smithfield liked immigrant workers because they were "easy targets of manipulation." Smithfield has continued to threaten Latino workers about immigration when they stand up for their rights. When the employees of Smithfield's sanitation subcontractor walked off the job in November 2003, the workers were threatened with arrest by immigration, according to the 2005 ruling of an administrative law judge.Latino workers also face challenges when they are injured. Although all workers are systematically denied compensation for their injuries, immigrant workers are hardest hit. Many Latino immigrant workers have reported that they have been threatened with termination for filing workers compensation claims, have been told that their injuries were not work related and have been consistently not informed of their rights when injured.
As if all this isn't heinous enough, it gets worse:
Smithfield exploited racial divides as a tactic in its anti-worker campaign preceding the 1997 election. The company held separate meetings for Black and Latino workers, turning them against each other.[...]Shortly before the August 1997 election, workers arrived at Smithfield and saw "Nigger go home" painted on the side of the union trailer.17 Tara Davis testified, "We were pushed on, spit on, maced on, told to get the fuck out of here, niggers go home, and this and that." Another worker, Rayshawn Ward recalls, "I was beat up and punched in the back of the head and spit upon and called a nigger."18 Jeffrey Green a UFCW representative recounts, "company people were pushing us, shoving us, spitting on us, kicking us, calling us niggers..."
In sum, Smithfield employs and exploits illegal immigrants from Latin America BIG TIME at its Tar Heel, North Carolina hog-slaughtering and processing plant. It also encourages racial animosities between blacks and Latinos, while treating everyone abominably. In other words, Smithfield is one nasty corporation.
Yet George Allen and other "crack-down-on-illegals" chest-thumpers in the Virginia Republican party are happy to take their money - large wads of it, in fact!
A side point but an important one: why hasn't the "mainstream media" - with few exceptions - jumped all over this story? Last year, they barely talked about the big donors to Jerry Kilgore, Bill Bolling and "Taliban Bob" McDonnell. This year, will it be more of the same? Unfortunately, given the fact that several major Virginia newspapers are owned and operated by friends of the Republicans and George Allen, the answer is probably "yes - more of the same." For instance, the Rightwing...er, Richmond Times-Dispatch has the wife of Kilgore buddy Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) sitting on its board of directors. Hmmm.
The bottom line here is that George Allen has accepted thousands of dollars from the very people he decries -- employers of illegal immigrants. But that's the right-wing Republican way, after all; utter hypocrisy as they rant and rave about "law breaking" but then themselves encourage illegal activity among their major corporate donors. Of course, these companies rarely if ever are penalized for their behavior; why would they be, given their powerful political friends? That's just one reason why we desperately need to get rid of George Allen and to replace him with Jim Webb, a man who is not beholden to anyone but the voters of Virginia.
P.S. More on Smithfield's Tar Heel plant and undocumented immigrants is available from Amnesty International
P.P.S. Smithfield Foods reportedly has begun "working with immigration services to verify employment information when a new employee is hired." If true, it's about freakin' time!
Of course, if that is the case he should also return the other $6,000, and, again, this is only speculation on my part. Just trying to see two moves ahead.
It's always a joy to watch a hypocrite in action, even better to catch one!
Nice going Lowell.
Since they took office, the sum total is a measly, insulting four companies!
That's right. From 182 in 1999 to four in 2003!
"The website georgeallenforprez.com was launched Monday in an effort to show the junior GOP senator from Virginia’s commitment to running for president in 2008."
Wadhams reacts : "We look forward to the DSCC website outlining Jim Webb’s many positions on affirmative action, immigration, Iraq and other issues, since he seems to take three or four different positions on every issue ...â€
Voted on Senate floor to kill amendment to strike guestworker provisions from immigration bill 2006
Sen. Allen voted for a motion to table the Dorgan Amendment (SA 4017) to S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2006 . The Dorgan amendment would have stricken the guestworker provisions of the bill that would add an estimated 8.4 million foreign workers and their dependents over the next ten years (according to a May, 2006 study by the Heritage Foundation’s Robert Rector). The motion to table passed by a voted of 68 to 29, effectively killing the Dorgan amendment.
Cosponsoring bill to increase foreign-worker importation in 2005-2006
Sen. Allen is a cosponsor of S. 2109, the National Innovation Act of 2005. S. 2109 would continue the H-1B program that every year imports additional high-tech workers as part of "comprehensive immigration reform." The H-1B program has been shown to harm American workers by depressing wages and displacing workers. As well, S. 2109 suggests that comprehensive reform must include provisions to "eliminate delays in processing immigration proceedings, including employment-based visa applications." This provision would do nothing but encourage the rubberstamping of applications, which is already happening because of the existing "backlog elimination" program and would promote and encourage fraud and corruption.
Voted against amendment to strip foreign-worker increase in 2005
Sen. Allen voted against the Byrd Amendment to S. 1932, the Budget Reconciliation bill. The amendment, introduced by Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV), would have stripped ALL immigration increases from the Budget Reconciliation bill and replaced the increase with a provision to impose a $1,500 fee on employers who hire certain non-immigrants. The immigration increase was added to the Budget Reconciliation bill by the Senate Judiciary Committee as a result of an 14-2 vote in favor of an amendment introduced by Senator Arlen Specter. The Specter plan would increase permanent, employment-based immigration by nearly tripling the number of foreign workers who can enter the U.S. each year. As well, it exempts workers’ families from the 140,000-visa cap on employment-based immigration. It also raises the cap on employment-based permanent immigration by adding each year the lesser of 90,000 visas or any “unused†employment-based visas from any prior year. Altogether, these provisions could generate a net increase in permanent immigration of 366,000 aliens, or about one-third of current, annual legal immigration. Senator Byrd’s amendment was cosponsored by Sens. Sessions (R-AL) and Durbin (D-IL). It was also supported by the AFL-CIO. The Byrd Amendment failed by a vote of 14 to 85.
Voted in favor of amendment to increase foreign-worker importation in 2005
Sen. Allen voted in favor of S. Amdt. 387, an amendment offered by Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), to H.R. 1268, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005. The Mikulski amendment to the Immigration and Nationality Act increased the number of H-2Bs who can enter and take jobs in the United States in the next two years and apportioned the H-2B visa cap so that visas will be available throughout the year. Specifically, the Mikulski Amendment would split the H-2B visa cap so no more than 33,000 visas are made available for the first six months the fiscal year, and another 33,000 visas would be available in the second half of the year. HOWEVER, the Mikulski Amendment exempts from the annual cap aliens granted an H-2B visa within three years prior to approval of an H-2B petition, thus potentially TRIPLING the number of H-2B workers in the United States at any one time. Although apportioning H-2B visas is a common-sense approach that will help prevent the situation that occurred in FY 2004 and FY2005 when the 66,000 annual cap on H-2B (low-skill) nonimmigrant visas was hit within the first quarter of the year, the Mikulski Amendment would ultimately harm American workers by creating exemptions which potentially could triple the number of H-2B workers in the U.S. at any given time. Fortunately, however, the increase is limited to two years, and the additional visas can go only to foreign workers who worked in this country legally during the last three years. The Amendment passed by a vote of 94 to 6.
Cosponsoring legislation to increase H-2B workers who are present in the U.S. at any one time in 2005-2006
Sen. Allen is a cosponsor of S. 352, the Save Our Small and Seasonal Business Act of 2005, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to limit the timing of issuance of H-2B visas during a fiscal year. Specifically, S. 352 would split the H-2B visa cap so no more than 33,000 visas are made available for the first six months the fiscal year, and another 33,000 visas would be available in the second half of the year. HOWEVER, S. 352 exempts from the annual cap aliens granted an H-2B visa within three years prior to approval of an H-2B petition, thus potentially TRIPLING the number of H-2B workers in the United States at any one time. Although timing the issuance of H-2B visas is a common-sense approach that would help prevent the situation that occurred in FY 2004 and FY 2005 when the 66,000 annual cap on H-2B (low-skill) nonimmigrant visas was hit within the first quarter of the year, S. 352 would ultimately harm American workers by creating exemptions which potentially could triple the number of H-2B workers in the U.S. at any given time.
Cosponsored bill to import more low-skill, foreign workers in 2004
Sen. Allen cosponsored the Summer Operations and Services (SOS) Relief and Reform Act, S. 2258. Introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), S. 2258 said that any worker who was approved for an H-2B visa in the two years preceding the current year can get an H-2B visa this year, without regard for the cap. S. 2258 had the potential to triple, rather than just double, the cap of 66,000, because it could affect 66,000 from FY 2002 and 66,000 from FY 2003, plus the 66,000 already approved for 2004.
Voted against amendment to provide funding for additional Border Patrol and ICE agents in 2005
Sen. Allen voted against the Byrd Amendment (S. Amdt. 516) to H.R. 1268, the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief of 2005. The Byrd Amendment provides $390 million to hire 650 more border patrol agents, 250 new immigration investigators, and 168 new immigration enforcement agents and deportation officers. The Byrd amendment also provides funds for 2,000 additional detention beds as well as funding to train the new personnel. Passage of the Byrd Amendment sent a strong signal from the Senate in favor of increased Border Patrol and Interior Enforcement. The Byrd Amendment passed by a vote of 65 to 34.
$2000 – Sen. Evan Bayh
$1000 – Rep. Rick Boucher
$6000 – Mark Warner’s Forward Together PAC
$1000 – Sen. Bill Nelson
Did you find any Democrats taking Jack Abramoff's money?
What's the Rep/Dem ratio on that one?
What's good for the goose...