.(Google) Search engine is cash engine for Democrats

[Desertdog]

Search engine is cash engine for Democrats
http://interestalert.com/brand/site...r&Fid=NATIONAL&Type=News&Filter=National News

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Employees of U.S.-based search engine Google gave $207,650 to federal candidates for the 2004 elections -- virtually all of it to Democrats.

A USA Today analysis published Monday indicated 98 percent of the money went to Democrats, the most-lopsided giving of any of the top tech company donors.

Microsoft was the biggest tech donor, with its political action committee contributing $3.1 million last year, 60 percent to Democrats.

Overall, 53 percent of high-tech industry contributions went to Democrats, said the liberal Center for Responsive Politics, a group that tracks campaign spending and contributions.

Republicans must work hard to win support from a company whose employees seem philosophically wed to Democrats, CRP's Larry Noble said.

Google declined to discuss employee campaign contributions but the among the company's top 2004 givers was Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt, whose biggest single donation was $25,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

 

[ZeroX]

Old news but yeah...I'm torn. On one hand, they're liberal weenies. On the other hand, it's one of the better search engines. And even if I did find another one similar to Google, chances are it'd be similar in political leanings.

 

[sm]

I use Teoma as a search engine. I have no idea about Teoma's political leanings.

Have not been at this PC /'Net as long as some. I tired of Google and some other sites with "pop ups" and such when I had to do some research for one of my early IT courses. I had IE at school and at home.

Teoma did not give me problems, easy to navigate and I found what I wanted faster. So I stayed with them as Primary.

Coperinum ( sp?) I liked, but only had the paid version for that one semester.

Since learning about how to better deal with matters - like using Firefox, and the free AV , Spyware, Firewalls ...etc- don't have problems.

I still have to use IE for some school stuff...Teoma still gets used. I have many SEs I steer clear of when I have to use IE.

 

[mbs357]

Google just lost a home pager...
But dang, I still use GMail. =(

 

[beerslurpy]

I wouldnt worry. 207k is nothing in the big scheme of things. GOA spends something like 18 million on lobbying and they actually get results like getting Coburn elected to the senate, etc.

I would worry more about pricks like Soros who shovel money on by the billion and are anti-gun more than they are merely pro-Democrat.

Here we go: 207 = nothing. Our donations to the GOA and NRA are hundreds of times more powerful than google and more directly focused on what we care about.

If lawmakers are guilty of tiptoeing around gun control issues, it is because the NRA and other gun rights groups wield an enormous amount of influence in Washington. The source of that influence is money. Gun rights groups have given more than $17 million in individual, PAC and soft money contributions to federal candidates and party committees since 1989. Nearly $15 million, or 85 percent of the total, has gone to Republicans. The National Rifle Association is by far the gun rights lobby's biggest donor, having contributed more than $14 million over the past 15 years. Gun control advocates, meanwhile, contribute far less money than their rivals -- a total of nearly $1.7 million since 1989, of which 94 percent went to Democrats. The leading contributor among gun control advocates is the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, formerly known as Handgun Control, which has given $1.5 million over the past 15 years.

If gun rights groups have a substantial advantage in campaign contributions, they dominate gun control advocates in the area of lobbying. The NRA alone spent nearly $11 million lobbying elected and government officials from 1997 to 2003. But it wasn't the gun rights lobby's biggest spender. That was Gun Owners of America, which spent more than $18 million on lobbing over the same period. By contrast, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence spent under $2 million on lobbying from 1997 to 2003, and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence spent $580,000.

 

[hrb02]

I'm with ZeroX. I'm not really happy about the leaning, but it's pretty good. I was more suprised that ONLY 53% of tech money went to Dem's--would have put that number a lot higher.

Let's see how much they send Hillary in '08...

 

[mbs357]

Good to know, beerslurpy.
Ok then. I'll accept Google enough to use their email services...but from now on it's Teoma for searching. =p

 

[71Commander]

Great search engine. It just replaced Google as my primary tool. As a test I looked for something that never shows up on Google and Teoma put it at the top of the list.

 

[deej]

Some website has evaluated companies based on, among other things, their employees' political contributions.

http://www.buyblue.org/rankedlist.php

Blissninny-centered, obviously.

 

[flatrock]

I haven't seen Google using their search engine as a political platform.

As long as they keep their politics, which I disagree with, seperate from their product, I'll continue to use the product.

These are the donations of the employees. Google can't really discriminate on who they hire based on their political beliefs. They are also located in a liberal part of the country and are hiring from a very liberal pool of employees.

Unless I hear that they are discriminating against conservative employees or they are using their company as a political platform, I'm not going to boycott that product.

 

[abaddon]

I'm not sure I buy it. If you search for 'waffles' the first site that pops up is John Kerry's website. If you searched for 'French military victories' it used to go directly to an error message asking if you meant 'French military defeats'. Now it just shows up as the first website, but it's still there. That doesn't sound like a liberal search engine.

 

[Third_Rail]

I honestly could care less where someone's money goes. They can waste it on the Democrats all they'd like. It's America.

 

[Werewolf]

Techies are mainly Democrats????

HUH?

I'm sooooooo confused.

I would have thought that techies who's nature and training both anchor them firmly in the real world instead of the should be world would be more conservative.

I don't get it. :banghead: Really - I'm being neither sarcastic nor facetious. I seriously don't understand. Why would techie firms and techies in general it seems lean more towards being liberal and supporting the Democrats? This makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

[mtnbkr]

would have thought that techies who's nature and training both anchor them firmly in the real world instead of the should be world would be more conservative.

Most of the techies I know are fairly conservative or libertarian, but on most of the techie Internet boards (such as slashdot), they tend to be liberal or mildly libertarian.

Chris

 

[sturmruger]

Hmm lets see a bunch of people that live in CA are suporting the gun grabbing Dems!!! WOW I AM SHOCKED

 

[Henry Bowman]

I would have thought that techies who's nature and training both anchor them firmly in the real world instead of the should be world would be more conservative.

Lots of windfall money. Not unearned, but not earned the slow and hard way.

 

[flatrock]

"Techies are mainly Democrats????"

No managment at many technology companies in California is mainly Democrats.

Something seems to change in people's brain chemistry when they reach higher levels of managment.

 

[mbs357]

I used to hang out in a game/techie community that bled liberal from the pores...ugh.

 

[Jay Kominek]

Er, this is the employees giving the money, rather than the company, right?

...so they're all going to give the money, no matter where they work. I don't see why one should avoid Google because of this particular tidbit.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Google is my search engine of last choice: I have no respect for organizations that practice shameless anti-Second Amendment bigotry.

 

[jefnvk]

Most of the students I deal with in the CS department have liberal leanings. I'd say something like a 70/30 split or so.

 

[deej]

Don't forget Google's advertising policy on weapons:

Advertising is not permitted for the promotion of certain weapons, such as firearms, ammunition, balisongs, butterfly knives, and brass knuckles.

https://adwords.google.com/select/contentpolicy.html

Apart from that, their search results are generally unbiased. Although who really knows...

 

[BlackCat]

Why is this an issue? Google's employees gave money to the democratic party. We care why? I'm gonna have to find some company who's employees gave money to the GOP to start a whining thread about, hey maybe someone will boycott them with me!

Google just lost a home pager...

They probably just gained three, furthermore, I doubt they'll miss you. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

But dang, I still use GMail. =(

Why? If you're so adamant about your cause you'd stop immediately. If you hate YAMAHA are you going to refuse to play one of their pianos while feeling just fine about driving one of their golf carts?

Google is my search engine of last choice: I have no respect for organizations that practice shameless anti-Second Amendment bigotry.

Example? I assume you don't use eBay either?

If "Teoma" is so great why isn't it famous??? *ponders* Google it is!

 

[mbs357]

They probably just gained three

Oh well, good for them.

Why? If you're so adamant about your cause you'd stop immediately.

Maybe I did, maybe I deleted my book marks and sought an alternative.

If "Teoma" is so great why isn't it famous??? *ponders* Google it is!

Tom Cruise is famous, so why does he suck so much?

 

[BlackCat]

I dunno, I'll search Google and get back to you on that.