Quantum Windbag
Gold Member
- May 9, 2010
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Just today I came across another thread by a guy who thinks he is smarter and better educated than I am crying about money and politics and all worried about how all the money is corrupting politicians. Funny thing, the richest guy in the fracking world did not care at all about politics until the politicians noticed they weren't getting any money from him and started flexing their muscles to get his attention.
Carney: How Hatch forced Microsoft to play K Street's game | WashingtonExaminer.com
If I went into a store and offered said I wouldn't trash the store if they gave me money I would be guilty of extortion. If a politician does the same thing it is called a donation.
"If you want to get involved in business," Sen. Orrin Hatch warned technology companies at a conference in 2000, "you should get involved in politics."
...
But it grated on Hatch and other senators that Gates didn't want to want to play the Washington game. Former Microsoft employee Michael Kinsley, a liberal, wrote of Gates: "He didn't want anything special from the government, except the freedom to build and sell software. If the government would leave him alone, he would leave the government alone."
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"The industry had an attitude that government should do what it needs to do but leave us alone," one Hill technology staffer complained to Business Week at the time. "Their hands-off approach to Washington will come back to haunt them."
..
Wal-Mart underwent this same shakedown last decade. Then the hedge funds caught the eye of Washington. Next on the menu is Apple. This is how Washington increases its power and its wealth.
Carney: How Hatch forced Microsoft to play K Street's game | WashingtonExaminer.com
If I went into a store and offered said I wouldn't trash the store if they gave me money I would be guilty of extortion. If a politician does the same thing it is called a donation.