Apple, Google workers among top donors to Bernie Sanders campaign

AppleInsider

Google and Apple are among the most common employers of people donating to the campaign of Bernie Sanders, who's vying against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections.

Workers associated with Alphabet -- Google's parent company -- have donated the most money so far, over $250,000, according to Federal Elections Commission data shared by OpenSecrets. Apple is fourth on the list, with over $85,000 in individual contributions.

Second and third place belong to the University of California and Microsoft, respectively. Technology companies have a strong presence on the list overall, some others in the top 15 being Amazon, Intel, and Cisco. People employed with universities or the government/military also ranked high.

Clinton, in contrast, is backed mainly by donors linked to the finance industry and labor unions, at the top being Soros Fund Management with more than $7 million. The Sanders campaign has often prided itself on staying distant from the finance industry.

OpenSecrets didn't suggest why Sanders would have strong tech support, but Apple as an institution has adopted many left-leaning stances, at least on social and environmental issues. The company often supports LGBT and racial diversity causes for instance, and is working towards making its operations and supply chain powered by renewable energy.

Sanders has been critical of Apple in the past, arguing that the company should offshore fewer manufacturing jobs and stop funneling revenue through Ireland to avoid paying normal taxes.

rob53

I can tell you why Apple and California companies are leaning towards Bernie. It's because Hillary has gone nuclear on all sorts of things, which is direct contrast to her better half, Bill. Hillary backs encryption backdoors and is as much of a military supporter as all the Republicans. I don't know if Bernie has enough conscience to keep to his ideals once he gets to Washington but at least I feel he's "talking" better than Hillary and at least has a brain whereas Trump is crazy.

manfrommars

Which demonstrates that intelligent people can appreciate constructive criticisms of the corporations they work for, and not take them as personal attacks.  It's also known as maturity.  Bravo Apple and Google employees.

boltsfan17

rob53 said:

I can tell you why Apple and California companies are leaning towards Bernie. It's because Hillary has gone nuclear on all sorts of things, which is direct contrast to her better half, Bill. Hillary backs encryption backdoors and is as much of a military supporter as all the Republicans. I don't know if Bernie has enough conscience to keep to his ideals once he gets to Washington but at least I feel he's "talking" better than Hillary and at least has a brain whereas Trump is crazy.

I have no idea why anyone would support Bernie. His tax plan is insane. $15 plus trillion in tax hikes. He will destroy the middle class of this country. If you listen to all Bernie's ideas (free college, Medicare for everyone, etc) he's the crazy one, not Trump. 

anantksundaram

'Vying against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination?'

After the NY primary last night, I am afraid it's mathematically done and any 'vying' is pretty much over with for Bernie Sanders.

paxman

boltsfan17 said:

rob53 said:

I can tell you why Apple and California companies are leaning towards Bernie. It's because Hillary has gone nuclear on all sorts of things, which is direct contrast to her better half, Bill. Hillary backs encryption backdoors and is as much of a military supporter as all the Republicans. I don't know if Bernie has enough conscience to keep to his ideals once he gets to Washington but at least I feel he's "talking" better than Hillary and at least has a brain whereas Trump is crazy.

I have no idea why anyone would support Bernie. His tax plan is insane. $15 plus trillion in tax hikes. He will destroy the middle class of this country. If you listen to all Bernie's ideas (free college, Medicare for everyone, etc) he's the crazy one, not Trump. 

Check out some of the countries that Bernie keeps referring to - i.e. the Scandinavian countries. One problem with Bernie is that he has referred to himself as a socialist and as we all know Americans are terrified of that word. The thing is that none of the Scandinavian countries think of themselves as socialist. They are free market capitalist societies. They have relatively high taxes but they also have free college and very low university fees, universal health care, and a whole lot of other things that are not socialist or left wing, but just common sense. The standard of living in the Scandinavian countries is very high. It can't happen over night in the US, but it is not crazy.

thewhitefalcon

paxman said:

boltsfan17 said:

I have no idea why anyone would support Bernie. His tax plan is insane. $15 plus trillion in tax hikes. He will destroy the middle class of this country. If you listen to all Bernie's ideas (free college, Medicare for everyone, etc) he's the crazy one, not Trump. 

Check out some of the countries that Bernie keeps referring to - i.e. the Scandinavian countries. One problem with Bernie is that he has referred to himself as a socialist and as we all know Americans are terrified of that word. The thing is that none of the Scandinavian countries think of themselves as socialist. They are free market capitalist societies. They have relatively high taxes but they also have free college and very low university fees, universal health care, and a whole lot of other things that are not socialist or left wing, but just common sense. The standard of living in the Scandinavian countries is very high. It can't happen over night in the US, but it is not crazy.

No, it's not. Their standards of living are lower than in the US; far lower. And his regulation plans are more strict than the European countries, who are running away from socialism. 

This just proves these employees are idiots. They never associate the consequences with their actions. Likely the same ones who have turned California into a dying rats nest. 

jlandd

thewhitefalcon said:

paxman said:

Check out some of the countries that Bernie keeps referring to - i.e. the Scandinavian countries. One problem with Bernie is that he has referred to himself as a socialist and as we all know Americans are terrified of that word. The thing is that none of the Scandinavian countries think of themselves as socialist. They are free market capitalist societies. They have relatively high taxes but they also have free college and very low university fees, universal health care, and a whole lot of other things that are not socialist or left wing, but just common sense. The standard of living in the Scandinavian countries is very high. It can't happen over night in the US, but it is not crazy.

No, it's not. Their standards of living are lower than in the US; far lower. And his regulation plans are more strict than the European countries, who are running away from socialism. 

No, it's higher.  If you take ALL of the U.S. into account, including the vast lower class that seem invisible and the poverty stricken areas where people have much greater concerns than who to vote for, the average standard of living in the U.S. is lower.  It's not a comparison of Scandinavian countries overall and U.S. cities which have a high standard of living. 

patchythepirate

anantksundaram said:

'Vying against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination?'

After the NY primary last night, I am afraid it's mathematically done and any 'vying' is pretty much over with for Bernie Sanders.

So you're telling me that the vote will be between a corrupt, establishment demagogue and trump?

A little political humor:

1983

I'm glad Hilary beat Bernie. No (self-proclaimed in Bernie's case) socialists please, the Democrats need someone a bit more level headed and middle of the road to take on Trump's right of centre shenanigans.

mdriftmeyer

thewhitefalcon said:

paxman said:

Check out some of the countries that Bernie keeps referring to - i.e. the Scandinavian countries. One problem with Bernie is that he has referred to himself as a socialist and as we all know Americans are terrified of that word. The thing is that none of the Scandinavian countries think of themselves as socialist. They are free market capitalist societies. They have relatively high taxes but they also have free college and very low university fees, universal health care, and a whole lot of other things that are not socialist or left wing, but just common sense. The standard of living in the Scandinavian countries is very high. It can't happen over night in the US, but it is not crazy.

No, it's not. Their standards of living are lower than in the US; far lower. And his regulation plans are more strict than the European countries, who are running away from socialism. 

This just proves these employees are idiots. They never associate the consequences with their actions. Likely the same ones who have turned California into a dying rats nest. 

Their standards of living are actually higher. However, their combined total population is less than the state of California, along with their entire GDP being about one half of California, if that, and nearly 85% in the Services related industries. They manufacture very little.

For sake of argument.

Sweden + Norway + Finland + Denmark: 26,265,070 total population estimates GDP estimates combined: $1,351.059 Billion ($1.351 Trillion US)

GDP Per Capita: $47,319 + 69,031 + $41,690 + $45,435 for a mean of: $50,869

Now factor in Universal Health Care and Preventive Care, University Education and more. Better infrastructure and it becomes quite clear their standard of living is far greater.

California: 39,144,818 total population estimate GDP estimate: $2,300 Billion ($2.3 Trillion US)

GDP Per Capita: $59,562

Shitty infrastructure, quality universities that are a fortune to attend, and the Health Care improving tremendously, but not at those levels. Yet.

For reference, I voted for Clinton.

edited April 2016

lib-simulator

Socialism is like poison that smells good.  That's why it's always popular, and that's why it always makes things worse.

Most of the employees at Apple and Google are "the rich" even if they don't know it, and they will be singing a different tune once Bernie starts taking their "fair share". Maybe he'll even declare smart phones "a right" so he can use that as an excuse to nationalize Apple and Google.

schlack

Non religious. Intellectual. For the people. Honest. It's a no-brainer that smart people will support him. What boggles my mind is that there are people out there who are against him.

brertech

Ok, this is a very disingenuous article.

Check the two links for Hillary and Bernie's donations. 
Now, look at the "Select Source of Funds" link at the top. Notice how Bernie's link is for "Candidate Committee only", while Hillary's is set to "Campaign + Outside Groups". Change Hillary's to also be "Candidate Committee only". Surprise! A completely different list, and much more in line with Bernie's but with more law firms than tech firms. The different between Alphabet's contribution to Bernie and Hillary is only $30k, for example.

Now, consider the claim that "Clinton, in contrast, is backed mainly by donors linked to the finance industry and labor unions, at the top being Soros Fund Management with more than $7 million. The Sanders campaign has often prided itself on staying distant from the finance industry." I have to laugh that you would single out George Soros, the most famous liberal philanthropist and boogeyman of the conservative movement as "finance industry". Yes, he made his money in finance, but he's also one of the biggest philanthropists in the world, including to organizations like MoveOn. The only other three groups listed which could be claimed as finance industry -- Euclidean, Pritzerk, and Renaissance -- have similar track records for donating to liberal causes.

Also...
"OpenSecrets didn't suggest why Sanders would have strong tech support, but Apple as an institution has adopted many left-leaning stances, at least on social and environmental issues."
Once you set Hillary's list to be "Candidate Committee only", it stops at donors as high as $148,645. How much did Apple employees give to Bernie Sanders? $85,576.
So for all you know Apple gave more to Clinton than Sanders, it just doesn't show in the limited chart.

Shame, shame, AppleInsider.

monstrosity

jlandd said:

thewhitefalcon said:

No, it's not. Their standards of living are lower than in the US; far lower. And his regulation plans are more strict than the European countries, who are running away from socialism. 

No, it's higher.  If you take ALL of the U.S. into account, including the vast lower class that seem invisible and the poverty stricken areas where people have much greater concerns than who to vote for, the average standard of living in the U.S. is lower.  It's not a comparison of Scandinavian countries overall and U.S. cities which have a high standard of living. 

Their standard of living is high, not through socialism (that crock of shit never did anyone any good) but because of geographical circumstances, small populations and great resources. Anyone who thinks these countries are a benchmark for the rest of the world is deluded.
It's almost as bad as saying we should look to Dubai as an economy to aspire to !

edited April 2016

volcan

You really can't compare Scandinavian counties with the US. The US is huge and has an extremely diverse population. Many differences. 

apple ][

Good! I am glad that those employees have totally wasted their money. They might as well have burned the money or spent it on hookers & blow, because Bernie is not going to be the nominee. The fix is already in for Hillary.

Bernie is a loser who didn't receive a steady paycheck until in his forties, and he's a radical communist socialist creep, and an admirer of evil regimes worldwide. And let's not even mention his ridiculous plans, such as taxing the hell out of people.

All Bernie supporters deserve to have 90% of their wealth wiped out, immediately, so that they may put their money where their ignorant mouths are. The only problem is that quite a few Bernie supporters are bums and losers with no wealth or income at all, and they're just looking for handouts.

I can't wait to see all of the hysterical and naive Bernie supporters crying their eyes out soon, when they realize that the game is truly up, and that their ridiculous candidate is officially out of the race. Go cry me a river. Those bums disgust me. 

volcan

apple ][ said:

Good! I am glad that those employees have totally wasted their money. They might as well have burned the money or spent it on hookers & blow, because Bernie is not going to be the nominee. The fix is already in for Hillary.

Bernie is a loser who didn't receive a steady paycheck until in his forties, and he's a radical communist socialist creep, and an admirer of evil regimes worldwide. And let's not even mention his ridiculous plans, such as taxing the hell out of people.

All Bernie supporters deserve to have 90% of their wealth wiped out, immediately, so that they may put their money where their ignorant mouths are. The only problem is that quite a few Bernie supporters are bums and losers with no wealth or income at all, and they're just looking for handouts.

I can't wait to see all of the hysterical and naive Bernie supporters crying their eyes out soon, when they realize that the game is truly up, and that their ridiculous candidate is officially out of the race. Go cry me a river. Those bums disgust me. 

The bums and losers are the Trump supporters. Anyone making money or who is well educated is against Trump. He is dangerous. If he becomes president it will be because the US population has descended into complete chaos, despair, and delusion thinking that going back to the dark ages is actually making America great again. Trump having his finger anywhere near the nuclear button is a disaster just waiting to happen.

anantksundaram

patchythepirate said:

So you're telling me that the vote will be between a corrupt, establishment demagogue and trump?

Bernie Sanders is corrupt?! OK...

paxman

monstrosity said:

jlandd said:

No, it's higher.  If you take ALL of the U.S. into account, including the vast lower class that seem invisible and the poverty stricken areas where people have much greater concerns than who to vote for, the average standard of living in the U.S. is lower.  It's not a comparison of Scandinavian countries overall and U.S. cities which have a high standard of living. 

Their standard of living is high, not through socialism (that crock of shit never did anyone any good) but because of geographical circumstances, small populations and great resources. Anyone who thinks these countries are a benchmark for the rest of the world is deluded.
It's almost as bad as saying we should look to Dubai as an economy to aspire to !

Norway has benefitted from oil, no question. But they have managed that wealth well and have not squandered the money. They have very strict regulations as to what can be spent and how. And again, not because of socialism but because of a commitment to a decentralized state, everybody benefits, not just the better off or the people in large cities. 

One interesting and important thing to know is that Norway does not derive all of its wealth from oil. In fact their success comes much from liberal policies that make economic sense. Back in the 70's when women lib was all the rage Norway took in aboard and created free child care and all sorts of other benefits and encouraged women to go to work. They also have a very, if not complete equal pay rate for men and women. The result is that in a relatively short space of time Norway increased its work force dramatically and now benefits through a much larger tax base. Most of these 'socialist' (not really) moves are based on pretty sound economics. 

apple ][

volcan said:

He is dangerous. 

That's a good thing. I am voting for danger. We need to shake things up, massively.