The two biggest donors in Georgia to a pro-Jeb Bush Super PAC so far are Jackson Healthcare CEO Richard Jackson, who gave $500,000, and Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, who gave $1 million.
Both are also members of a group
, which seeks to spread the word about the bad things the government is doing to business -- from Obamacare to the National Labor Relations Board to the Environmental Protection Agency. They do this through the usual means, such as television appearances, but also internally to their own employees.
According to a slide presentation obtained by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a left-leaning watchdog group, Alpharetta-based Jackson Healthcare and its 75 corporate employees are among the targets this year in the "E2E" program, which stands for employer-to-employee. The idea: "Educate employees on impact of government policies on their jobs and pocketbooks." (Jackson declined to comment.)
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E2E does not endorse specific candidates, but its materials -- including an internal employee website, e-newsletters and "town hall talking points" -- hew conservative. For example, here's a video on the perils of Obamacare.
The presentation included survey research showing that such content is effective. Employees who were exposed to it were more likely to agree with the downsides of Obamacare and government regulations, and the benefits of cutting corporate taxes and extracting fossil fuels. Of those employees, 26 percent said the information influenced their vote.
It won't move the needle for Bush in a primary, but these CEOs around the country are looking to make an impact in November 2016.
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