Mastodawn

Please don’t buy your shipping supplies from Uline. Our cats will be just as happy with boxes from another company — one whose profits aren’t spent funding election deniers and fighting against unions, abortion rights and marijuana legalization.

Some of us have known about Uline for a long time, but this will be new to others:
https://www.propublica.org/article/uline-uihlein-election-denial

#uspol #politics

That Cardboard Box in Your Home Is Fueling Election Denial

A previously unreported boom in profits for the shipping supply giant Uline has provided the funds for a deeply conservative Midwestern family to bankroll anti-democracy causes around the country.

ProPublica

Dave Goldsmith Oct 22, 2024

Is there a comprehensive and authoritative list of major corporations and their political spending?

Is there a "Red" and "Blue" rating / ranking of companies by politics, industry and region?

Should there be a Guide to Corporate Political Activity? Would you use it to inform your purchases?

Yes

92.6%

No

7.4%

Poll ended at Oct 23, 2024 at 1:13am.

Official Kakistocracy Jester 🪓Oct 22, 2024

@Dave_Goldsmith there’s an app called GUU (goods unite us) that does this. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/guu-debate-politics-shop/id1295147058
@jeridansky

‎GUU: Debate Politics & Shop

‎Americans inadvertently donate 3X more to politicians and PACs through their purchases than they donate on purpose. Let's change that! Goods Unite Us is a women-led, Madison-Wisconsin based company with a well-established track-record of providing accurate data. Enter a company or brand name. An…

App Store

Dave Goldsmith Oct 22, 2024

@OGjester @jeridansky

Thanks for the tip.

Dave Goldsmith Oct 22, 2024

@OGjester @jeridansky

I downloaded the Android app but it doesn't run.

Official Kakistocracy Jester 🪓Oct 22, 2024

@Dave_Goldsmith hmm, that’s unfortunate. I just fired mine up after not using it for a long time, and it still works on iOS. @jeridansky

The Great Llama

@OGjester @Dave_Goldsmith @jeridansky
Ah, I was trying to think of the name of that the other day and couldn't. They have a website as well if you prefer that to an app.

SMH Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky Check the mfg of your #amazon boxes…

Jeri Dansky Oct 22, 2024

@kevmit I don't buy from Amazon — except maybe once a year or so if there's something I really can't find elsewhere.

Mysti Oct 22, 2024

Mike Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky That's too bad, I used to look at their catalogs at work and I loved all the warning stickers 👎

Ralph058 (S/he/it) AF4EZ Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky Among the things I received in the mail today was a Uline catalog. Fortunately, my post office placed a wastebasket at the corner near my box. I didn't even have to carry it anywhere to throw it away.

Jeri Dansky Oct 22, 2024

Bruce Mirken Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky Yikes!

Jeri Dansky Oct 22, 2024

@BruceMirken Ah, you're one of the people who didn't know about Uline!

Bruce Mirken Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky True! No clue at all!

Jonathan Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky "Dick and Liz Uihlein of Illinois are the largest contributors to Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who attended the Jan. 6 rally and was linked to a prominent antisemite ..."

Stephen Coles Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky Useful list of alternatives: https://refuseuline.com/#resources

Refuse Uline

Uline is a purposely political company aligned with extreme right-wing ideology. Despite their politics, millions of small businesses and artists still use ULINE completely unaware of what their dollars are supporting. This needs to end now. Let's refuse to use uline.

Jeri Dansky Oct 22, 2024

@stewf Not as useful as I had hoped, darn it, since it seems they didn't do any vetting of the alternative companies. Did they just Google to find other companies selling the same stuff? Yes, any alternative is going to be less awful than Uline, but that's an extremely low bar.

Also, from another reply I got, it seems some companies are just reselling Uline — so you'd want to be sure these alternative companies aren't doing that.

Calyxa Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky I know someone who bought some boxes from a place other than Uline specifically to avoid buying their products only to be shipped Uline boxes...

Jeri Dansky Oct 22, 2024

@calyxa So some companies are just reselling Uline? One more thing to look out for. ☹️

Calyxa Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky apparently so..

Nicole Parsons Oct 22, 2024

The Uihleins fund a whole lot of awful
1. Getting a crook into the presidency
https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/10/16/billionaire-dick-uihlein-poured-nearly-49-million-into-pro-trump-pac-filings-show/

2. Allies with a moneyed wingnut
https://www.commondreams.org/news/elon-musk-donates-to-trump

3. Funds a seditious conspiracy against the longest existing constitutional democracy
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/10/15/us/harris-trump-election

4. Funding judicial corruption
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/29/anti-abortion-donors-alabama-supreme-court-race

5. Funds doxxing protestors
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/13/republican-donors-fund-far-right-doxxing-palestinians.html

6. Meddles in state races where they don't reside
https://www.wisconsinrightnow.com/waukesha-da-race-mike-thurston-lesli-boese/

https://kentuckylantern.com/2024/02/02/pair-of-billionaires-bankrolled-super-pacs-that-spent-10-million-trying-to-defeat-beshear/

1/2

Billionaire Dick Uihlein Poured Nearly $49 Million Into Pro-Trump PAC

The billionaire shipping supplies magnate gave nearly $49 million to a conservative PAC, which in turn contributed to several pro-Trump groups.

Forbes

Nicole Parsons Oct 22, 2024

2/2

https://arktimes.com/arkansas-blog/2022/10/26/the-dark-money-billionaires-among-us-uihlein-edition

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/boozman-bequette-republican-donor-arkansas-00027089

7. Spreads contagious disease & Ignores risks of covid as 1.2 million Americans die of covid due to GOP incompetence
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/28/uline-dick-liz-uihlein-workers-covid-safety

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/12/trump-donors-dick-liz-uihlein-of-uline-have-coronavirus.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/18/trump-donor-liz-uihlein-canada-quarantine

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/apr/23/liz-uihlein-trump-donor-wisconsin-stay-at-home-order-coronavirus

8. Funds insurrectionists
https://theintercept.com/2023/05/25/richard-uihlein-ohio-gop-abortion/

9. Robs women of their civil rights to agency & autonomy.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-megadonor-pours-millions-into-effort-to-hinder-ohio-abortion-amendment/

10. Funds spurious litigation to overturn duly certified elections
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/15/trump-republicans-election-defeat-club-for-growth

The dark money billionaires among us: Uihlein edition

Learn more about Wisconsin billionaires who've been trying to influence several Arkansas elections this year.

Arkansas Times

Jeri Dansky Oct 22, 2024

@Npars01 Yeah, I've read a lot about them for years — although certainly not as comprehensively as you! That's quite a list.

Bongolian Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky ULINE is also noticeably very overpriced compared to competitors (Quill, The Boxery, esupplystore). ULINE mass distributes their thick catalogs to businesses hoping to sucker businesses into buying from them.

dragonfrog Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky also their bike racks are terrible. Not surprised to learn that the company behind such bad products is run by awful people.

Ryan Frederick Oct 22, 2024

@jeridansky I learned about Uline the first time I picked up one of their paper catalogs. Every edition has a right wing screed from the the Uihlein family on the back pages.

@jeridansky wow 😲 interesting