Sunday, March 02, 2008

GOP-Friendly United Technologies Corporation Makes Bid for Diebold

By MARC MCDONALD

The United Technologies Corporation, which made a $3 billion bid for Diebold on Sunday, is a GOP-friendly company, if its campaign contributions are anything to go by.

Watchdog group CorpWatch notes that in the 2002 election, 62 percent of United Technologies' $699,242 in campaign contributions went to the GOP. In the 2004 election cycle, United Technologies made $788,011 in campaign contributions, with 64 percent of that going to the GOP.

The maker of the Black Hawk helicopter, United Technologies is a major military contractor. In 2005, it received over $5 billion in military contracts.

Diebold is one of the biggest makers of voting machines. The company has been the focus of controversy in recent years.

In 2003, Diebold's then-chief executive, Walden O'Dell, sent out a fund-raising letter in which he said he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to (President Bush) next year."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Major GOP contributor and defense contractor, manufacturer of Blackhawk helicopters views voting machine company that is losing money as a strategic piece of its vertical integration plans.
You never know when a customer might want a voting machine when they buy a Backhawk or other weapon system. Makes sense to me. Not!

Anonymous said...

Isn't United Technologies one of the companies that Carlyle Group is heavily invested in? I seem to remember George Bush in front of a United Tech banner addressing a large group just prior to the invasion of Iraq.

Either way, this is not good for voting rights in America.

Anonymous said...

Bastards... check out this fun piece from The Onion. http://www.theonion.com/content/video/diebold_accidentally_leaks?utm_source=embedded_video

Marc McDonald said...

Hi Anhoa, thanks for stopping by.

re:
>>I seem to remember George Bush
>>in front of a United Tech banner
>>addressing a large group just
>>prior to the invasion of Iraq.

I recall there being a such a scene in Michael Moore's "F9/11."

Marc McDonald said...

Hi Chris, thanks for stopping by. That Onion piece was right on target. Thanks for sharing it.
I think the GOP will indeed steal the election this year. And McCain is such a whore, I believe he will continue to flip-flop to the point where he will have extreme radical right positions that even a BushBot Kool-Aid drinker could support. This time next year, Limbaugh and the rest of the Nazi/GOP propaganda apparatus will be denying that they were ever critical of McCain (and their cult-like followers will believe them).