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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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wahoospa
join:2006-03-23
Charleston, SC

wahoospa

Member

All That Have AT&T Helped.

Every one of us suckers with AT&T service helped through subscriptions to AT&T.
Is this where the $5.00 increase of my internet service has gone?

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

1 recommendation

KrK

Premium Member

I guess that's what they mean by "Regulatory Recovery Fee"

A fee to cover the costs of buying off politicians and getting the laws they want and the policies they like enacted, while keeping regulators neutered and under their thumb.

KrK

KrK to trekboy

Premium Member

to trekboy

Re: So?

BINGO.

Corporations should not be treated like individuals and have the same rights individuals have to purchase "representation" from Government via contributions to political campaigns and committees. If they aren't considered a "Person" then the silly free speech arguments would be moot.

The people who make up the company are citizens, but NOT the company itself!
KrK

1 recommendation

KrK to C_9084

Premium Member

to C_9084
said by C_9084:

as an AT&T shareholder, I could give two shits what you want. all that matters is maximizing my stock value
And this is why the USA is circling the drain. Period. This exact attitude.
KrK

KrK to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5

Re: Here is the FULL top 10 list

AT&T is giving as one entity. The Unions mentioned are made up of tens of thousands of individuals raising funds.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to sonicmerlin

Premium Member

to sonicmerlin
Are you really that unwilling to read posts and the content that they link to? Read this link.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
Netgear WNDR3700v2
Zoom 5341J

KrK to pnh102

Premium Member

to pnh102
Classic FUD.

They are employees, just like anyone. That's their income, their pay for working. Claiming it as Taxpayer funds is disingenuous at best. As said above, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of individuals is not the same as one single entity.
biochemistry
Premium Member
join:2003-05-09
92361

biochemistry

Premium Member

SBC

SBC bought out AT&T and then took the AT&T name and then I guess took over AT&T's spending habits.
openbox9
Premium Member
join:2004-01-26
71144

openbox9 to sonicmerlin

Premium Member

to sonicmerlin

Re: Here is the FULL top 10 list

said by sonicmerlin:

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.
Considering pension funds and the like own a significant portion of the market, I disagree strongly with your belief that "what's good for investors is not good for the country". BTW, if you're going to PDOOMA percentages, don't make them nice round numbers. They're not very believable.
sancraig
join:2003-11-05
Saint Louis, MO

sancraig to KrK

Member

to KrK
Thats a wierd way to raise funds. I pay my dues they choose what to blow the money on even when I object to the way they blow them.

Crooks the lot of them.

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

1 recommendation

pnh102 to KrK

Premium Member

to KrK
said by KrK:

They are employees, just like anyone. That's their income, their pay for working. Claiming it as Taxpayer funds is disingenuous at best. As said above, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of individuals is not the same as one single entity.
So?

These unions' bribing of elected officials is a conflict of interest because their paychecks are cut by the same people they are bribing.
fiberguy2
My views are my own.
Premium Member
join:2005-05-20

fiberguy2

Premium Member

Um... BAD reporting..

"AT&T".. huh? WHICH AT&T... all you are seeing reported on right now is a "name"... AT&T today is not AT&T of the past. It's a nice try to bash a company (which I don't personally like anyway) but you can't count the contributions of "AT&T" to those of "at&t" which is actually SBC Company with the purchased name "AT&T"..

But, if this kind of reporting supports a cause, then so be it.. no one is going to listen to logic anyway.
fiberguy2

fiberguy2 to TongSama

Premium 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.
You betchya... because those consumer groups, who also lobby, are just as crooked, right?

I don't care for lobbyist, per say, but that's how the gubberment works... want to get some attention, you're more than welcome to raise money and lobby too.

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

thender to KrK

Premium Member

to KrK

Re: So?

Yeah people like C_9084 See Profile are a drain on society.
old_wiz_60
join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA

old_wiz_60 to pnh102

Member

to pnh102
Elected officials will stop accepting bribes at about the same time as (take your pick):
--lasting peace in the Middle East.
--A gay Pope is elected.
--Muslims, Christians, and Jews live together in harmony.
--Aliens land in any city on earth.
--There are no more hungry people on earth.
etc.

Bribes are simply a part of politics. There is no way to avoid it. There will always be a way around any election laws any government can pass.

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

FFH5

Premium Member

said by old_wiz_60:

Elected officials will stop accepting bribes at about the same time as (take your pick):
--A gay Pope is elected.
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Po ··· lius_III

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

pnh102 to old_wiz_60

Premium Member

to old_wiz_60
said by old_wiz_60:

Bribes are simply a part of politics. There is no way to avoid it. There will always be a way around any election laws any government can pass.
True, but I am just pointing out that elected officials' behavior, and not the behavior of these companies is the reason that bribes take place.

Thespis
I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.
Premium Member
join:2004-08-03
Keller, TX

Thespis to thender

Premium Member

to thender
Why would you consider someone who invests a drain on society?

footballdude
Premium Member
join:2002-08-13
Imperial, MO

1 recommendation

footballdude

Premium Member

said by Thespis:

Why would you consider someone who invests a drain on society?
People that want something for nothing are inherently hostile towards people that assume risk.

The guy you quoted was probably being sarcastic, though.
footballdude

footballdude to FFH5

Premium Member

to FFH5
said by FFH5:

If he can give $5,000 to each congress critter nothing has changed, especially when all his relatives can do the same thing.
Or a bunch of monks. Just ask Al "There is no controlling legal authority" Gore.
footballdude

footballdude to KrK

Premium Member

to KrK

Re: Here is the FULL top 10 list

said by KrK:

AT&T is giving as one entity.
Not true. The PAC represents donations to the cause from individual employees and is not a condition of employment, unlike union dues.
axiomatic
join:2006-08-23
Tomball, TX

axiomatic

Member

This is the part....

This is the part of the forum discussion where I tell you all that $45,461,879 could easily have erased all network congestion issues for AT&T caused by overselling their wireless networks with smartphones with very likely some $$$ left over.

vzw emp
@144.191.148.x

vzw emp to pnh102

Anon

to pnh102

Re: So?

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.
True, they could take the high road and refuse the contribution. But in the current political climate money wins elections. The more money you have the more airtime, advertising and exposure you get, the more likely you are to win the race.

It's partially the public's fault. Apathy is at an all time high. No one bothers actually researching a candidate's positions, his voting record. All we hear (if anything) is his campaign slogan on radio and TV. When we get to the polls it's usually a game of name recognition (either the candidate's or their party's). We are suckers for a candidate's "brand", his public persona created by his P.R. handlers, but rarely take the time to explore what he has done in the past.

I say ban all campaign contributions (money, trips, services). Each candidate would receive a set amount of money for a given race from the branch of government the election is for (mayor is paid for by the city, governer by the state, etc...). Keep everyone on an equal footing from a financial standpoint and let there ideas (or, more likely, rhetoric) speak for themselves.

VladDracula
@sprintlink.net

VladDracula to Lone Wolf

Anon

to Lone Wolf

Re: The New AT&T

Right! I was about to say which AT&T are they talking about? The AT&T that spun off Lucent in 1995, bought TCI, TCG, and Media One, sold off AT&T Broadband to Comcast, spun off AT&T Wireless, got bought by SBC, which renamed itself back to AT&T and finally gobbled up Bell South and Cingular? What did I miss?

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

thender to footballdude

Premium Member

to footballdude

Re: So?

I just like poking fun at my wannabe Gordon Gekko IRC friend C_9084 See Profile every now and then.

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

C_9084 to thender

Premium Member

to thender
said by thender:

Yeah people like C_9084 See Profile are a drain on society.
how's that charter stock treating you?
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