Corporate Integrity Project

Scandals involving Enron, Tyco, Global Crossing, Boeing and WorldCom have shaken confidence in America's corporate leaders. NLPC seeks to promote integrity in corporate governance, including honesty and fair play in relationships with shareholders, employees, business partners and customers. In doing so, NLPC places special emphasis on:

  • Asserting that the social responsibility of the corporation is to defend and advance the interests of the people who own the company, the shareholders. True responsibility is fidelity to one’s own mission, not someone else’s, or someone else’s political agenda.
  • Exposing the seeking of influence on public officials by corporations, which is the inevitable result of high levels of government spending and intervention in the marketplace.
  • Combating practices that undermine the free enterprise system, including philanthropic giving to groups hostile to a free economy.
Walmart Black Friday Protests: We Told You So
Peter Flaherty
11/23/2012 - 14:08

Walkout on Walmart posterThe anti-Walmart protests today organized by the United Food and Commercial Workers union are the clearest evidence yet that the company's campaign of appeasement of left-wing activist groups is failing. Indeed, it appears the policy has invited more defamation and harassment. We told you so.

NLPC documented the emergence of this policy in a Special Report titled Wal-Mart Embraces Controversial Causes: Bid to Appease Liberal Interest Groups Will Likely Fail, Hurt Business. Written by John Carlisle, it was published in 2006 and updated in 2008. Click here to download the 24-page pdf version.

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Bailed-Out Ally Financial Unit Comes Full Circle Back to GM
Mark Modica
11/23/2012 - 09:16

Ally financial girlThe final pieces are coming together in the General Motors' restructuring puzzle as the company has, not surprisingly, won its bid to repurchase government-owned Ally Financial's European and Latin American lending operations. GM was forced to spin off all but 10% of Ally Financial back when it was known as GMAC.

Back in late 2008, the spigots of taxpayer money were open and GM had its cup out. In order for GM's lending arm (GMAC) to receive TARP funds, GM had to divest all but less than 10% of the company so that GMAC could be granted status as a bank holding company. Under President Bush's watch, the Federal Reserve approved the move and the company that is now known as Ally Financial eventually received about $17 billion of taxpayer money. GM itself would eventually end up with about $50 billion of taxpayer money, mostly distributed during Obama's term.

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The Ethics of Forest Certification: When Unintended Consequences Result
Ken Boehm
11/13/2012 - 12:00

forest photo"One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions and not by their results."  — Dr. Milton Friedman

The free market has long been recognized as one of the best methods for consumers to get a wide variety of choices, while at the same time the competition for the consumer dollar incentivizes producers and sellers to offer the best possible value for the price.

Free market advocates have demonstrated that, all too often, interventions in the market such as tariffs, regulations, taxes, and so forth - imposed with the best of intentions - not only rob the consumer of choice but increase the ultimate cost of goods and services.

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Did Taxpayers Fund Obama Reelection Through Auto Bailout?
Mark Modica
11/08/2012 - 10:09

Obama and MarchionneIt is being suggested that President Obama's reelection was at least in part helped by the auto industry bailouts, or more accurately, the portrayal of the bailouts by the president and the media. It is therefore important to surmise that the precedent setting auto bankruptcy proceedings saw billions of taxpayer dollars used to not only help the industry, but to fund the reelection of the sitting president that orchestrated the process.

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How Healthy is Auto Industry? - American Suzuki Goes Bankrupt
Mark Modica
11/06/2012 - 10:26

SuzukiNow that the election season is coming to an end, we may get a clearer picture in the near future as to just how "healthy" the auto industry really is. Another car company has just filed for bankruptcy as American Suzuki announced that it is filing for chapter 11 protection and will no longer be selling vehicles in America.

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VIDEO: Romney is Right About Jeep Production in China
NLPC Staff
11/02/2012 - 09:22

NLPC Associate Fellow Mark Modica was a guest Wednesday night on Fox Business Network's Willis Report. Here's a transcript:

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Fact Checking Romney and GM on Job Creation Claims
Mark Modica
11/01/2012 - 11:20

General Motors is criticizing Mitt Romney for running an ad that says GM cut 15,000 jobs under the Obama Administration. The Detroit Free Press reported that GM spokesman Greg Martin (speaking about the Romney ad) stated, "No amount of campaign politics at its cynical worst will diminish our record of creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country."

Leaving aside for a moment the bigger issue of a taxpayer-supported entity improperly inserting itself in an election, lets examine the facts. A look at GM's annual SEC filings gives a clear picture of how many people were employed by the company both before and after the Obama Administration guided the company through a bankruptcy process.

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Fiat’s Benchmark to Outsource Chrysler Jeep – $1 in Savings
Mark Modica
10/31/2012 - 06:45

Obama Marchionne photoFiat CEO Sergio Marchionne discussed, in limited detail, some of the Italian company's plans for future production of its vehicles, including the Chrysler and Jeep brands, during an earnings conference call yesterday. There has been much recent speculation on the possibility that some of the once American-owned Chrysler Jeep vehicles will be outsourced and produced overseas.

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AUTO BAILOUT BOMBSHELL: Fiat Says Chrysler, Jeep Production May Move to Italy
Mark Modica
10/29/2012 - 10:25

Obama Marchionne photoComing hot on the heels of speculation that some Jeep production may be moved to China comes a bombshell from a Bloomberg report. Fiat is now considering moving Chrysler and Jeep production to Italy.

According to the piece, "To counter the severe slump in European sales, (Fiat CEO Sergio) Marchionne is considering building Chrysler models in Italy, including Jeeps, for export to North America. The Italian government is evaluating tax rebates on export goods to help Fiat. Marchionne may announce details of his plan as soon as Oct. 30, the people said."

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Romney is Right About Chrysler / Jeep China Outsourcing
Mark Modica
10/27/2012 - 23:28

Fiat Chrysler logosThere is nothing like having unbiased media coverage of the all-important presidential campaign leading up to next week's election. And the media is nothing like unbiased. We see this playing out again as Mitt Romney is now being accused of misrepresenting a story that Bloomberg.com reported on Chrysler's potential outsourcing of Jeep manufacturing to China. A look at the original comments from the article gives evidence as to how unfair the criticism is and just how right Romney was for pointing out the likely future outsourcing of Jeep manufacturing.

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