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List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

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Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#81

Post by greenyoda »

gitarr wrote: post #43

This might be a stupid question, but as a European not all too familiar with US political laws I have to ask: How is it not corruption when senators and congressmens votes can be bought by companies or whole industries?

It's certainly corruption, but it's corruption that's legal under our laws. There have been some attempts over the years to reform U.S. campaign finance laws, but they've failed (the people who make the laws like the system the way it is).

How are political campaigns funded in Europe? And don't large businesses have influence over politicians there too?

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#83

Post by toyg »

greenyoda wrote: post #81
gitarr wrote: post #43

This might be a stupid question, but as a European not all too familiar with US political laws I have to ask: How is it not corruption when senators and congressmens votes can be bought by companies or whole industries?

It's certainly corruption, but it's corruption that's legal under our laws. There have been some attempts over the years to reform U.S. campaign finance laws, but they've failed (the people who make the laws like the system the way it is). How are political campaigns funded in Europe? And don't large businesses have influence over politicians there too?

In some countries, the State funds political parties in proportion to their votes or some other parameter. Obviously this is never enough, so large businesses do have an influence over here as well. "Revolving doors" are a bit less common than in the US, but that's changing.

Note that corruption is not necessarily linked to the source of "original" funds. Italian politicians are the best paid in Europe... I rest my case.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#84

Post by botker »

gfaremil wrote: post #61
gammarator wrote: post #50

Both California Senators (Boxer and Feinstein) are supporters (and co-sponsors!) of Protect-IP. Silicon Valley needs to make its voice heard, and soon.

And they both live in San Francisco - which shows that it is all about $$ and not about their political views or principles. So this is one of the problems I can see with politics today: politicians have no views or principles you can count on. Everything is depended on how much money they get (of course they all stick and talk about wedge issues such as guns, gays, and god which are really stupid). That is one of ma…

It's interesting to me in part because I tend to think of the SOPA battle as being rooted in the age-old war between North and South -- Silicon Valley vs. Hollywood. Attempting to cripple our industry is just a standard war practice. But to consider that the Senators are both SF residents makes me doubt the premise.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#85

Post by botker »

CWIZO wrote: post #2

I was surprised there are more democrats for SOPA than there are republicans.

Democrats tend to favor government regulations of any kind, while Republicans are somewhat more likely to oppose them in general. So it doesn't surprise me at all.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#86

Post by nextparadigms »

Google, Facebook and whoever else is going on a blackout before the vote, please link to the politicians who support SOPA, too.

The people deserve to know it, and they need to be put against the wall for it, not only so they can't be re-elected again because of this, but also so others don't try to support it, too, fearing the backlash.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#87

Post by zizee »

wyclif wrote: post #58
josh33 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, but many are not members of congress currently - Romney and Gingrich being 2 specifically.

Opposing SOPA with a vote in Congress isn't the only way for real leaders to register dissent. There's no excuse for Romney or any other candidate to avoid informing the American public that as President, they would veto any future SOPA-like legislation restricting Internet freedom.

The media companies are all supporting SOPA, so anyone who opposes SOPA is probably worried about the repercussions of going public.

I can understand why they might be staying quiet, but I think it is weak and cowardly.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#88

Post by drewblaisdell »

botker wrote: post #85
CWIZO wrote: post #2

I was surprised there are more democrats for SOPA than there are republicans.

Democrats tend to favor government regulations of any kind, while Republicans are somewhat more likely to oppose them in general. So it doesn't surprise me at all.

This may have been true twenty years ago, but it is certainly not true today. Neither party is in favor of limiting government these days.

Re: List of every member of congress who supports SOPA, sortable by donations

#89

Post by tptacek »

tzs wrote: post #70
jsundquist wrote: post #3

Very depressing. Almost without any exception (I admit there are a couple) every single for or against can be determined by how much money they get from the computer industry(Against) or from the Music / Movie industry (For). All of this happens across party lines...

Why is that depressing? If your company were going to make a political contribution, wouldn't you pick politicians whose record indicates they agree with your positions?

Sorry, I meant to upvote you, but misclicked and now you're greyed out. You're making the post-hoc-ergo-propter-hoc point here, right?
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