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Where the Tech Industry's Political Donations Are Going
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.
And Rubio supports increasing H1-B visas threefold. Coincidence? I think not.
We should be very clear this means "the (m|b)illionaire CEOs of tech corporations who are using company money to advance their own agendas".
This is all about corporations doing what serves the interests of the rich people in charge ... which means it's really a measure of how influential CEOs are, and is in no way representative of the thousands of people who work for those companies.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
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
please shut up about this for another year.
After the demonization of Brendan Eich for his personal donation in support of CA Proposition 8, the writing is on the wall. You can expect that most big tech donors of all stripes, regardless of party or political stance, will donate to political causes through the Super PAC of their choice.