It shouldn't surprise anybody that suppliers in the wine and spirits industry donate to both democrat and republican campaigns, but it's always interesting to see what kind of money is exchanging hands. As Brown-Forman spokesman Phil Lynch put it: "We base our contributions not on whether the politician is a Democrat or a Republican or an independent, but on where they stand on our issues," reports OpenSecrets Blog. Perhaps most importantly, the ever-looming threat of tax increases. When sifting through the Center for Responsive Politics, the blog found that B-F has given "slightly more" to democrats in recent years, but 67% of the company's political action committees (PAC) and employee-related contributions have supported federal-level republican causes, "about $3.04 million since the 1990 election cycle."