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On the Money: Giving Big
By Gail Ablow, March 13, 2014
Sincere or strategic, lobbyists give big → When lobbyists dig into their wallets to make political donations, there are a number of beneficiaries – the politician (usually an incumbent), the organization that gains access to the legislative process and (as it turns out) the lobbyist him or herself. According to an in-depth analysis by Emily Kopp at Opensecrets.org, lobbyists rank 13th among all interest groups making contributions to the 2014 campaigns – up from 22nd at the end of 2012. Individual lobbyists contributed 22 times more than lobbying firms’ PACs. The sixth-ranking lobbyist-donor Ben Barnes, a pillar of Democratic politics in Texas, tells Kopp, “I think anyone could be sanctimonious and say they’re donating for the love of their country, but how you make a living has something to do with it.” In this cycle, Barnes himself has given out some $79,000. Read Kopp’s report for revealing statistics on lobbyist-donors and their top recipients.
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Microsoft is using your data to target political ads on Xbox Live → As we near the midterm elections, you might turn to your Xbox Live to avoid the political ad storm on your television. But there may be no escape. Your headache is Microsoft’s opportunity, according to Brian Fung of The Washington Post. Microsoft is trying to persuade politicians to buy ads on Xbox Live, Skype, MSN and other Microsoft platforms. Microsoft can then profile its customers through user IDs and other public data to offer election campaigns the ability to target demographics and voting districts.
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