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Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

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Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#41

Post by dfrage »

Shivetya wrote: post #40

Isn't this the point of politicians pressuring corporations? I remember back, way back, when Apple was caught off guard and "appropriately" stepped up with lobbying and political contributions. It is hard for me to find fault with any company which lobbies the government because they have no choice. If they don't play the game someone else will and use their influence to get the power of government applied to their c…

A very good book length treatment of this can be found in Peter Schweizer's Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0544103343/

And it just so happens that his latest book covers the family angle: Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062569368/

Big companies don't have any choice if they want to stay in existence without shakedowns that might end up crushing them. Microsoft's biggest crime in the 1990s as Washington viewed it? Not spending enough money there.

Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#43

Post by ousta »

justaguyhere wrote: post #19

I honestly don't know who is worse these days - wall street firms or big tech companies. These (Google, Amazon ... ) were the same companies that we looked up to, just a few years ago. How much things can change in such a short time :(

that is the global narattive nowadays. tech is evil. tech cant raise price of rice for millions of humans being in a few seconds. tech does not have the power to remove houses from their owners and put people in the street. Finance does

Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#44

Post by sandworm101 »

Shivetya wrote: post #40

Isn't this the point of politicians pressuring corporations? I remember back, way back, when Apple was caught off guard and "appropriately" stepped up with lobbying and political contributions. It is hard for me to find fault with any company which lobbies the government because they have no choice. If they don't play the game someone else will and use their influence to get the power of government applied to their c…

>>> instead prohibit politicians, their immediate family, and relatives, from participating in any position

An interesting idea in principal, but not legal or even practical under western systems of government. If my brother runs for office and wins, that shouldn't limit my employment options. We aren't going to fire people from government jobs because of the actions of their family members.

Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#45

Post by andrewla »

Shivetya wrote: post #40

Isn't this the point of politicians pressuring corporations? I remember back, way back, when Apple was caught off guard and "appropriately" stepped up with lobbying and political contributions. It is hard for me to find fault with any company which lobbies the government because they have no choice. If they don't play the game someone else will and use their influence to get the power of government applied to their c…

> One way to fix it is not to prevent anyone from spending money on campaigns but to instead prohibit politicians, their immediate family, and relatives, from participating in any position that may have influence over a regulating body. It is very common to have family of politicians benefit by either getting jobs directly with a lobbying company or lobbying firm but the other method is through PACs which pay them huge salaries for part time work.

This is explicitly forbidden by both House and Senate rules. If you have concrete examples, I would recommend publishing them where you can or contacting the correct committee [1] or [2]. These are specific implementations of the statutory rules about bribery, and the case you describe is almost certainly applicable.

The biggest commonly used loophole in this policy is that there are no restrictions after the politician leaves office, which leads to the so-called "revolving door" where former politicians are employed as lobbyists [3]. While the practice makes sense in a good faith setting -- former legislators are familiar with the processes and individuals, and thus can be more effective at presenting the information that the lobbying organization wants to bring to their attention -- ethically it is a minefield because it is impossible to distinguish it from deferred bribery.

[1] https://www.ethics.senate.gov/public/

[2] https://ethics.house.gov/contact-us

[3] https://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/top.php?display=Z

Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#46

Post by solomatov »

vonmoltke wrote: post #24
solomatov wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what about NGOs? What's the difference between NGOs and corporations?

NGOs are corporations, legally.

Yes, they are :-) And forbidding them from lobbying will prevent people from organizing groups protecting their interests.

Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#47

Post by gowld »

smt88 wrote: post #7
duado wrote: post #3

They have the most diverse set of businesses of any company, so this makes sense.

Why is product diversity a driver of lobbying? Does Amazon have to lobby anyone at all? There are institutional investors who have stakes in a much wider variety of companies than Amazon. Why aren't they at the top of the list?

Because investors don't need to lobby on behalf of their companies; the companies they fund can lobby.

Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#48

Post by jeletonskelly »

justaguyhere wrote: post #19

I honestly don't know who is worse these days - wall street firms or big tech companies. These (Google, Amazon ... ) were the same companies that we looked up to, just a few years ago. How much things can change in such a short time :(

I, for one, still look up to them. I don't completely understand where the negative views started, but I suspect it was with Facebook, fake news, and the election or maybe the Amazon HQ2 disaster.

Now, for some reason, they are being demonized for being large and participating in a system that has existed for centuries. They got large because they built things people wanted. What's wrong with that? I just don't get it. It's like a mob with pitchforks is forming to break-up "big tech" and they won't be satisfied until they've slayed the giants whether it's justified or not.

Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#49

Post by abtinf »

snarfy wrote: post #18
afarrell wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lobbying in some form is explicitly protected by the 1st amendment. The question is: If you form a contract for someone else to petition for a redress of greivances on you behalf, is that contract void?

1st amendment rights apply to people. They should not apply to corporations.

So you think the New York Times doesn’t have free speech rights?

Re: Amazon Lobbied More Government Entities Than Any Other US Company Last Year

#50

Post by YeahSureWhyNot »

paxy wrote: post #11

If you think they are lobbying now, wait till their Virginia HQ opens up.

I am really worried that once it becomes a major employer in Virginia area Amazon will actually stop spending money on lobbying and start using layoffs and other muscle moves on their VA area workforce to pressure public officials into caving in to their demands. It probably was the main reason why they 'decided to split' the HQ2 between NY and Virginia. Virginia was in play all along because of its proximity to DC and New York was their main choice because of many reasons that dont need explanation. The whole casting cities and states was a shitshow put on to get New York and Virginia states/cities to give as big tax breaks as possible. So glad New Yorkers didnt play into Amazon's greedy game.
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