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Even putting aside the ethics of corporate giving to both parties, while legal, its obvious that bipartisan giving is becoming both financially and politically irrational. Bipartisan giving is no longer risk free and can even be actively detrimental to a corporations bottom line. And it is politically risky too.

The Jan. 6 committees public hearings have made it clear that we came frightfully close to losing our democracy. And while much of the focus is on one mans actions and that of his administration, members of Congress also played a critical role in advancing and spreading the Big Lie that has undermined our democracy. Today, those members of Congress who stand with truth barely outnumber those who chose to support the first serious attempt at a coup dtat since the Civil War. There are no longer two parties committed to ensuring our country remains a democracy. By giving to both sides, corporations are effectively saying that the possibility that this country ceases to be a democracy is a business risk theyre willing to take. They couldnt be more wrong.

Corporations have much incentive to preserve American democracy. Capitalism cannot exist without a democracy. As research has shown, democracy is good for business. American democracy has given corporations free rein to expand and innovate to develop new products and technologies that make everyones lives better and democratize access to information. There is a reason that Silicon Valley is located in California and not in Beijing.

If corporations want to continue to enjoy the ability to thrive and innovate, they need to commit to democracy not just in their words, but in their political giving. They must stop financing incumbents and challengers who support the Big Lie and are actively engaged in dismantling our democracy. Its time for them to choose. Either they support democracy and capitalism or they support autocracy.

This isnt just an abstract, moral requirement to do better for the sake of the world though it is that as well. And its not just a requirement that corporations defend the country that has allowed them to grow and prosper though this too is true. Corporations have a business incentive to fight for democracy.

With at least 20 million Americans tuning in to watch the Jan. 6 prime-time hearings, Americans are paying attention. Shareholders, asset managers, board members, employees, and customers are all interested in knowing which corporations are financing members of Congress who support the Big Lie. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, where I serve on the board of directors, has made it easy to follow the money. In the weeks following the Jan. 6 insurrection, hundreds of companies and industry groups committed to pause or stop giving to members of the so-called Sedition Caucus, the 147 members of Congress who voted not to certify the 2020 presidential election. Despite these initial commitments, over half of these companies have now gone back on their word and that number appears to be growing.

By continuing to support election objectors in Congress, corporations are taking another big risk because bipartisan political giving is becoming an issue of corporate governance. Directors and executives should think hard about whether donating their corporations funds to election objectors runs afoul of their legal obligations. Ethical corporate governance extends beyond the fact that the average CEO makes 351 percent as much as an average employee, or that corporate political spending doesnt align with their public messaging.

For corporations, there is no middle ground. They can continue their acquiescence to democratic decline by aligning themselves with those who support the Big Lie. Or they can choose to support truth, justice, the rule of law, and integrity with their campaign funding like the more than 70 companies, such as Nike and Microsoft, that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has found have kept their promises to not give to members of the Sedition Caucus.

Similarly, corporations can make a decision to not provide any corporate or PAC money to any candidate for public office. Either of these are principled decisions.

So yes, Home Depot, Toyota, AT&T, Walgreens, General Motors, and Comcast. Were talking about you and the other corporations that are financing the promoters of the Big Lie.

Shareholders, boards, regulators, employees, and consumers are all watching, because today, youre either part of the solution or youre part of the problem. Choose wisely.

Claudine Schneider, a former Republican US representative from Rhode Island who served for 10 years in Congress, is a member of the board of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

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Corporations, youre either part of the effort to secure democracy or dismantle it. Choose. - The Boston Globe