Apple spent $500K on federal lobbying in Q1 2012 while Google spent $5M

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Though Apple faces scrutiny from the federal government in the form of an antitrust lawsuit, the company has only spent $500,000 on lobbying the U.S. government in the first three months of 2012.

Apple's activity, or lack thereof, in Washington D.C. was highlighted in a profile published on Wednesday by Politico. While the iPhone maker spent just a half-million dollars on lobbying in the first quarter of 2012, rivals Google and Microsoft spent nearly $7 million combined during the same period, according to congressional lobbying disclosure reports.

Apple's relative absence from the lobbying scene in Washington has apparently left the company with few friends. That could present complications with respect to a new Justice Department lawsuit, filed last month, which has accused Apple and a number of book publishers of price fixing and collusion.

Wednesday's report featured comments from Jeff Miller, who was previously a senior aide for 8 years on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcommittee. He said he never had a meeting with any lobbyist representing Apple.

"There have been other tech companies who chose not to engage in Washington, and for the most part that strategy did not benefit them," Miller said.

Among technology companies, Google has the largest presence by far, having spent $5 million in the first quarter of 2012 alone. Microsoft was in second with $1.8 million, while Hewlett-Packard finished third with $1.6 million.

Lobbying


Apple's spending doesn't even crack the top 10, as the company finished in 11th place behind ninth-place Facebook, which spent $816,000 during the quarter, and tenth-place Dell, which allocated $620,000 for lobbying.

The $500,000 Apple spent in the first quarter of 2012 is actually down slightly from the same period in 2011, when the company put $560,000 toward federal lobbying. Last year's sum was roughly one-third the amount Google and Microsoft each spent during the same period.

In 2012, the gap has grown even further, with Google spending ten times as much, and Microsoft more than three times as much. Both companies are joined by Facebook by having their own political action committees, while Apple has none. And Google and Microsoft were also noted by Politico to have media operations in Washington, while the famously tight-lipped Apple does not.

While Apple hasn't spent a great deal directly on lobbying, the company does participate in some groups that advocate on its behalf in Washington. For example, last September Apple joined the Digital Due Process coalition, which seeks to reform surveillance laws in the U.S. and secure individuals' rights to privacy with modern Internet technology.

In addition, Apple has joined other companies in pushing for an offshore tax holiday that would allow the company to repatriate funds stored overseas and spend them in the U.S. at a lower tax rate. Other companies in the consortium included Cisco, Duke Energy, Oracle, and Pfizer.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Why spend any at all? 




    This nonsense needs to be illegal.

  • Reply 2 of 27
    just_mejust_me Posts: 590member

    Quote:

    In addition, Apple has joined other companies in pushing for an offshore tax holiday that would allow the company to repatriate funds stored overseas and spend them in the U.S. at a lower tax rate. Other companies in the consortium included Cisco, Duke Energy, Oracle, and Pfizer.


    Dont think any of these companies should have a offshore tax holiday. I pay a higher percentage in taxes compared to these companies which is wrong and should be illegal.

  • Reply 3 of 27
    boogabooga Posts: 1,082member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    Why spend any at all? 




    This nonsense needs to be illegal.



     


    Haven't you heard?  Bribes are protected First Amendment speech these days.

  • Reply 4 of 27
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member


    Someone is clearly more interested in product strength than political clout. 

  • Reply 5 of 27
    frankiefrankie Posts: 381member


    Lobbying should be illegal and tax loopholes should not exist.  Period.  


     


    Let's have a nationwide vote on it and see what happens.  I guarantee is would be 99% to 1% in the results...

  • Reply 6 of 27
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by frankie View Post

    …tax loopholes should not exist.  Period.  


     


    Unless it comes to citizens, right? image


     


    Look, we really just need the government to come to Apple and say, "redesign these tax forms". 


     


    Then Apple makes the most beautiful, simple tax forms anyone has ever seen. They make PERFECT sense to everyone, and all workarounds are locked out.


     


    We need a cleaner, more streamlined tax code. Not all 'loopholes' are/should be made illegal.


     


    Similarly, tax fraud and evasion should be dealt with swiftly and severely.

  • Reply 7 of 27
    constable odoconstable odo Posts: 1,041member


    Greasing the axles might get a little better valuation out of Apple.  Apple has enough money to spread around, so I don't see why it doesn't spend more than Google.  It might help Apple get a few more devices in the government.  Apple isn't going to go anywhere at this rate.  The Feds will be jumping on Apple for every little thing.  Apple needs to get a bit more clout in high places.  As a shareholder, I think it should be done.  Go with the flow.

     

  • Reply 8 of 27
    alexmitalexmit Posts: 112member


    **** lobbyists and their employers. Period.

  • Reply 9 of 27
    mj1970mj1970 Posts: 9,002member


    Part of the problem here is that Apple could find itself trapped it is isn't careful.


     


    Often times lobbying is used merely to defend oneself against a power-crazed government (not that that applies to the US government in anyway).


     


    The other side to consider is that those doing a lot of lobbying are often trying to use government as a club to beat their competitors with.


     


    The root problem here is a government with so much power that it is worthwhile to lobby it in the first place.


     


    You'll NEVER stop lobbying. You can make stuff illegal all you want...it will just go underground. They'll find ways around it. As long as the government has enough power and control to warrant trying to influence and control it.

  • Reply 10 of 27
    realwarderrealwarder Posts: 136member
    frankie wrote: »
    Lobbying should be illegal and tax loopholes should not exist.  Period.  

    Let's have a nationwide vote on it and see what happens.  I guarantee is would be 99% to 1% in the results...

    While 99% of people may agree with you (myself included,) the 1% are having their pockets lined with this money or are writing the checks out of their success.

    Why would those 1% support changing a law that is paying for their mansions? Good luck with that one!
  • Reply 11 of 27
    mj1970mj1970 Posts: 9,002member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by realwarder View Post



    Why would those 1% support changing a law that is paying for their mansions?


     


    And re-election campaigns.

  • Reply 12 of 27
    realwarderrealwarder Posts: 136member
    Greasing the axles might get a little better valuation out of Apple.  Apple has enough money to spread around, so I don't see why it doesn't spend more than Google.  It might help Apple get a few more devices in the government.  Apple isn't going to go anywhere at this rate.  The Feds will be jumping on Apple for every little thing.  Apple needs to get a bit more clout in high places.  As a shareholder, I think it should be done.  Go with the flow.

     

    There is good logic there. If your competitor is there influencing people, you should really be making sure those people are hearing the full story, not just one side.

    Personally I think lobbying should be banned, and DC should be salaried. However until that day never happens, you have to play the game to get the most success.
  • Reply 13 of 27
    dmitridmitri Posts: 3member


    This interesting but a more helpful analysis would be to look at how much companies spend on lobby as a percentage of their earnings – i.e., for every $1M Google makes how much are they willing to put aside on the lobbying vs. Apple and other companies.  This is where the numbers truly get scary:


     


    Google made $2,890mm Profit in Q2 and spend $5mm on lobbying.  This means that Google management was willing to spend $1,730 for every millions of profit they made.


     


    Let’s compare this with Apple. Apple made $11,622mm Profit in Q2 and spend $500K on lobbying. This means that Apple management was willing to spend only $43 for every millions of profit Apple made.


     


    Google spend over 40 times more on federal lobbying than Apple. Wow. 

  • Reply 14 of 27
    allblueallblue Posts: 393member


    Modern dictionary.


     


    lobby (verb) to corrupt


    example: The corporation lobbied Congress.

  • Reply 15 of 27
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by realwarder View Post




    Quote:

    Originally Posted by frankie View Post



    Lobbying should be illegal and tax loopholes should not exist.  Period.  



    Let's have a nationwide vote on it and see what happens.  I guarantee is would be 99% to 1% in the results...




    While 99% of people may agree with you (myself included,) the 1% are having their pockets lined with this money or are writing the checks out of their success.



    Why would those 1% support changing a law that is paying for their mansions? Good luck with that one!


     


    Because they could start to believe that they would be better off giving up a little bit (to diffuse the anger of 99%) than to risk losing everything.

  • Reply 16 of 27
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    Hate bribing...sorry, lobbying.

    Love level playing fields.

    Reckon Apple should spend a billion or so lobbying.

    Would love to see a little political pressure brought to bare whenever some of these ridiculous press stories pop up.
  • Reply 17 of 27


    Lobbying is free speech and constitutionally protected. If you don't like lobbying, then you should seek to shrink the size government. The reason that lobbying is so pervasive is that we have a huge government that has many goodies to auction off to the highest bidder. If we didn't have a huge government, we wouldn't have the lobbying. That's how you change things.


     


    If they really had to spend money to get government to protect the privacy of electronic devices that's really sad. That's government's job - to protect our freedom. Yet we have a corporation paying them to do so. Sucks.

  • Reply 18 of 27
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member


    Apple has always let their products do the talking. It's only on rare occassions do they Lobby and mainly against measures that coalitions of SV industry leaders all agree is damaging to the world of computing.

     

  • Reply 19 of 27
    mdriftmeyermdriftmeyer Posts: 7,503member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by whatyouneed View Post


    Lobbying is free speech and constitutionally protected.


     


    If they really had to spend money to get government to protect the privacy of electronic devices that's really sad. That's government's job - to protect our freedom. Yet we have a corporation paying them to do so. Sucks.



     


    Petition the Government for a redress of Grievances is Free Speech and Constitutionally protected.


     


    Corporate Lobbying is an interpretation the Courts decided and one that has screwed the world over too many times.


     


    I have no problem with individuals lobbying Congress but I do have a problem with the profession of Lobbying who do not speak for We The People shaping our choices in life.

  • Reply 20 of 27
    mj1970mj1970 Posts: 9,002member


    I imagine some posters here would support the "People's Rights Amendment" (a constitutional amendment that would overturn the Supreme Court’s holding in Citizens United.)


     


    But be careful.

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