Honeywell's CEO isn't happy with GOP dissidents willing to entertain the notion of defaulting on the national debt - and he could make them suffer.
There's growing concern among top business leaders about the apparent willingness of some lawmakers to risk defaulting on the national debt. One such CEO, David M. Cote of Honeywell, was quoted in today's New York Times in a story prominently featuring OpenSecrets.org data.
“It’s clearly this faction within the Republican Party that’s causing the issue right now,” he told the NYT.
OpenSecrets.org data shows no federal donations to any politician from Cote, pictured on the left speaking to President Barack Obama at a 2010 White House event.
But the implied threat is that Honeywell might withhold some of its corporate PAC donations to GOP candidates who aren't more business friendly. And that would be significant: Honeywell is one of the biggest names in Washington -- even if it's not on the tip of every American's tongue.
According to our most recent data ranking top donors, Honeywell's corporate PAC and executives are the seventh largest source of political contributions this year. So far, they have combined to give about $1.4 million to candidates and committees -- almost all of it from the corporate PAC. In 2012, the company's PAC and employees gave a total of about $5.3 million, ranking Honeywell 40th out of roughly 21,000 organizations that we track.
And Honeywell's PAC favors the GOP. So far this year, 58 percent of the PAC's donations have gone to Republicans. Historically, going back to 1990, about 55 percent of the contributions from Honeywell's PAC and employees have gone to Republicans.
Also, its history suggests the PAC has little interest in newcomers. In 2012, Honeywell gave about $3.1 million to incumbent members of Congress and just $121,708 to nonincumbents. While that may work in favor of current members of Congress (and contribute to the high rate of re-election for incumbents), it also suggests that the company is invested in maintaining the status quo.
All of that adds up to something the "faction within the Republican party" might want to take note of -- particularly since many of them have received Honeywell contributions.
In fact, in 2012 it funded 16 of the 20 House Republican caucus members that were identified by the New York Times last week as strong dissidents within the party. Honeywell is a sizable contributor to a number of them. So far this year the PAC has contributed $43,757 to their campaigns. Since we found that these 20 have been raising less money than the average Republican House member, a threat by Honeywell to turn off the tap could be serious.
Some lawmakers have more to worry about than others, of course. Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), who challenged the idea that failing to raise the debt ceiling would cause a default, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Honeywell donations, getting $23,999 for his campaign committee and leadership PAC in the 2012 campaign cycle. That was enough to make the corporate PAC his third largest source of campaign cash and make Schweikert the Honeywell PAC's third favorite member of Congress in terms of contributions. So far this year, Honeywell's PAC has given Schweikert $3,500, and one of its lobbyists has given another $1,000.
In fact, in 2012 it funded 16 of the 20 House Republican caucus members that were identified by the New York Times last week as strong dissidents within the party. Honeywell is a sizable contributor to a number of them. So far this year the PAC has contributed $43,757 to their campaigns. Since we found that these 20 have been raising less money than the average Republican House member, a threat by Honeywell to turn off the tap could be serious.
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