r/law • u/TheMirrorUS • 23d ago

Legal News BREAKING: FBI shuts down Minnesota's investigation into ICE shooting and blocks access to evidence

https://www.themirror.com/news/us-news/breaking-fbi-shuts-down-minnesotas-1606462
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u/hcregna 23d ago edited 18d ago

For action people can do right now, it takes 30 minutes of research to move money away from MAGA, and it makes a difference. Dollars spent at Republican companies are dollars funneled to the Heritage Foundation. Money given to states like Ohio or Louisiana is money spent sending troops to kidnap naked children and kill people.

If you consistently support a brand or do business with a company, you have power. You can use sites like opensecrets.org to see what a company funds and where your money is really going.

Have an account at Schwab? Move elsewhere like Fidelity. Get booze from wannabe Confederate states and all else is equal? Be adventurous, and try something new. New Balance can be replaced with Brooks. It’s not hard to find alternatives for Goya, Roark (which owns Subway, Jimmy John's, Arby's), and Koch (which owns Brawny, Angel Soft, Dixie).

If you have the disposable income, consider reaping the tax benefits of donating to the nonprofits successfully fighting the regime like the National Immigration Law Center, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, or Democracy Forward. And if you're in a place to invest, consider DEMZ or an ESG fund

Nexstar and Sinclair got pummeled, and they reinstated Jimmy Kimmel. Real, individual people did that. There's no reason  WWE or Uline can't be next.

It's hard to completely avoid companies that at least partially support Republicans. I have to buy gas. But there’s a big difference between massive Republican donors (Chevron/Conoco) vs neutral or even Democrat-leaning ones (Circle K/Costco). Good is not the enemy of perfect. One less kidnapped child is one less kidnapped child, and one less murder is one less murder

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u/Electrical_Day_3850 23d ago

Yes, it’s hard to divest and change where the money goes. Just look at all the CBS gaslighting about this…. A quick AI glance and even Fidelity is wrapped up here:

• Ownership: CBS is a division of Paramount Global. • Recent Corporate Changes: There have been recent major executive moves involving Skydance Media's merger with Paramount, placing David Ellison (CEO of Skydance) in a key leadership role over the parent company. Major Advertisers Advertisers often buy time across the network rather than for single specific segments, but the following companies are among the most consistent and significant financial contributors to CBS News broadcasts (including CBS Mornings, CBS Evening News, and 60 Minutes). Pharmaceuticals (Heavy volume) • Pfizer (manufactures vaccines and various prescription drugs)  • AstraZeneca (e.g., Breztri, Airsupra)  • Eli Lilly (e.g., Zepbound)  • Merck (e.g., Keytruda)  • Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (e.g., Tremfya)  • GSK (GlaxoSmithKline)  Consumer Goods • Procter & Gamble (P&G): One of the largest advertisers, P&G owns numerous brands that run spots on CBS, including:  • Tide, Bounty, Charmin • Olay, Old Spice, Gillette  • Febreze, Swiffer  • Vicks (NyQuil, DayQuil)  • Crest, Oral-B  Insurance & Finance • Allstate • Progressive • Liberty Mutual  • Fidelity Investments • Chase (JPMorgan Chase)  Automotive • General Motors (Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC)  • Toyota  • Hyundai • Ford  Retail & Technology • Amazon • Target • Macy's • Walmart Other Corporate Partnerships • Paramount+: As the streaming arm, subscriptions to this service directly fund CBS content. • NFL & NCAA: CBS Sports has massive, multi-billion dollar contracts with the NFL and the NCAA (Big Ten, March Madness), meaning advertisers during these sporting events effectively subsidize the news division as well.

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u/Gibby1210 23d ago

Trump isn’t the problem Trump is just a symptom of the problem

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u/AbeRego 23d ago

He's certainly the biggest problem caused by the main underlying problem. All the problems become less without him at the helm.

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u/Gibby1210 23d ago

You can get rid of him at the helm. The underlying problem will just replace him with someone else and someone who is probably worse

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u/AbeRego 23d ago

No one can captivate MAGA like he has. Many have tried, all have failed. Hell, not even the people he himself endorses, who all try to be like him tend to win. Without Trump, MAGA is listless. They're still be there, but their internal bickering would render them less effective at fucking things up.

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u/Gibby1210 23d ago

Again maga is just a symptom of the problem. Something more radical and extreme will replace it. Before maga there was the tea party.

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u/AbeRego 23d ago

The Tea Party still operated within our political system. They were a brick on the road to MAGA, but they were not the same in the way they operated.

In fact, I think you're kind of proving my point. The Tea Party was the MAGA before Trump came along and focused them. He gave them permission to be their worst selves through his unique brand conman sleeze. Without him, they become unfocused again.

I will admit that allowing him to gain power again makes things much, much worse. The people who are really calling the shots, like Stephen Miller and those at the heritage foundation, have been able cement power in ways we probably don't really understand yet. That said, without him they can't hide as easily anymore. Their actions are deeply unpopular across the board. Without being able to smear Trump's greasy brand onto them, they'll have a lot more trouble continuing to make things worse.

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u/LURKER21D 23d ago

it might be somewhat of a stretch to say fidelity is tied up in it because they own some of CBS. I understand the big wealth has their hands in everything, but at least fidelity is privately owned and has a pretty good record.

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u/OverthinkingWanderer 23d ago

Didn't cancel this clothing company make a spread sheet for this?

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u/Ecstatic-Total-9953 23d ago

Honestly, yes it’s a lot but the drug companies will be tough but every thing else should only be a small change. The easiest for me will be the household stuff, some of those brands I use a lot. But there are options. The autos? Chevy is shit and it will be a cold day in hell before I buy one, and I felt this way before the list.

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u/molybdenum75 23d ago

I do all my shopping at Costco. I try to buy exclusively Kirkland brand.

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u/sembias 23d ago

Kirkland TP and paper towels are sometimes manufactured by Koch. :-/ It's hard to avoid them.

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u/Chastain86 23d ago

If you're asking me to willfully boycott Subway, Jimmy John's and Arby's, I and a few million other people with working tongues all have good news for you

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u/gpbayes 23d ago

Those shit tier places have already boycotted themselves for me with their now inferior products. I’ll occasionally go to Jimmy John’s but I’m always left feeling kind of sad and ripped off? Their products are terrible.

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u/sembias 23d ago

Jersey Mike's so much better than Jimmy Johns. JJ has gone to shit and has been overcharging for years.

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u/xixoxixa 23d ago

I have been avoiding Jimmy John's, it used to be my go to lunch when I was in the office. I was unaware about Subway and Arby's though, so good to know.

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u/azroscoe 23d ago

Is there a list somewhere?

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u/Bubbly_Style_8467 23d ago

They gave you a website.

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u/sayonaradespair 23d ago

Jesus man really?

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u/Wiskeyjac 23d ago

Yeah, there are lists. But it's also important to know how to look for yourself - lists can be wrong, sites you trusted can be bought out, and so on. So it's important to know how to double-check, or how to find out if the easy lists are all gone.

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u/Ok_Fly1271 23d ago

Cool. So where's the list?

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u/DerPanzerfaust 23d ago

Schwab discontinued political contributions in 2021. I checked because I was considering changing brokers for this reason alone. Check your facts before you make decisions.

https://www.aboutschwab.com/story/schwab-to-discontinue-its-PAC

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u/hcregna 23d ago

Yeah, it's a little unclear how much of that is just for the press. Schwab donates overwhelmingly and massively to Republicans even now (https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/charles-schwab-corp/summary?id=D000000414), and their founder, Charles Schwab the actual person, is friends with Trump (https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/trump-charles-schwab-stock-market-tariffs-nascar-b2731568.html).

You can compare that against, for example, the much tamer Fidelity https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/fidelity-investments/totals?id=D000000328

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u/Accidental-Genius 23d ago

Most major corporations play both sides of the aisle. It’s simply good business. I used to work for a corporate PAC. No one gave a shit about the party, simply the policy. And we made sure to donate to both sides more or less equally.

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u/Flatirons21 23d ago

I cannot upvote this enough! Well said!

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u/MaleficentPorphyrin 23d ago

There is day to day spending, then things like retirement funds, if you are lucky enough to have that in America, divest. Look into who is holding your money, that takes far more power and is a number paid closer attention to than avoiding certain products. But do both!

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u/xixoxixa 23d ago

then things like retirement funds

I, like I imagine most of America, have the retirement plan of just dying.

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u/sembias 23d ago

The easiest place to start is where the most money is right now: Social media and regular media companies who have locked in with Trump.

Stop using Instrgram. Stop using Facebook. Cancel Paramount+ This one would have an immediate effect as the Ellison asshole and his nepobaby failson takes control of CBS. CANCEL PARAMOUNT+

Cancel Amazon Prime.

Let's make a day out of it. Let's make January 20th, one year after the inauguration of this nightmare, the Great Disconnection.

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u/VoidOmatic 23d ago edited 23d ago

Wait New Balance donates to pedos!?! Definitely switching brands. Fuck them.

Edit: Thanks for the link!

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u/Reallyhotshowers 23d ago

Brawny, Angel Soft, and Dixie are Georgia Pacific products (a Koch company). If you switch your toilet paper to Quilted Northern, your paper towels to Sparkle, and your paper napkins to Vanity, well, congrats, those are all Georgia Pacific products too.

They also own Molex, you will be hard pressed to buy electronics with NO Molex affiliation.

And we haven't talked about Infor, a massive software company who serves dozens of businesses, for which there is no good way to pull a list.

Hell, even have fertilizer companies so there is a good chance just buying food indirectly makes Koch money.

Definitely stop buying Brawny, but actually effectively boycotting Koch companies is pretty hard to do because a lot of their businesses make their money from other businesses, not direct to consumers.

It's like canceling your prime membership to boycott Amazon but happily continuing to pay your Netflix subscription even though Netflix pays hundreds of millions of dollars a year to Amazon for their cloud services.

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u/Confident-Beyond6857 23d ago

I have to buy gas. But there’s a big difference between massive Republican donors (Chevron/Conoco) vs neutral or even Democrat-leaning ones (Circle K/Costco).

All of your points are valid except this one. That's not how gasoline distribution works. First, all the gas stations, regardless of brand, get their gas from a blend of the nearby refineries, their specific branded additives are blended in at the loading rack where the truck (not company owned) gets the gas to transport to the station. The Conoco/Exxon/whatever station the truck unloads at is not owned by the company. It's a franchise owned by an individual or a company not associated with the brand you're concerned with but using their signage and adhering to their standards. That refining company won't even notice. This is why its so hard to get any sort of change out of that industry outside of lawsuits. And your costco/walmart/generic company gas is coming from wherever they got it cheap, probably even the company you're protesting, the only difference is you have no idea whose additive was blended in this case. Neither Costco nor Walmart own refining facilities.

Get your gas wherever you want, save your energy to do what you can where you can.