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Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, revealed today that Google upped its spending on Washington lobbyists by a mammoth 57% from the same period last year. Lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate Office of Public Affairs show that the firm handed over $1.3 million in the first quarter of 2010, compared with $880,000 in 2009.
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Google spent $4.03 million lobbying the federal government last year, according to records on the Senate site, compared with Microsoft Corp’s $6.72 million and Oracle Corp’s $5.10 million. First-quarter figures from those companies were expected to be filed by the end of Tuesday. John Simpson, a consumer advocate with the group Consumer Watchdog, said the latest data shows the extent to which Google is increasing its lobbying efforts. Google has “gone from no presence in Washington, to really now what’s one of the biggest lobby shops around,” Simpson said.
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Google increased its lobbying spending in the first quarter by a whopping 57 percent over the previous year as it paid $1.3 million to influence lawmakers and regulators, according to public records filed today. “Google is relatively new to the influence-peddling game, but they’re now one of the highest rollers in Washington,” said John M. Simpson, consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog.
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Ex-Googler Hoist By Mountain View’s Own Petard It would be hard to imagine a better Google story. If the company’s own web services somehow outed the most intimate secrets of CEO Eric Schmidt – a…
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It’s not surprising that Google wants clout in Washington and is willing to spend big bucks to ensure that its corporate voice is heard. What surprised me, though, is the…
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Google’s ties to the Obama administration are perhaps unrivaled in corporate America, but the Internet giant’s announcement this week that it’s considering pulling out of China because of Chinese censorship and hacker attacks put the White House in a tricky spot. "They like to go around and sing the mantra, ‘Don’t be evil,’" said
John Simpson, a consumer advocate with the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog.
"But they almost always act in what they perceive to be Google’s
interest – and that doesn’t necessarily coincide with that of any
government."
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Top industry executives piled into Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters over the weekend to hear California’s Barbara Boxer, New Mexico’s Jeff Bingaman and other Democratic senators discuss some of the most pressing policy issues on Capitol Hill. Consumer Watchdog urged the seven Democratic senators on the agenda for
the weekend’s Google event to boycott it, since it created the
appearance of "pay-to-play politics when so many issues of concern to
Google and the rest of the Silicon Valley technology community are on
the table."
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A Democratic Party-sponsored "national innovation conference" to
examine key policy and technology issues at Google’s headquarters
beginning today has critics charging that the $5,000-and-up ticket
prices limit access to the event to Silicon Valley high rollers and
raise the specter of "pay to play" politics. Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica likened the event to Republicans holding an energy conference at an oil company headquarters. The consumer rights group urged California Sens. Barbara Boxer and
Dianne Feinstein and four other senators to boycott the fundraiser
sponsored by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
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A watchdog group is calling on seven senators not
to attend an event at Google’s headquarters that the organization says
is a fundraiser masquerading as a policy conference. Consumer Watchdog
sent a letter
Wednesday
to the seven Democratic senators set to participate in the National
Innovation Conference Friday and Saturday sponsored by the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) at Google’s headquarters in
Mountain View, Calif. Those listed as attending include: Senators Mark
Begich, D-Alaska, Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Tom
Carper, D-Del., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and
Mark Warner, D-Va., as well as President Obama’s pollster, Joel
Benenson, according to a DSCC brochure obtained by Consumer Watchdog.
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CONTRACT: Deal Could Save $5 Million, But Some Still Have Security Concerns
Google trumped Microsoft and Novell on Tuesday, winning a $7.25 million contract to create an e-mail system for workers in Los Angeles. John Simpson with the group Consumer Watchdog warned against adopting
the Google system until more work is completed on security. "It may be the thing of the future, but I’m not sure it is there yet,"
Simpson said. "The security checks don’t exist yet. It is the gleam in
Google’s eyes." Part of the City Council’s approval was based on promises from Google that it will reimburse the city for any damages.
