Alexa Lee at Pacific Standard writes—Tech Companies Aren’t Just Donating to Democrats: A Look at Silicon Valley’s Contributions to Republican Campaigns:
[...]On first glance, the data supports the idea that companies like Google and Microsoft are staunchly pro-Democrat. For example, the Center for Responsive Politics reports that, in the 2018 election cycle, Microsoft Corporation donated $1,684,585 to Democratic congressional candidates, compared to $483,776 for Republicans. Similarly, out of the $2,143,048 that Amazon donated to candidates, about one-third went to Republican individuals.
However, examining the contrast between individual and political action committee contributions reveals that, while the people employed by these corporations may veer left, the official PACs representing the companies do not. Over half of the contributions from both Microsoft and Amazon's PACs went to Republican candidates, with Republican candidates receiving $365,000 and $604,000 for their campaigns, respectively. The difference between Twitter's individual and PAC donations is even more stark: 54 percent of PAC contributions went to Republicans, compared to the mere 1 percent of donations from individuals at Twitter.
Though relatively small in the grand scheme of political campaign funding, these contributions nevertheless act as direct support to candidates and, consequently, support for candidates' policies.
Out of the 27 Republican senators who received money from Amazon in the past year, 26 of them voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. Notable recipients of Amazon money include Senator Jeff Flake (R-Arizona), who received $250, and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), who received $21,100, the second-highest sum among Amazon's Republican recipients. [...]
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QUOTATION
“Heretics have been hated from the beginning of recorded time; they have been ostracized, exiled, tortured, maimed, and butchered; but it has generally proved impossible to smother them; and when it has not, the society that has succeeded has always declined.”
~~Billings Learned Hand, “A Fanfare for Prometheus,” 1955
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BLAST FROM THE PAST
On this date at Daily Kos in 2011—Budget cuts slash children’s programs across the country:
America's already-fragile safety net has been taking a beating recently at both the federal and state levels—jobs and infrastructure legislation that would restart the economy is routinely blocked, Catfood Commission II has all manner of devastating proposals, and even widely popular programs like food stamps and Pell Grants come under attack from Republicans.
Now, a new report, State Budget Cuts: America's Kids Pay the Price, details the impact that federal- and state-level cuts are having on kids, and it is brutal. As expansions of health care for kids through SCHIP and a range of education, nutrition, and safety programs passed in 2009 expire, not only is Congress not renewing the funding, but Republicans are pushing further cuts to programs like WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children). With state budgets already in trouble because of the weak economy and Congress refusing needed federal support, children are losing out in just about every state
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: OK, one more day to go. Let's just get together with Greg Dworkin & Armando and keep each other steady while the clock runs down and the last-minute GOTV work gets done. The news, the polls, what they can and can't tell us and... waiting. Together.
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