Target apologizes for Minn. donation

[Newsjock]

Source: Associated Press

The head of Target Corp. apologized Thursday over a political donation to a business group backing a conservative Republican for Minnesota governor, which angered some employees and sparked talk of a customer boycott.

Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel wrote employees to say the discount retailer was "genuinely sorry" over the way a $150,000 contribution to MN Forward donation played out. Steinhafel said Target would set up a review process for future political donations.

... "While I firmly believe that a business climate conducive to growth is critical to our future, I realize our decision affected many of you in a way I did not anticipate, and for that I am genuinely sorry," Steinhafel wrote.

He added, "The diversity of our team is an important aspect of our unique culture and our success as a company, and we did not mean to disappoint you, our team or our valued guests."

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gatjjI3CeoDu25CQYcvPOuWgvWfAD9HDFV600

[qb]

1. Not good enough, and a long time coming.

Make it right, Target & Best Buy.
www.hrc.org

[wellstone dem]

26. Thanks for that link

I appreciate it.

[crim son]

31. What's up with Best Buy?

I haven't heard. I already avoid Target like the plague but I owe a balance on a BB card.

[katandmoon]

2. Target already showed its ass, too late to try to cover it now.

[Downwinder]

7. I'm not forgiving them until they make comparable donations to other candidates.

[breadandwine]

3. Oooh! I didn't realize that LITTLE people actually have to BUY the things we BIG people make!

Well, here's a perfunctory apology.


Now back to screwing the little people some more......

[sybylla]

15. Looks more to me like a non-apology apology.

They're not apologizing for doing it. They're apologizing for the fact that everyone found out they were doing it.

They can take a flying fucking leap as far as I'm concerned until they stop playing politics all together.

[cyr330]

4. Just spent my last dollar @ Target!

I don't spend $$ on organizations that donate to Repigs. . .

[Robbien]

5. So, not sorry they made the donation. Just miffed that people are judging them.

So sorry YOU got yourself upset. Please keep buying our stuff.

[Roci]

6. What he didn't say

So, show me again where it says they took the money back, and are giving it (or an equal amount) to any other organization in Minnesota that does good work? This press release is pucky. Let's see some action behind his hollow words. Until I see something more and better than this, Target is off my shopping list, and with the Holidays coming up, maybe someone ought to consider more than a "band-aid" for this stupidity.

Well Mr.Steinhafel?

Roci

[superconnected]

8. Ah, they didn't give the same amount to the other party to make it even?

They didn't say they wouldn't do political donations in the future?

They aren't interested in fixing this. They're only trying to play people for idiots to get them to shop in Target so more of those unsuspecting buyer's monies can be put to a political party they don't support.

[jberryhill]

9. I always liked the "apology" John Belushi gave the guitar player in Animal House

[wellstone dem]

10. the apology was only to employees and they could easily make it right

by giving $150,000 to Michele Bachmann's opponent. www.tarrylclark.com

[karmkay]

11. Didn't do their homework

This will be a good lesson to those businesses whose research tells them that gays and lesbians have a lot of dough to spend.
Piss us off at your peril.
Target has supported a MN gay pride parade, but this stupid contribution probably undid all the good will that its parade support had engendered in the LGBT community.

[activa8tr]

22. It's not only gays and lesbians that boycotted. But I got your point.

Let's make sure ugly corporations keep being punished a little while longer.

I think they should give a few millions to progressives this fall, and screw the Teabagger Republicans who are mostly just poor and unemployed and seniors on fixed income.. no boycott threat of any significance if Target screws Teabagger candidates from now on.

[hedgehog]

29. All of us on the Left need to learn from this and make

any corporation that donates to the Right feel our pain.

[cate94]

12. I hate these non-apology apologies.

Do you think we are stupid? Sorry for the way that played out? Nice. You donate to a homophobe, racist POS and you are sorry for the way it played out. Some apology.

How conducive to business growth is it to alienate: Gays? Hispanics? Democrats? Sane Republicans?

[savalez]

45. It's like saying...

"I'm sorry if you were offended by me"

instead of,

"I'm sorry that I offended you"

There's a difference.

[WatchWhatISay]

13. "our valued guests"

This is why I hate Target worse than Wal Mart. When was the last time you charged your guests for everything they used or consumed when they came to your home. When I must go to their store, I am their customer, not their guest.

I once complained about something ringing up different than the price shown on the shelf, and the manager apologized that their "guests" sometimes put things back in the wrong place on the shelf. But that is not always the case. Watch your bill when you shop there. Things often don't ring up at the price they are advertised for.

[SocialistLez]

18. Same goes for Wal-Mart. I've had to correct them plenty. NT

[BlueIdaho]

14. "I am sorry I got caught." nt.

[Sherman A1]

16. Precisely

That is the answer

[SocialistLez]

17. Whatever. They are losing money. They need to try to make it right.

http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/target_pays_the_price_on_the_stock_market_for_anti-gay_donation

[wellstone dem]

19. The best article I've seen on the depth of Target's commitment to anti-gay politicians.

http://www.theawl.com/2010/08/real-america-target-doesnt-support-gay-equality-because-it-never-did

"The truth is not that Target and its leadership have suddenly turned on their commitment to gay rights. It's more that it never really existed to begin with. Further research shows that Target has funneled significant funding to the most socially conservative of Republicans and that it boasts a frightening culture of anti-gay candidate support from Target's own stable of top executives.

We have already noted that CEO Gregg Steinhafel and his wife both maxed out their personal contributions this year to Michele Bachmann and Tom Emmer. But Steinhafel is just the captain of the crew.

....

Of the small handful of donations he's made, Target CFO Douglas Scovanner has given to both Rep. John Kline and Rep. Erik Paulson. John Kline joined Bachmann with a group of Republican members of Congress who put their names on a lawsuit to force the District of Columbia to put gay marriage to a Prop 8-like referendum. Meanwhile, Paulson supports amending the constitution to ban gay equality.

Of the five candidates to whom Target CMO Michael Francis has donated, three are George W. Bush and the aforementioned John Kline and Erik Paulson. Target's Chief Information Officer Beth Jacob gave her largest personal donation ever to Erik Paulson. John Kline also received money from Terrence Scully, Target's president of financial services. So did anti-gay amendment-supporter Mitch McConnell, who isn't even a representative of Minnesota.

...."

[activa8tr]

20. In OTHER news today, corporate America acts like corporate America

and dogs bite man! Film at 11.

[derby378]

21. If Steinhafel was REALLY sorry, he'd ask for that $150K back

Otherwise, he's just an oily little schmuck.

[activa8tr]

23. Excellent point! n/t

[onehandle]

27. Exactly right. nt

[seafan]

24. Well, well. The Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling is starting to take some casualties.

What we have here is a double-edged sword.

These corporations are going to learn from the populace that there will be a price extracted when they bankroll regressive politics at the expense of our well-being.



AP

August 5. 2010

ST. PAUL, Minn. — The head of Target Corp. apologized Thursday over a political donation to a business group backing a conservative Republican for Minnesota governor, which angered some employees and sparked talk of a customer boycott.

Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel wrote employees to say the discount retailer was "genuinely sorry" over the way a $150,000 contribution to MN Forward donation played out. Steinhafel said Target would set up a review process for future political donations.

MN Forward is running TV ads supporting Republican Tom Emmer, an outspoken conservative opposed to same-sex marriage and other gay-rights initiatives that have come before Minnesota's Legislature.

Steinhafel said the contribution from the corporate treasury to a political effort, which until this year wasn't allowed, was designed to support his stance on economic issues. Ads run by the group were focused on budget policy, not social issues.

.....

The reaction to Target's donation highlights the potential risks for businesses that seek to take advantage of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that threw out parts of a 63-year-old law that prohibited campaign donations from company funds. The ruling changed regulations in about half the states, but the Target donation in Minnesota was among the first major new corporate moves to come to light.

.....

From the Minneapolis Star Tribune on July 27, 2010:

.....

That led to a week of bruising reaction from Target employees and gay-rights activists that included a nationwide e-mail campaign and petition claiming 15,000 signatures.

On Tuesday, Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel defended the donation, saying it was driven by economic, not social, issues.

.....

"Let me be very clear," Steinhafel wrote in a note to employees at headquarters. "Target's support of the GLBT community is unwavering, and inclusiveness remains a core value of our company."

.....

That wasn't enough for Monica Meyer, interim executive director of OutFront Minnesota, which wrote a letter to Steinhafel.
"This is inconsistent with their values to support the only candidate for governor who stands up for discrimination and divisiveness in Minnesota," she said.

Emmer has pledged to restore prosperity to the state, insisting he will resolve the state's multibillion-dollar deficit without tax increases or accounting gimmicks. But Emmer's positions on social issues have raised eyebrows: He previously proposed to chemically castrate sex offenders and redirect state money away from an AIDS prevention program.

.....

David Schultz, a Hamline University professor who teaches political science, said he was surprised Target would wade into the gubernatorial race so conspicuously.
"I thought they would have sat this one out because they are so smart in terms of marketing," he said. "Target has had the warm fuzzies with progressives for years. ... Now they risk alienating half the state's population."

Randi Reitan, a gay-rights activist from Eden Prairie, said she was so upset with Target's endorsement that she went to a Target store Tuesday and cut up her Target credit card while telling a manager about her displeasure.

.....

In addition to Target, other donors to this right wing crank group include:

According to public campaign reports, other contributors to MN Forward include Red Wing Shoes, Best Buy Co., Pentair Inc., Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., Davisco Foods International Inc. and Polaris Industries Inc. ---LINK

And Regis Corp.

(details below)

MN Forward is backed by the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and the Minnesota Business Partnership and has raked in $700,000 from Minnesota companies.

Bearing the brunt

So far though, Target has taken the brunt of the heat. Both Regis Corp. and Best Buy Co. Inc. contributed $100,000 each to MN Forward with little reaction from anybody, they said.

Best Buy put an item in its "Employee News" on Tuesday without mentioning the amount of the contribution, but explained that "Best Buy does not support candidates or campaigns based on party affiliation," but on issues important to the company and retail industry.

Regis CEO Paul Finkelstein said it's about taxes and jobs -- and not candidate Emmer.

"From a social perspective, I don't agree with many of his platforms," Finkelstein said. "My concern, frankly, is jobs. We have to have a tax policy that enables us to be able to create jobs."

..... LINK

No, Mr. CEOs.

You cannot hide your financial support of regressive policies behind the false rhetoric of "it's about taxes and jobs."



It's about the rights of people.



There will be unintended consequences in the face of the right wing glee over the Citizens United ruling.

[KamaAina]

25. Fine. Now donate an equal amount to a pro-LGBT rights Dem.

or repuke, for that matter, if there is one, besides Ted Olson of course. :eyes:

[cyr330]

28. Tough Shit

Too late now. They've lost my business forever. I don't knowingly give $ to organizations that contribute to Repigs. They're only sorry they got caught.

[Permanut]

30. Hmmm, a business climate

conducive to growth? Okay, let's compare your growth during the Clinton years to the Bush years, and donate accordingly. Asshat.

[David Zephyr]

32. Target Apologizes For Political Donation

Source: AP

The head of Target Corp. apologized Thursday over a political donation to a business group backing a conservative Republican for Minnesota governor, which angered some employees and sparked talk of a customer boycott.

Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel wrote employees to say the discount retailer was "genuinely sorry" over the way a $150,000 contribution to MN Forward donation played out. Steinhafel said Target would set up a review process for future political donations.

MN Forward is running TV ads supporting Republican Tom Emmer, an outspoken conservative opposed to same-sex marriage and other gay-rights initiatives that have come before Minnesota's Legislature.

OutFront Minnesota, a gay-rights advocacy group, posted an open letter urging Target to take back its money from MN Forward. And "Boycott Target" Facebook groups began to appear.


Read more: http://cbs2.com/business/target.campaign.donation.2.1845204.html

[peacebird]

33. "genuinely sorry" enough to give $150k to pro-GLBT candidates?

balance the donations out as it were? Or just "genuinely sorry" that there is a boycott and backlash against target?

[Faygo Kid]

34. Got caught.

Only reason right-winger Steinhafel "apologized."

[RKP5637]

35. It kind of rings hollow, like BP, a murderer or whatever apologizing after caught... n/t

[L0oniX]

36. I also apologize for the fact that I am never going to shop at a Target store ever again.

[mascarax]

37. He really just apologized to employees -- typical "Repub-sorry-we-got-exposed"

and definitely left the door open to future donations (they'll just have a committee or something').

Not a real apology to employees.
And no mention of customers.

We're through with Target, Best Buy, and Holiday...and the others who donated to MN Forward.

[peacetalksforall]

38. I could never stand going into Best Buy because of the noise. So they have just locked it in for

me.

And I am one who holds a grudge, so I know I won't go to Target unless something great happens to reverse this atrocity - like replacing the Board of Directors.

And yes, I think this quote is from yesterday and its only to employees and what they now have to go through, but it is verrrrrry weak and sly.

[soleiri]

39. Where's the apology for the donation?

He apologized for the way it "played out" not for making the donation.

"genuinely sorry over the way a $150,000 contribution to MN Forward donation played out."


I'm still boycotting.

[SILVER__FOX52]

40. Target SUCKS !!!!!!!!

I haven't shopped there in years and I never will, now.

[DesertFlower]

41. dear target. i'm sorry. i'm not accepting

your apology.

[Hawkeye-X]

42. I will accept the apology if:

They give $5m immediately to progressive causes, including GBLT causes, and Target pledges to REFUSE to donate a fucking penny to Rethuglicans and Rethuglican causes. Plus, another $10 million set aside for progressive causes to eliminate corporate personhood forever. AND give everyone who has shopped in Target for the last three weeks when they did the deed an $100 gift certificate as an form of apology.

Hawkeye-X

[aquart]

43. Hope that's a copy of what you sent them.

[savalez]

44. I am boycotting Target and Best Buy!

I don't have a need for Red Wing and am already Boycotting Polaris for moving their plant to Mexico.

Can someone tell me if there is or will be a website exposing all corporate donations?