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Posted on 04/28/2011 11:45:26 AM PDT by nmh
Washington, D.C. Today, the National Center For Public Policy Research hammered Johnson & Johnson CEO William C. Weldon over his company's partisan lobbying at its annual shareholder meeting in New Brunswick, New Jersey. National Center General Counsel Justin Danhof wasked Weldon to justify his firm spending shareholder money to support unpopular policies such as ObamaCare and cap-and-trade.
Weldon said that he was proud of his company's lobbying positions even if they were not perfect, and he would not change his position even in the face of stark evidence that, as a result, many Johnson & Johnson consumers now view the pharmaceutical giant unfavorably.
J&J is a member of the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) lobby. Through its contributions to PhRMA, Johnson & Johnson directly supported the passage of ObamaCare.
"Johnson & Johnson shareholders and consumers deserve to know just how much company money Weldon used to help pass President Obama's health care takeover. PhRMA authorized its lobby to spend $150 million to advertise and support ObamaCare, and today, Weldon claimed he was unable to say how much of that was Johnson & Johnson money, even though he promised to do so over a year ago," said Danhof.
Johnson & Johnson is also a member of the U.S Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), which aggressively lobbies for costly cap-and-trade programs for carbon emissions.
...
Some key findings of the poll include:
* Sixty percent of conservative voters said they are less likely to buy products from companies that have lobbied in favor of Obama's legislative agenda.
* 60 percent of conservatives active in the tea party had a favorable opinion of Johnson & Johnson, but this number plunged to 8 percent after they were informed of Johnson & Johnson's support of Obama's policies.
cont'd
BOYCOTT ALL JOHNSON AND JOHNSON PRODUCTS
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalcenter.org ...
or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org
Judy Kent at (703) 759-7476 or jkent@nationalcenter.org
...
At the 2010 Johnson & Johnson shareholder meeting, under questioning from National Center Free Enterprise Project Johnson & Johnson CEO William C. Weldon to Responds to National Center Questions About Firm’s Pro-ObamaCare and Cap-and-Trade Lobbying
...
Director Dr. Tom Borelli, Weldon confidently stated that his company would suffer no reputational damage for supporting Obama's liberal policy agenda. However, in October 2010, the National Center, together with FreedomWorks,commissioned a poll that shows Johnson & Johnson's favorability rating among conservatives and tea party activists plummeted once the participants were informed of the company's lobbying priorities. Even more important to shareholders, consumers said this drop in favorability would affect buying decisions. Danhof presented the poll to the Johnson & Johnson board of directors at this morning's meeting.
...
The survey was conducted by Wilson Research Strategies and has a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percent. It can be viewed at: http://www.nationalcenter.org/teapartysurvey.pdf.
"Someone with Weldon's business acumen should know that backing an extremely partisan agenda might create a backlash. By overseeing Johnson & Johnson's lobbying, Weldon has damaged his company's reputation, and that may affect the company's bottom line," said Danhof. "When I presented Weldon with the poll results and asked if he would finally admit that supporting President Obama's policies harmed Johnson & Johnson's reputation, he stood firm on his liberal agenda. Weldon is not concerned about the many Johnson & Johnson consumers and shareholders that disagree with his company's progressive lobbying for ObamaCare and cap-and-trade. It is shocking that a businessman would knowingly and willingly alienate such a large share of the marketplace," said Danhof.
"Programs like ObamaCare and cap-and-trade increase the size and scope of the federal government and decrease freedom and essential liberties. Multiple federal judges have declared ObamaCare unconstitutional, and if it is imposed, it will lead to decreased health care for many Americans. President Obama's plans for cap-and-trade would increase consumer costs and destroy American jobs," said Danhof. "Consumers and shareholders should hold Johnson & Johnson accountable for promoting this dangerous agenda."
The National Center For Public Policy Research is a Johnson & Johnson stockholder.
The National Center for Public Policy Research, established in 1982, is supported by the voluntary gifts of over 100,000 recent supporters. It receives less than 1% of its revenue from corporate sources.
BOYCOTT ALL PRODUCTS FROM JOHNSON AND JOHNSON!
National Center for Public Policy Research 501 Capitol Court, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002 (202) 543-4110 Fax (202) 543-5975 E-Mail: info@nationalcenter.org Web: www.nationalcenter.org
I had to chop this e-mail memo up to fit FR’s rules on character limits. For the complete memo, in the proper order, go here:
http://www.nationalcenter.org/PR-JohnsonandJohnson_042711.html
I’ll try to post it again in it’s entirety.
For Release: April 27, 2011
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or (703) 568-4727 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org or Judy Kent at (703) 759-7476 or jkent@nationalcenter.org
Shareholders to Challenge Johnson & Johnson’s Support for Left-Wing Policy Agenda
Johnson & Johnson CEO William C. Weldon to be Questioned on Firm’s Failure to Disclose Financial Information on Firm’s ObamaCare Lobbying it Pledged to Release at the Last Meeting
Washington, D.C. - The National Center For Public Policy Research will grill Johnson & Johnson executives over the firm’s lobbying for bigger government Thursday, April 28 at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in New Brunswick, New Jersey. National Center General Counsel Justin Danhof will demand specific answers about the company’s pro-ObamaCare lobbying that Johnson & Johnson CEO William C. Weldon promised to provide but failed to do.
A National Center for Public Policy Research/FreedomWorks poll shows the pharmaceutical giant is vulnerable to a boycott by conservatives.
Johnson & Johnson’s favorability among conservatives fell from 69 percent to 19 percent and from 60 percent to 8 percent among tea party activists after participants were informed of the company’s lobbying for ObamaCare and cap-and-trade.
In addition to supporting Obama’s health care takeover, Johnson & Johnson is a member of the United States Climate Action Partnership, a left-wing lobbying coalition formed to promote job-killing global warming regulations such as cap-and-trade.
“From the ObamaCare bill to cap-and-trade legislation, President Obama has been able to count on Johnson & Johnson for aid and comfort. By supporting Obama’s economically disastrous policies, Johnson & Johnson is working to increase the power and scope of the federal government at the expense of American liberties and values. Weldon should explain why he is risking Johnson & Johnson’s reputation, goodwill and shareholder value to promote a big-government agenda,” said Danhof.
Johnson & Johnson is a member of the Pharmaceutical Researchers and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which aggressively lobbied for President Obama’s health care takeover. At last year’s Johnson & Johnson shareholder meeting, Weldon promised National Center Free Enterprise Project Director Dr. Tom Borelli that the firm would disclose precisely how much shareholder money his company spent promoting the ObamaCare legislation.
“Despite repeated requests from the National Center and his own pledge in front of shareholders last year, Weldon still refuses to release those figures. It is time for Weldon to come clean with company stakeholders - many of whom undoubtedly oppose the ObamaCare agenda,” said Danhof.
At last year’s shareholder meeting, Weldon told Dr. Borelli, “I don’t think there is any reputational damage” due to the company’s lobbying for ObamaCare’s passage.
“The poll numbers don’t lie. Tea party activists and conservatives have indicated a willingness to vote with their wallets and forgo Johnson & Johnson products. That could result in real economic loss for shareholders. Weldon needs to explain why he continues to oversee Johnson & Johnson’s support of President Obama’s unpopular policies instead of upholding his fiduciary duty and protecting the shareholders’ investments in the company he is tasked to run,” Danhof stated.
To view a transcript of CEO Weldon’s conversation with Dr. Borelli at the 2010 shareholder meeting and subsequent communications between Johnson & Johnson and the National Center for Public Policy Research, see: http://www.nationalcenter.org/ObamacareLobbying.pdf
For more details on the National Center for Public Policy Research/FreedomWorks poll, see: http://www.nationalcenter.org/teapartysurvey.pdf
The National Center For Public Policy Research is a Johnson & Johnson stockholder.
The National Center For Public Policy Research is a conservative, free-market non-profit think-tank established in 1982. It is supported by the voluntary gifts of over 100,000 individual recent supporters, and receives less than one percent of its revenue from corporate sources.
Thank you for this information. I consider myself to be pretty informed, but I did not know about this and will now avoid Johnson and Johnson. I will also spread the word.
We live in NJ and in previous business dealings in the private sector KNOW they are to the LEFT. Internally they are VERY politically correct. They will hire based ONLY on HOW a person LOOKS and bend over backwards to accommodate the incompetence of that person.
I've noticed they are going nuts with solar panels. It looks like bleachers in front of their buildings. That I know is ridiculous but I didn't know how closely they were in bed with Obama.
It's crazy to see a decent company go for cronyism capitalism to stay in business and BELIEVE this is right. Going along with this, they believe will benefit THEIR bottom line and destroy their competition that doesn't. I am totally disgusted with them and will NOT be buying ANY more of their products. Please do me a favor and SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT J&J! Unload their stock too!
I will avoid Johnson and Johnson products from now on.
Obama has Big Pharma in the bag and vice versa. It’s called Crony Capitalism. It’s the small fish in the industry that will get fried with obamacare. That’s why Big Pharma supports Obamacare. Eli Lilly CEO John Lechlieter recently expressed his love for Obamacare too. Colonel Lilly is rolling over in his grave.
And if we want to see how Crony Capitalism works out, we just need to take a glance at Japan. Prospects are poor, to say the least, but preventing it means getting people to forego immediate returns in favor of long-term solvency when they can punch their ticket now and let everyone else suffer later.
Easy to boycott J&J products. They are always pulled from the shelves due to recalls.
Playing politics rather than tending to their business.
No wonder they’re all for the maoist. Birds of a feather.
Spread the word.
Recalls HELP to also damage their crappy over priced products.
Thanks!
Tell others!
hell, even their band-aids come from china now. the best thing they ever made, J&J first aid cream has been discontinued.
I know that they make band-aids, but do you have a list of other products and are they sold under other brand names?
baby powder?
I won’t buy their products anymore after reading this thread.
I hope the bastards go bankrupt.
More importantly, I hope a large group of stockholders band together to sue Weldon for breach of fiduciary duty. As the head of a publically traded company he has the obligation to act in the best interests of his stockholders. Taking actions which he knew, or should have known, would damage the value of the company's brand is antithetical to the interests of stockholders.
Of course, he will have the chance to show how, because of deals with the White House, this was actually in the stockholder's best interest. But my, oh my, the discovery will be interesting as the plaintiffs get to review any communications between Weldon and the White House!
His biography touts his involvement in ‘diversity’ efforts within the industry. It’s also interesting that he was 20 in 1968 and yet has not military experience.
I didn't need to know about this, although I was aware of their support for OBamacare, because I've been boycotting their products for about 15 years.
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