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Facebook, Amazon and Apple Set Records in Annual Spending on Lobbying (marketwatch.com) 57

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
Facebook, Amazon and Apple spent record amounts on lobbying in 2019, with Mark Zuckerberg's social-media company leading the so-called FAANG companies in outlays aimed at influencing Washington, according to disclosures filed this week. From a report: Facebook shelled out $16.7 million last year, well above its 2018 total of $12.6 million, its disclosures show. Amazon has reported spending $16.1 million in 2019 vs. $14.4 million a year ago, and Apple said it put forth $7.4 million, topping its 2018 outlay of $6.7 million and its 2017 total of $7.2 million. The other two FAANG companies -- Netflix and Alphabet's Google business -- didn't set records with their 2019 lobbying spending. Netflix disclosed shelling out $850,000 last year, up from $800,000 in 2018 but below its 2015 total of $1.3 million. Google spent $11.8 million last year, down sharply from its 2018 total of $21.7 million as the search heavyweight reorganized its lobbying effort. The spending -- which already was on a record pace for some companies after last year's third quarter -- has come as Big Tech increasingly finds itself in lawmakers and regulators' cross hairs.
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Facebook, Amazon and Apple Set Records in Annual Spending on Lobbying More

Facebook, Amazon and Apple Set Records in Annual Spending on Lobbying

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  • Is an extension of a US citizens right to petition the government for redress of grievance

    This right can be traced back to the Bill of Rights, the Petition of Right and Magna Carta.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
    • That's fine as long as it isn't pay-to-win

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Z00L00K ( 682162 )

        Just follow Louis Rossmann to see if it ends up as "pay to win" or not.

      • Re:Lobbying (Score:5, Insightful)

        by TheMeuge ( 645043 ) on Thursday January 23, 2020 @01:14PM (#59647778)

        But there's an entire presidential candidate (Bloomberg) whose very existence is an open attempt to buy the election. And yet he's climbing in the polls, which leads me to understand the utter stupidity of the electorate. Somehow, we are embracing a man whose positions include telling people that an "average" person shouldn't own a gun, and then hiring 17 ex-NYPD officers as personal armed guards and using the LEOSA laws to have them carry concealed weapons everywhere, including where "average" people cannot even in the most gun-friendly states. This is a man who says he's prepared to spend a billion dollars of personal money to become the president of the united states. May so that he would be able to ban large Coke bottles everywhere... who knows what the boy king may want to do...

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          Yeah but this really hits at the crux of the problem doesn't it? The average person is literally stupid and hypocritical.

          This was well highlighted by the UK's recent election too, I mean, it's not that I don't understand why people wouldn't vote for Corbyn, I get it, I really do, because I wouldn't either. But voting for Boris either?

          How many types have we all in our life times heard the complaint "all politicians are liars"? Yet, here we are in the UK, with a politician whose lies are so blatant, and at ti

        • Bloomberg's attitude towards guns is the least important of his policies.
          It is one of those things your ruling class use to distract you while they continue to loot the place for their own profit.
        • a man whose positions include telling people that an "average" person shouldn't own a gun, and then hiring 17 ex-NYPD officers as personal armed guards and using the LEOSA laws to have them carry concealed weapons everywhere, including where "average" people cannot even in the most gun-friendly states.

          I don't know the first thing about this guy, but what you mention about him is absolutely consistent and logical by itself.

    • Sure, it started like that, but we have seen far too many scandals with foreign governments and wealthy individuals BUYING legislation that favors them

      • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

        by CubicleZombie ( 2590497 )

        Sure, it started like that, but we have seen far too many scandals with foreign governments and wealthy individuals BUYING legislation that favors them

        Yeah, I'm sure Hunter Biden's $600,000/yr work-from-home job was because of his skills...

        • Sure, it started like that, but we have seen far too many scandals with foreign governments and wealthy individuals BUYING legislation that favors them

          Yeah, I'm sure Hunter Biden's $600,000/yr work-from-home job was because of his skills...

          I'm not sure I understand your point. Even if your Hunter reference is relevant.

          Are you are saying that corruption and bribery is good for the country? We are talking about the current state of affairs yes?

          Does anyone have any other crimes from history to use as justification for doing nothing NOW?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by gtall ( 79522 )

          More to the point, who was paying those nice Ukranians to "investigate" the Bidens? Ukraine is not a rich country, and the U.S. wasn't...unless the alleged Administration was lying about that too.

          • More to the point, who was paying those nice Ukranians to "investigate" the Bidens? Ukraine is not a rich country, and the U.S. wasn't...unless the alleged Administration was lying about that too.

            The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 [govinfo.gov] required that Ukraine prove they had made substantial reductions in corruption before they would receive the foreign aid.

            Trump never said anything about "the Bidens". Read the transcript. He released it publicly.

            • 1. Ukraine had already proved substantial reductions in corruption. The funds were approved and apportioned. GAO found that Trump's hold on the funds was unlawful:
              https://www.gao.gov/products/D... [gao.gov]
              https://www.washingtonpost.com... [washingtonpost.com]

              2. He mentioned Joe Biden and Hunter Biden, explicitly. I think it would be fair to collectively refer to them as "the Bidens", unless your argument is that he literally didn't use the the phrase "the Bidens".

              "There's a lot of talk about Biden's son, that Biden stopped the prosecuti

        • Re:Lobbying (Score:4, Informative)

          by garyisabusyguy ( 732330 ) on Thursday January 23, 2020 @01:49PM (#59647954)

          Hunter Biden, the guy who was appointed by President George W. Bush to a five year term on the board of directors of Amtrak, has plenty of skills [wikipedia.org]

          What are yours, repeating whatever faux new pukes into your piehole?

          • They're the 21th century equivalent to a noble title. Like being declared a Barron or a Duke or Duchess.

            I don't know or care what Hunter's skill set is. What I do know is he's been repeatedly given juicy make work jobs that pay hundreds of thousands of dollars. I also know Trump and Trump's brood have done the same. It's time to stop allowing that. No Bidens. No Trumps. No members of the ruling class. No more ruling class.

            • >>No more ruling class.

              I'm with you.
              So, how do we fix this so the rich need not be the only ones who can run in elections? Because I"ve thought about it a great deal, and short of outright breaking of current laws to fix things, I see now way this could be corrected.

          • Hunter Biden, the guy who was appointed by President George W. Bush to a five year term on the board of directors of Amtrak, has plenty of skills [wikipedia.org]

            That his dad, "Amtrak Joe" was a sitting senator might have had something to do with that. His only qualifications was that "he rode the train a lot".

            How can anyone, even the most left wing liberals, not think this reeks of corruption? Joe Biden himself bragged -on camera- about withholding $1.5 billion from Ukraine until they fired the prosecutor that was investigating the company his own son "worked" for. And he "worked" there because Joe Biden flew him to Ukraine on Air Force One to look into this com

            • The Burisma probe was dormant. There was no reason to fire Shokin to "protect" Hunter Biden. There was zero threat to Hunter Biden.

              Shokin was known to be corrupt. By everyone. Everyone wanted him gone. Biden bragged about it because it was an accomplishment. If you give him credit for it, he meaningfully reduced corruption in Ukraine at the national level by getting Shokin removed. He didn't get caught on a hot mic in a private chat - he said it on a panel, because it was a good idea and he's proud of it.

              Wi

    • https://i.imgur.com/KyXPHw4.jp... [imgur.com]

      "Lobbying? That's just bribery with extra steps?"

    • You are confusing it with bribes.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Strill ( 6019874 )

      Individuals should have the right to petition the government, not corporations. If someone wants to petition on behalf of a corporation, let them do it out of their own pockets.

    • Is an extension of a US citizens right to petition the government for redress of grievance

      This right can be traced back to the Bill of Rights, the Petition of Right and Magna Carta.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

      And since a corporation is a "person" there is nothing to see here, please move along.

      What a joke

  • Just adding up the numbers included in this post we get $63.15M, divided by the 535 members of congress that's $118,000 spent per member to try to sway their votes. This is just top tech companies, one small segment of the total lobbying industry. What needs to be done to stop this corruption?

    • Just adding up the numbers included in this post we get $63.15M, divided by the 535 members of congress that's $118,000 spent per member to try to sway their votes.

      That's just the tip of the iceberg.

      The Clintons left office "dead broke" (her words) and now they're worth $240 million. For giving speeches? Nope. Payments for prior favors? Likely.

      • now they're worth $240 million. For giving speeches? Nope. Payments for prior favors? Likely.

        Unlikely - what idiots would pay that kind of money after the fact for favors?

        • Unlikely - what idiots would pay that kind of money after the fact for favors?

          Good question!

          Payments to a former politician is a message to current politicians that they'll receive the same benefits in the future, when the optics are less visible.

          But in the case of the Clintons, it was more brazen than that. Cash payments to the Clinton Foundation were required before having a cause heard at the State Department. And "donations" otherwise were an investment because Hillary was a sure bet for president. Why else would the foundation's income crash after she lost?

      • Just adding up the numbers included in this post we get $63.15M, divided by the 535 members of congress that's $118,000 spent per member to try to sway their votes.

        That's just the tip of the iceberg.

        The Clintons left office "dead broke" (her words) and now they're worth $240 million. For giving speeches? Nope. Payments for prior favors? Likely.

        What does how Clinton's got money after they left office have to do with the problems we have NOW?

        Should we ignore crimes if they have been committed in the past? Is that what your arguing.

        or are you just trolling?

      • The 240 million was collected while Hillary Clinton was a senator and secretary of state. The 'dead broke' part was when they were hauling out White House furnishings to hock after Bill's second term ended.

      • Chump change. If they were smart, they'd launder $400 million of their daddy's money through a shell company with fraudulent markups on property improvements. As side benefits, you can use the fake costs the justify rent increases, and pretend you outperformed the market with a million dollar loan, rather than wildly underperformed with a cool half billion.

    • What needs to be done to stop this corruption?

      That's the problem. The government passed laws to convert illegal corruption into legal lobbying.

      Either make lobbying illegal or put extreme limits on the lobbying amounts and payment frequency, ex: once a year, no more than 20 dollars per member of congress.
       

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by gtall ( 79522 )

        And in addition, make elected officials divest themselves of any private enterprises they run. And no sneaky putting it in a trust to be picked up later at an inflated value due to all the "well-wishers" adding to the loot. An example is owning a hotel in Washington and having some Saudis come pay "well'' for staying there.

  • Where are the comrades that are supposed to meddle in the US political system? Where do they come in line?

  • I realize this was just posted moments ago, but I'm surprised no one has made a thread about Amazon not paying taxes but lobbying 16 million yet.

  • Broke what record? (Score:3)

    by ddtmm ( 549094 ) on Thursday January 23, 2020 @01:15PM (#59647782)

    Google spent $11.8 million last year, down sharply from its 2018 total of $21.7 million

    Wait a minute... "Broke records?" none of them passed Google's $21.7 million from 2018, so where's the record breaking? So they spent a bit more money than they did last year? Wow, big surprise there.

  • ... governments regulate these companies and have a strong effect on them. In turn, they lobby and try to get government action that is favorable to them.

    The problem is the huge government that can make you or break you. As long as you have that, of course everybody is going to try to control it.

    • Your solution to corporate power in government is to make corporations so much more powerful than the government that they don't need to control it, and can do whatever they want without fear of repercussions?

  • This is what a "regulate all the things" landscape looks like.

    Yes, please go ahead and make the false claims that being generally anti-regulation is the same as wanting zero-regulations.

    It is no secret that most folks want correct regulation, however... there are far... FAR to many stupid people with agenda's in the mix to get the correct message out to the politicians. Politicians are already well informed, never make the mistake that they are not! Everyone that calls a politician a moron is a bigger mor

  • Why look only at Internet companies? (Score:3)

    by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Thursday January 23, 2020 @01:56PM (#59648000)
    The Telecom industry [opensecrets.org] has out-spent the Internet companies on lobbying for decades (it's actually more because the DSL ISPs are classified as the phone industry [opensecrets.org], not telecom). In fact a large part of the reason the Internet companies began lobbying is because they kept getting screwed over by laws passed at the behest of other industries' lobbying (DMCA, Net Neutrality blocking/repeal, etc).

    Browse the OpenSecrets website in your spare time if you want an unbiased overview of who is lobbying "a lot". The Internet industry doesn't even make the top 15.

  • Perverse incentive (Score:3)

    by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) on Thursday January 23, 2020 @02:29PM (#59648186)

    This is a clear example of perverse incentives working in a positive feedback loop:

    • FAANGs spend $Millions lobby to sway the law to their advantage, mostly to keep their privileged low regulation & light touch enforcement policies.
    • Both Democrats & Republicans realise that introducing bills increases lobbying $s to their parties' coffers.
    • More bills to enforce public interests, privacy, & web security are proposed.
    • FAANGs spend more lobbying $s to render the bills ineffective.
    • Democrats & Republicans can raise $Billions from lobbying & spend it on 2-3 year-long election campaigns thereby ensuring that no 3rd parties stand a chance of getting anyone outside the 2 parties elected.
    • Public interests, privacy, & web security are largely ignored by Democrats & Republicans, & the political system in general.
    • FAANGs continue to make $Billions while abusing citizens & workers without fear of prosecution.

    This is what democracy effectively means in a capitalist system. Voters can't lobby like corporations can.

  • "Crazy Rich Asians" :D

  • Lobbying, a euphemism for "corruption". In most modern democracies this isn't allowed or is severely limited.

  • Remember when congress went after MS in the 90's? Microsoft did not have any lobbyist in DC. NOW they do. Other's figured it out. To keep congress from bugging us, pay off congress/senators to leave us alone. How do you think senators & congress become MILLIONAIRES, living in one of the most expensive cities in the United States, on less than $200,000.00 salary?

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