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Where the Tech Industry's Political Donations Are Going

Posted by Soulskill on from the all-about-the-benjamins dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Early estimates suggest the 2016 U.S. presidential election will result in $5-10 billion in spending by candidates and organizations — much more than ever before. To support this, they need lots of contributions, and the tech industry is becoming a significant player. (Not as much as the financial industry, of course, but tech's influence is growing.) Re/Code breaks down which candidates are getting the most money from the tech sector so far. Right now, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has gotten the most tech money by far — more than the rest of the field combined, thanks in large part to Larry Ellison. Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, is a distant second, followed closely by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT). New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) are the only other candidates with significant tech contributions so far. Carly Fiorina, a tech industry veteran, has only managed about $13,000 in donations.

6 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. anti H1B job protectionism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I imagine most tech workers, in a hypocritical bid to protect their own jobs after participating in the destruction of most of the American workforce, will find out who will ban H1B program and vote that way. It harkens back to the old saw, vote your wallet. Unfortunately protectionism never works and paying artifically inflated wages when there are other people willing to do the job for significantly less money usually results in companies either moving offshore of closing entirely. But, still, I imagine this is how things will go.

    1. Re:anti H1B job protectionism by Intrepid+imaginaut · · Score: 3, Interesting

      after participating in the destruction of most of the American workforce

      As far as I'm aware most of the American workforce is still working. Even if it wasn't you'd have to explain exactly how tech workers destroyed their jobs.

      Unfortunately protectionism never works

      Protectionism works great quite a lot of the time, it's how China manages its economy along with currency manipulation which is pretty much the same thing.

    2. Re:anti H1B job protectionism by tnk1 · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Protectionism is a short term solution at best. China is either betting that they are smarter than history, or they are betting they can quick start their economy before they have to deal with the fallout.

    3. Re:anti H1B job protectionism by mjm1231 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Knee jerk reactions are certainly popular among slashdot posters. For the rest of us, being informed about how immigration actually affects economic growth and wages is probably a good idea. Start with a conservative perspective, so you know you aren't getting a pro-immigrant bias:

      http://www.hoover.org/research...

      --
      Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
  2. this has nothing to dow ith the tech industry by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Interesting

    the donations of a few rich plutocrats who siphon their cash from technology companies does not represent the tech industry's views or opinions, not in aggregate, not even a significant minority bloc of opinions

    larry ellison? really? shouldn't we say he represents yacht buyer's political donations? that's much more accurate

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  3. Way to leave out Bernie Sanders by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Ranked 4th on the chart but they don't discuss his campaign at all.