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Comments on news posted 2010-09-14 16:21:58: Ars Technica played around for a little while in campaign donor records and found that AT&T "easily" qualifies as the top donor in political campaigns since 1990. ..

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TongSama
join:2002-07-04
Santa Rosa, CA

1 recommendation

TongSama

Member

A rose..

A rose by any other name is still a rose.. We should call lobby what it really is: a 'bribe'.

We have the best government money can buy.
brianiscool
join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL

brianiscool

Member

Well

They do get a tax write off for those contributions.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

pnh102

Premium Member

So?

Why rag on AT&T or any other company that pays protection money to Congress? Elected officials, if they really wanted to, could solve this problem by not accepting such bribes.

PToN
Premium Member
join:2001-10-04
Houston, TX

PToN

Premium Member

Old

We all knew that the government has always been for sale. Now how much of it can you buy, depends on how deep your pocket is...

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Here is the FULL top 10 list

»www.opensecrets.org/orgs ··· ndex.php
Top 10 Heavy Hitters:

AT&T Inc $45,461,879
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $42,883,511
ActBlue $42,399,451

National Assn of Realtors $36,749,493
Goldman Sachs $32,660,452
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $32,505,695
American Assn for Justice $32,432,279(i.e. trial lawyers)
National Education Assn $30,812,330
Laborers Union $29,629,800
Service Employees International Union $28,659,682
It isn't just those nasty corporations that are buying Congress. 7 of the top 10 are either unions, trial lawyers, or big pocket individual Dems.

Seems like AT&T has to spend big bucks just to level the playing field.

Snowy
Lock him up!!!
Premium Member
join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI

1 recommendation

Snowy

Premium Member

It's a necessary evil

If it weren't for lobbyists how would our politicians know what to do?

i1me2ao
Premium Member
join:2001-03-03
TEXAS

i1me2ao

Premium Member

if it was

not for the stupid public this would not be and issue. if you disagree see article above that directly reflects ELECTED PUBLIC OFFICIALS..

Camaro
Question everything
Premium Member
join:2008-04-05
Westfield, MA

Camaro to Snowy

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to Snowy

Re: It's a necessary evil

That is funny yet so true,also like another poster said blame the politicians they are the real problem and the only way we can speak anymore is with that one little vote.

Murdoc49
Premium Member
join:2009-02-08
Manitowoc, WI

1 recommendation

Murdoc49

Premium Member

No wonder why theres extra fees

Why not just combine all the BS fees into one fee called the "Bribe recovery fee"?

bbrkdub
join:2001-10-03
San Antonio, TX

bbrkdub to pnh102

Member

to pnh102

Re: So?

Unless they're made an offer they can't refuse.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

1 recommendation

openbox9 to FFH5

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to FFH5

Re: Here is the FULL top 10 list

But that doesn't make for nearly as juicy of a story. AT&T barely beat out a compilation of unions representing employees of the public sector.
"battling efforts to privatize public sector jobs"
Kind of incestuous it seems.

trekboy
join:2006-08-16
Benton, PA

1 recommendation

trekboy to pnh102

Member

to pnh102

Re: So?

Personally, I believe that only individuals should be able to donate to political campaigns, and only up to a certain amount (say $5,000 per year).

It would make politics in America so much more balanced, and lower the cost of entry for 3rd and 4th party candidates.
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

sonicmerlin to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
said by pnh102:

Why rag on AT&T or any other company that pays protection money to Congress? Elected officials, if they really wanted to, could solve this problem by not accepting such bribes.
Subsequently losing the next election due to a lack of funds.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

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to openbox9

Re: Here is the FULL top 10 list

dont forget that IBEW is a large portion of AT&T's own employees.
sonicmerlin
join:2009-05-24
Cleveland, OH

1 recommendation

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to FFH5
said by FFH5:

»www.opensecrets.org/orgs ··· ndex.php
Top 10 Heavy Hitters:

AT&T Inc $45,461,879
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $42,883,511
ActBlue $42,399,451

National Assn of Realtors $36,749,493
Goldman Sachs $32,660,452
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $32,505,695
American Assn for Justice $32,432,279(i.e. trial lawyers)
National Education Assn $30,812,330
Laborers Union $29,629,800
Service Employees International Union $28,659,682
It isn't just those nasty corporations that are buying Congress. 7 of the top 10 are either unions, trial lawyers, or big pocket individual Dems.

Seems like AT&T has to spend big bucks just to level the playing field.
Unions are the result of a group of individuals volunteering money out of their pocket for a common cause. Corporations are nothing like that. They use their profits derived from customers, whose political affiliations have absolutely nothing to do with products they purchased from said corporation, to manipulate legislators.

Even an attempt to make a pity plea for "investors' sake" is inane. The vast majority of corporate stock is owned by the top 20% richest in this country. If everyone is truly equal, as our constitution states, what's good for "investors" is undoubtedly not what's good for the country overall.

Of course you know this very well already and are trolling, but hey, I'm a generous troll-feeder.
sonicmerlin

sonicmerlin to openbox9

Member

to openbox9
said by openbox9:

But that doesn't make for nearly as juicy of a story. AT&T barely beat out a compilation of unions representing employees of the public sector.
"battling efforts to privatize public sector jobs"
Kind of incestuous it seems.
What is your quote referring to? Do you even have a point?

thender
Screen tycoon
Premium Member
join:2009-01-01
Brooklyn, NY

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to pnh102

Re: So?

I know I don't have any say in how a company uses its profits.

I pay a high phone bill. I like to at least be able to pretend it goes to things that matter.

I don't want my money going to 45 million in campaign contributions. I want it going to a network that works in New York City.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 recommendation

FFH5 to sonicmerlin

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to sonicmerlin

Re: Here is the FULL top 10 list

said by sonicmerlin:

Unions are the result of a group of individuals volunteering money out of their pocket for a common cause.
Don't make laugh. Union political contributions are made by the union leaders often over the objections of their membership. Individual union members aren't volunteering squat. It is coming out of their union dues; dues they usually have no say in setting.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

1 recommendation

battleop to sonicmerlin

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to sonicmerlin
"volunteering money out of their pocket for a common cause"

When you have to join the union you are not volunteering anything.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

1 recommendation

FFH5 to trekboy

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Re: So?

said by trekboy:

Personally, I believe that only individuals should be able to donate to political campaigns, and only up to a certain amount (say $5,000 per year).
Is that $5,000 total to all campaigns in 1 yr. Or is it $5,000 per candidate. If it is per candidate, then nothing changes. For example, George Soros has given close to $1M over 10 yrs, spread over dozens of congress critters. He is buying Congress 1 congressman at a time. If he can give $5,000 to each congress critter nothing has changed, especially when all his relatives can do the same thing.
Sammer
join:2005-12-22
Canonsburg, PA

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to FFH5

Re: Here is the FULL top 10 list

Note that some of the largest amounts are from public employee unions. Their members are supposed to be working for us but such amounts suggest that some of them are clearly working against we the people.
JBT
Premium Member
join:2002-12-06
Odessa, FL

JBT

Premium Member

who do they mean by att?

Att, sbc, cingular? A number of other little companies who were gobbled up?

Lone Wolf
Retired
Premium Member
join:2001-12-30
USA

Lone Wolf

Premium Member

The New AT&T

Here's a brief history of the New AT&T, »www.corp.att.com/history ··· ry5.html

Anybody remember the Old AT&T before the divestiture or am I the only one?

C_9084
Kill The Socialists
Premium Member
join:2001-03-19

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Re: So?

said by thender:

I know I don't have any say in how a company uses its profits.

I pay a high phone bill. I like to at least be able to pretend it goes to things that matter.

I don't want my money going to 45 million in campaign contributions. I want it going to a network that works in New York City.
as an AT&T shareholder, I could give two shits what you want. all that matters is maximizing my stock value

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102 to TongSama

Member

to TongSama

Re: A rose..

said by TongSama:

A rose by any other name is still a rose.. We should call lobby what it really is: a 'bribe'.

We have the best government money can buy.
I agree on both statements.
en102

en102 to brianiscool

Member

to brianiscool

Re: Well

That's good for them...

Instead of just 'handing over money' to Uncle Sam (taxes), they're allowed to 'put their money to work' and pay Uncle Sam at the same time. Talk a about a racket.
Mdg
Premium Member
join:2009-01-10
Allentown, PA

Mdg to Lone Wolf

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to Lone Wolf

Re: The New AT&T

It merged with two large cable companies, (TCI and MediaOne.) Operating as AT&T Broadband, the unit became the largest cable company in the United States.

That division went down in flames, I bet they wish they still had the ability to offer DOCSIS 3 instead of DSL or VDSL

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium Member
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

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to FFH5

Re: Here is the FULL top 10 list

said by FFH5:

»www.opensecrets.org/orgs ··· ndex.php
Top 10 Heavy Hitters:

AT&T Inc $45,461,879
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $42,883,511
ActBlue $42,399,451

National Assn of Realtors $36,749,493
Goldman Sachs $32,660,452
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $32,505,695
American Assn for Justice $32,432,279(i.e. trial lawyers)
National Education Assn $30,812,330
Laborers Union $29,629,800
Service Employees International Union $28,659,682
It isn't just those nasty corporations that are buying Congress. 7 of the top 10 are either unions, trial lawyers, or big pocket individual Dems.

Seems like AT&T has to spend big bucks just to level the playing field.
How funny indeed. Of course there is NO OUTRAGE WHATSOEVER over all that union spending on bribes. And to add insult to injury, public sector unions are doing this WITH TAXPAYER MONEY.

To be fair, I include Government Sachs as another entity that bribes Congress with taxpayer money.

So why all the focus on AT&T? It seems far more bribes are done using taxpayer money by organizations that exist only because of government.

SandShark5
Long may you run
Premium Member
join:2000-05-23
Santa Fe, TX

SandShark5 to FFH5

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to FFH5
said by FFH5:

»www.opensecrets.org/orgs ··· ndex.php
Top 10 Heavy Hitters:

AT&T Inc $45,461,879
American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $42,883,511
ActBlue $42,399,451

National Assn of Realtors $36,749,493
Goldman Sachs $32,660,452
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $32,505,695
American Assn for Justice $32,432,279(i.e. trial lawyers)
National Education Assn $30,812,330
Laborers Union $29,629,800
Service Employees International Union $28,659,682
It isn't just those nasty corporations that are buying Congress. 7 of the top 10 are either unions, trial lawyers, or big pocket individual Dems.

Seems like AT&T has to spend big bucks just to level the playing field.
I thought the NRA would have been on that list.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

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1 recommendation

FFH5

Premium Member

I would think the NRA would be higher too. But they are #41 on the list at $17.6 M.

»www.opensecrets.org/orgs ··· ?order=A
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