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Google, Apple, Amazon Hit Record Lobbying Highs (axios.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The last three months brought record-high lobbying spending from four major tech companies: Google spent $5.93 million, Apple spent $2.2 million, Amazon spent $3.21 million, Uber spent $430,000. Facebook spent $2.38 million this quarter, up from the same period last year but far from a record. Microsoft's bill for the quarter was just over $2 million.
legalized bribery?
The last three months brought record-high lobbying spending from four major tech companies: Google spent $5.93 million, Apple spent $2.2 million, Amazon spent $3.21 million, Uber spent $430,000. Facebook spent $2.38 million this quarter, up from the same period last year but far from a record. Microsoft's bill for the quarter was just over $2 million.
Just call it corruption. You know why?
It's because if any company did the same thing in the so called "3rd world", this same activity would be termed as "corruption" as part of "buying off politicians."
Sad.
Money is free speech.
The ironic thing is that if a bag of cash was dropped on the doorsteps of politicians in -any- other country from a foreign source, there would be people thrown in jail. However, it is considered completely legal here.
With all their offshore tax avoidance you actually gave them a rebate so you (American Taxpayer) paid for their lobbying.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/...
A.C
"You lost me the election. You better make amends"
"Yes, Google, if you give me a kilo of fentanyl, a bunch of high priced hookers, and some cash... OF COURSE I WILL VOTE HOWEVER YOU WANT ME TO VOTE!! Kekekekeke! Fuck you, American voters! kthxbye."
Not a coincidence that after the U.S. Dept. of Justice filed an antitrust case, Microsoft's lobbying bill went from $0 to millions of dollars each year. See "Breaking Windows: How Bill Gates Fumbled the Future of Microsoft" by David Bank.
$2 million? Yeah right. The Beltway is littered with these offices. They aren't doing engineering there.
Hookers and Cocaine.
Filed under "Business Expenses."
And here's the argument that kills me, these corporations have a right to address Congress and yak yak blah blah blah.
These corporations pool the money of thousands or millions of shareholders, have a billionaire CEO sometimes who directs everything towards their interests, and has access to the politicians that we little don't have.
Do you know what it's like to get a one on one audience with your congressmen? And since most of the Republicans have stopped the "Town Hall" meetings, you can't even do that.
But yet, If I were a billionaire, I could get them to fly to ME and have lunch with ME in private.
We are NOT a free country. The Fourth Amendment is just a clause on the Constitution. What's the point of the other Civil Liberties if the Government can know who does what, search you with impunity and take them away?
If I fly, I MUST give up my Fourth Amendment rights or I go to jail or get fined (or both - OBVIOUSLY!).
BUT - if I am in charge of a big bank, I can break the law with impunity and what happens to me? The government pays me. And the folks I ripped off get screwed over. Ooooooo, fine me? Well, the stockholders pay for that! Ahahahahahahahahahaha! It's good to be King!
What a wonderful country!
Dismissing such corporate lobbying as "corruption" is far too simplistic an explanation to merit the "insightful" mod. Maybe it's just too soon for the story and better comments are yet to come, but (of course) I think it's just a reflection of the current "state of the Slashdot". Hint: The state of the Slashdot is NOT "strong, very strong".
There is a deep issue here, but it involves the prioritization of the single metric of "money, more money" above everything else. In reality, LOTS of other things are as important or even MORE important than money, but corporate cancerism now reduces everything else to that metric. If I were forced to pick a single metric, I would probably pick time, and I certainly think time is much more important than money. From that perspective, I think the deeper solution is to dump crude economics and evolve to ekronomics, a time-based approach to assess what is actually important in life, even for the so-called lives of corporations.
What is interesting to me about this particular story is the underlying conflict. WHY are they spending all this money?
I think we're seeing a climatic struggle here, and the giant (EVIL) corporations are obviously in favor of today's so-called Republicans. That's because they have some agreement on their priorities. Today's GOP actively wants government of the corporations, by the lawyers, for the richest 0.1% of the population.
The other side of the struggle has much simpler priorities. #PresidentTweety wants government of the Donald, by the Donald, for the Donald. The corporations obviously don't like that so much, but the joke is that Trump is NOT even in the 0.1%. The hilarious secret of Trump's tax returns is that his so-called assets are just laundry fees for Putin's dirty rubles. (Gross simplification, especially in that Trump's incompetence had driven him to dirty money long before Putin became a player.)
Government of the people, by the people, for the people? Ain't NO major player on that side. Ain't no one worrying about the country or Constitution these days. Especially on the GOP side, the priorities are just party politics, private profits, and personal power.
So you want to invoke their oaths to defend and protect the Constitution? ROFLMAO
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
It never surprises me that politicians can be bought, only how cheaply.
... and going up against the combined anti-net-neutrality speech of Comcast, AT&T, Charter, Verizon, etc. weighting in at 572 million. I say good luck, yer gonna ta needid.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
Taxation without representation
It's our country, not theirs. You do know that, right? It's not even that hard to do safely. Ban donations from organizations. Set a hard cap on private donations and then make it illegal to donate to a campaign you can't vote in. Book it, done. While I'm on the subject lets do away with the Senate/House and switch to a Euro style parliament system of proportional representation. This crap where 700k folks in Wisconsin decide the fate of 7 million Californians has got to stop. And if they Rural South doesn't like it, let 'em go.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
make it illegal to donate to a campaign you can't vote in
I'm not sure this is a good idea, as long as congressmen can take away the life, liberty, and property of people who can't vote for or against them.
do no evil?
or us hostages.. cease fire stand down.. sing along.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRjItDLnAwc
The increased spending on lobbying by the "Big 3" is due to the Trump administration threatening to roll back protections on net neutrality, which is a move welcomed by providers like Comcast and Verizon, who would be able to spend less on infrastructure and get more money from consumers without net neutrality, but opposed by Google, Apple, and Amazon, who could find their traffic in the "slow lane" if they don't play ball with the providers.
I would suspect a Verizon mouthpiece submitted this story, anonymously.
These numbers are laughable. I very, very seriously doubt they represent 1% of the truth. Someone needs to look at what has to be reported versus what the companies are actually spending to sway the government both directly and through the people. Look at every charity they contribute to and even the slants of their ads for their products, not just money to professional lobbyists.
This drop completely misses the bucket and doesn't even represent their pocket change.
I think rSilverGun is talking about corporations who can buy, donate and speak like people, but can't vote. He forgets there are also unpersons; real people who will not be heard by the government that controls their lives.
Compared to all lobbying. Google, Apple, and Microsoft's 2016 revenue was $390 billion, and they spent $11.34 million on lobbying, or 2.9 cents per every $1000 of their revenue.
The pharmaceutical industry's revenue was about $446 billion, and they spent $246 million on lobbying. Or 56 cents per every $1000 of revenue. 19x more.
The telecom industry's revenue was about $750 billion, and they spent $86 million on lobbying, or 11 cents per every $1000 of revenue. 4x more.
The TV/movie/music industry's revenue is about $600 billion, and they spent $60 million on lobbying, or 10 cents per every $1000 of revenue. 3.4x more.
The Internet/software industry is just realizing that if they don't want the tail wagging the dog (e.g. Hollywood dictating the laws which govern them), they're going to have to spend an equitable amount on lobbying.
Owning a legislature? Priceless!
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
A company as large as, and as subject to government restriction, as Uber is spending a measly $2M per year on influencing politics?
I'm sad to see my politicians go so cheaply.
tone
Every sentence you wrote is completely stupid, arrogant, self righteous and typical of what is wrong with the left in this country.
Ban this, restrict that, fuck the rest if they don't like it. You're advocating tyranny, not democracy.
If that's your pleasure, have it somewhere else. Or prepare to do battle, because I won't tolerate someone like you in charge.
Shit, you're worse than the Trumpster.
Microsoft didn't care a whole lot about trying to persuade the government until the government under Bill Clinton tried to break Microsoft under Bill Gates apart for something that every operating system does nowadays: include a browser. The government is always the culprit selling its power away.