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Apple Increasing Lobbying Presence in Washington, D.C. Under Tim Cook
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How many people realize that Google is the second-largest lobbyist by a wide margin?
Yeah sure, they're all about freedom of information and some utopian communist ideals for sharing information and welcoming competition... yeah, right.
I don't think lobbying is cool, but people jump on Apple only because Apple is a big name guaranteed to get attention.
Then again, I also think that celebrity endorsements of political candidates should be counted as major campaign contributions. If corporate American can put a hefty dollar amount on celebrity endorsements, let's call a spade a spade - it should be regulated by campaign contribution laws. I don't vote but I think Obama never would have been in office if Oprah hadn't trotted him out like she did.
Yeah sure, they're all about freedom of information and some utopian communist ideals for sharing information and welcoming competition... yeah, right.
I don't think lobbying is cool, but people jump on Apple only because Apple is a big name guaranteed to get attention.
Then again, I also think that celebrity endorsements of political candidates should be counted as major campaign contributions. If corporate American can put a hefty dollar amount on celebrity endorsements, let's call a spade a spade - it should be regulated by campaign contribution laws. I don't vote but I think Obama never would have been in office if Oprah hadn't trotted him out like she did.
Oh geez. You know perfectly well what I meant. thanks for trolling d-bag.
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It's more of an oligarchy now
They can call it "lobbying" all they want...
Exactly. When a handful of people control 50+% of the world's wealth, you know it's game over. Serfdom through inescapable debt. While rich corporations and a few horrible, despicable human beings hoard the wealth and buy politicians. I'm glad I don't have kids. The next generation is inheriting an ugly world.
Oh? You mean how Steve Jobs met with Gov Schwarzenegger SEVERAL times and got a bill passed in California shortly before he died? And how he was friends with Bill Clinton in the 90s, and was even part of something while Clinton was president?
Yea, DC was SO below Steve Jobs. And so is EVERYTHING Tim Cook does apparently. He only hired and chose the friggin guy to take over his company. But yea what does Steve Jobs know, the REAL Steve Jobs would have never done that.
:rollseyes:
You're acting like Apple became the largest lobbyist overnight. Relax, they're still very conservative on what causes to back and spend very little on lobbying. None of that has changed. However, the company has grown 4x, while their political efforts have increased a fraction of that. Nothing has changed about Apple, they're as stubborn as ever. But their position in the world has changed.
For a company of Apple's size (approaching $200 billion a year in sales) t spend a couple of million a year maintaining a Washington office to coordinate its communications with lawmakers is a pittance. Especially when you consider how closely involved the Federal government is in areas of significant interest to Apple, everything from communications and infrastructure policy; cybersecurity; electronic eavesdropping; to more prosaic business concerns such as tax and tariff policies.
Money spent lobbying isn't bribery. It is exercising a fundamental right under the US Constitution: the right to petition our elected lawmakers.
People need to take a chill pill on this issue, and worry more about the real important issues facing our Government.
Money spent lobbying isn't bribery. It is exercising a fundamental right under the US Constitution: the right to petition our elected lawmakers.
People need to take a chill pill on this issue, and worry more about the real important issues facing our Government.
It's the job of the CEO to maximize profits. If lobbying politicians to rig the system in your favor increases profits, then of course companies will do just that. The obvious solution is to reduce government's power to provide favors to the highest bidder, but for some reason, people keep voting for more big, powerful government, incorrectly thinking that more government = less corruption.
Very uncool. Not thinking different at all.
Lobbying is the suspect behaviour of companies to obtain/influence policies that continue to provide them with an unfair advantage at the cost of individual tax payers. It is behaviour littered with deceitful intent hidden within what many on the surface would consider as worthy pursuits.
Lobbying is the suspect behaviour of companies to obtain/influence policies that continue to provide them with an unfair advantage at the cost of individual tax payers. It is behaviour littered with deceitful intent hidden within what many on the surface would consider as worthy pursuits.
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If the US government didn't have dictatorial powers over the economy, companies would have no reason to lobby them.
But I'm sure you're not for restricting the government's economic powers, right?
Funny thing is, they actually spent less money in 2014 on lobbying than they did in 2013.
Doing some snooping online, historically, Apple's lobbying has to do with fighting things like SOPA, as well as allowing Apple to sell "medical appliances".
Doing some snooping online, historically, Apple's lobbying has to do with fighting things like SOPA, as well as allowing Apple to sell "medical appliances".
Why do you say that? Jump to conclusions much? Typical for this forum and its assorted trolls.
It's disgusting that that there are numerous times more lobbyists (none of whom are elected) in Washington DC than *elected* politicians.
It's disgusting that the vast majority of our laws are written by lobbyists and lawyers, not elected officials. They just provide the (paid for) rubber stamp.
It's disgusting that in order to affect policy in any meaningful way, you have to be a huge corporation or PAC.
I don't want to live in a corporate/1%-controlled world, full of junk "science" and double standards, where campaigns and voting are essentially theater to keep the sheep in line.
We're not a "democracy", "Republic" or anything else like that. We're an oligarchy, as others have correctly pointed out. The public is so deeply in debt and stretched so incredibly thin while the 1% eat their cake. It's the new serfdom. Make it impossible for people to get ahead, break them with student loans they can't repay, let the banks charge the most ridiculous fees and interest rates to insure one never gets out of debt...and you own them.
Then line your pockets with lobbying dollars and do whatever the 1% want.
That's the America both parties represent. Two sides of the same rotten coin.
That said, I have no opinion one way or another on Apple's lobbying efforts. I just think it's sad that we're no longer represented by our elected officials and that they'd rather represent the interests of lobbying groups than the people who actually voted for them.
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You accuse me of jumping to conclusions, and then proceed to systematically prove my assumption. If the glove fits, why not just wear it?
But to return to substance, the lobbying is direct result of the government having economic powers. The government can make or break markets. So naturally corporations have every interest in having "their man in Washington" to make sure they are protected.
It's a shame, but Apple has no choice but to join the lobbying game at this point. They're starting to be targeted. We saw that last year with the hearings.
Oh nonsense.
Steve also did his share of cozying up to Politicians. He just did not travel to DC to lobby openly.
But Steve most certainly shmoozed and mingled with politicians which explains why ex-VP Al Gore entered into the Apple Board of Directors.
So stop your nonsense about what Steve did or did not do. Tim Cook is not doing anything new. Maybe he's just lobbying a bit more than during the Jobs era. That's all.
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Yes. Even Samsung spends millions of dollars lobbying and courting US Politicians. In fact Samsung already has bribed and owns the souls of about 95% of all Korean politicians and the Korean government.
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It's more of an oligarchy now
They can call it "lobbying" all they want...
Well, the US was never really a true democracy. Even when USA was established by the Founding Fathers, it was an Oligarchy never a Democracy.
Founding Fathers wrote the original laws and Constitution that allowed only Landowners to vote. Only Male, White, Landowners can vote. Women could not vote. Blacks could not vote. Poor people who did not own property could not vote.
From the very beginning it was always an Oligarchy, the rule of the elite few.
Apple has regularly been noticed for is lack of lobbying in Washington. Their presence in Washington has increased both noticeably, and worse, publicly under Tim. Yeah, Steve talked to politicians in the past. Who hasn't really. The fact that he needs to plead to some dope politician to get things done in certain areas, whether it be to sell an iPhone in China, or build a new campus on his own freaking property, is a testament to the disgusting state of the world at present time.
That said, Apple has had a relatively negligible presence in the political arenas around the world. Particularly in relation to their size. Nowhere near the presence Microsoft commands for example. It's obviously increasing under Tim's leadership, and if I want to speak up about not liking corporatism in the marketplace, particularly from a company like Apple which has done so well to resisting it, then I'm going to. Because it's important. So deal with it. Or get the hell out, whichever you prefer, because I really don't care what you think. Or lack thereof. So you stop your pompous, know it all nonsense.