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radical Archives – Concerned Women for America

The ABCs of “ESG”

By | ESG, LBB, News and Events | No Comments

You have either heard of it, or you will, but the radical ideology known as “ESG” is harming you.

 

ESG stands for “Environmental, Social, and Governance.” It is a set of standards used to measure, at its core, a company’s “wokeness.” The more woke a company is—think Green New Deal policies, abortion travel policies, and diversity quotas—the better its “ESG score,”  and the more access the company attains for capital, credit, and other financial perks.

 

The economic pressure is real. Companies are increasingly changing internal policies to meet these leftist standards, and the impact is all around us. Here are the top three areas of concern:

 

Asset Management: Many companies offer investment portfolios that are ESG-friendly to bolster businesses that are sufficiently woke. And it does not stop with private companies. The Biden Department of Labor, for example, is encouraging fiduciaries for retirement plans and pensions “to consider climate change and other environmental, social, and governance factors when they select retirement investments and exercise shareholder rights, such as proxy voting.” Without even knowing it, shareholders who are not careful support woke companies that hate their values and punish the companies that they support. It is no matter that ESG-focused investments have many times resulted in a worse economic return for shareholders. Nor are financial firms very concerned about enforcing ESG in China as long as the investment there is profitable.

 

Banking: Poorly scored companies risk experiencing reduced or eliminated access to capital and credit. If your bank fully embraces the ESG model and you want a loan, it will look at your business not only for its pecuniary value but also for its alignment with ESG. Your business may be a “bad” investment, no matter how well it does financially. Does your business provide abortion coverage? Does it support LGBTQ+ causes? Does your business align with the Black Lives Matter idea of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI)? Unless there are abortion travel policies or race quotas, expect low marks. An ESG-controlled economy means capital withheld from profitmaking business activity and capital funneled to underperforming business activity. Left unchecked, the end result is that all American companies—including Main Street small businesses—are weak and woke.

 

Consumers: ESG reinforces corporate “wokeism.” The consequence is a culture that devalues the unborn, commodifies women and sex, harms children through indoctrination, etc., and also punishes any consumer who does not show allegiance to this radical, leftist ideology.

 

What can be done? Put the pressure back on the financial institutions rather than the other way around. We support states that are fighting back by barring state pension funds from considering ESG factors in investment decisions. If you are a shareholder, pay attention to your vote. If you have a relationship with your bank, learn their views on ESG. And if you are a consumer, as best you can, pursue alternative options to woke companies.

 

DOJ Politicization Adding to the Obliteration of Public Confidence in the Rule of Law

By | LBB, Legal, News and Events, Sanctity of Life | No Comments

“Eleven Charged With FACE Act Violations Stemming From 2021 Blockade of Mount Juliet Reproductive Health Clinic,” read the Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee press release. Translation: The U.S. Department of Justice uses law enforcement to harass the Biden Administration’s political adversaries. They see it all as part of their vengeful crusade to protect “reproductive rights” after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.

 

The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin from the Middle District of Tennessee and Kristen M. Clarke, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. Clarke is a pro-abortion radical who testified in Congress in 2020 for the codification of a “Constitutional right to abortion.” She believes, “The right to reproductive care, including abortion care, is inextricably intertwined with the ability of women to attain upward mobility …” and that “limits on access to abortion are not just a reproductive rights issue, but a matter that squarely threatens to undermine racial justice, and that necessitates federal legislation.”

 

Naturally, President Joe Biden selected Clarke in 2021 to head the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, ensuring this sort of unjust, politically motivated actions against the Administration’s political opponents would materialize.

 

Meanwhile, DOJ continues to ignore the numerous attacks on pro-life clinics and churches since the Dobbs decision. You might recall CWA was itself vandalized.

 

The pro-life activists were charged under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act under an indictment that “alleges that, beginning in February 2021, Chester Gallagher utilized social media to promote a series of anti-abortion events scheduled for March 4-7, 2021, in the Nashville area.” DOJ announced, “If convicted, those charged with conspiracy face up to 11 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.”

 

As if that were not shameful enough, the politicized department proudly announced that “This case was investigated by the FBI,” which has come under unprecedented disrepute following its disgraceful mishandling of numerous cases. From the Larry Nassar case, where the victim’s families are seeking $130 million for their reckless and cruel mishandling of that case, to the Epstein fiasco, where Ghislaine Maxwell received 20 years in prison for trafficking underage girls to apparently no one because they continue to protect and ignore the “clients” of the dastardly affair to the unprecedented and utterly political search of former President Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago, the FBI has unfortunately lost all credibility.

 

And DOJ has been working similarly alongside them. The adverse consequences of these developments cannot be overstated. Thanks to these blatant abuses, millions of Americans feel there are two systems of justice, one for friends of those in power and one for the rest of the country. They are destroying one of the principles that is foundational to our freedoms. John Adams said it best when he described our republic as “a government of laws, not of men.” This is foundational to justice.

 

The DOJ and FBI’s current despicable behavior reinforces a belief that what matters is not the law but the personnel enforcing it, that the law will be twisted to fit the outcomes they want.

 

The charges against these pro-life advocates are ridiculous. At a time when we face so many challenges in law enforcement, why would they spend the resources on this type of action? Well, it is evident that it is meant to deter pro-life advocacy going forward. Pro-life, pro-family, freedom-loving Americans are being painted as a threat.

 

It is worth noting that these actions are not taken in a vacuum. Remember President Biden’s red-flaming speech flanked by two military members where he screamed about “MAGA Republicans”? Perhaps you recall the DOJ’s outrageous labeling of parents as “domestic terrorists.”

 

This mismanagement and abuse have been catastrophic. We must put an end to it now for the good of our country. Congress must engage even more forcefully. The damage being done will take decades to undo.