{"id":24741,"date":"2022-12-20T14:39:26","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T14:39:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/20\/att-comcast-quickly-returned-to-being-the-top-corporate-funders-of-anti-democracy-insurrectionists\/"},"modified":"2022-12-20T14:39:26","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T14:39:26","slug":"att-comcast-quickly-returned-to-being-the-top-corporate-funders-of-anti-democracy-insurrectionists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/12\/20\/att-comcast-quickly-returned-to-being-the-top-corporate-funders-of-anti-democracy-insurrectionists\/","title":{"rendered":"AT&T, Comcast, Quickly Returned To Being The Top Corporate Funders Of Anti-Democracy Insurrectionists"},"content":{"rendered":"

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from the corruption-at-work<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

Much like the company\u2019s\u00a0dedication to women<\/a>, AT&T\u2019s dedication to not funding people eager to overthrow democracy appears to be somewhere between inconsistent and nonexistent. And the company certainly isn\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n

Shortly after January 6 a number of companies, including telecom giants like AT&T, publicly crowed about how they\u2019d be ceasing all funding to politicians who supported the attack on the Capitol and the overturning of, you know,\u00a0democracy<\/em>. Of course that promise was never worth all that much, given that the umbrella lobbying orgs companies like AT&T used\u00a0never really stopped financing terrible people<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Initially, AT&T made a big stink about how it had suspended funding to all 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 election. But not only did AT&T not actually suspend funding via its numerous policy and lobbying tendrils, it didn\u2019t even\u00a0really ever stop funding insurrectionists<\/a>\u00a0directly.<\/p>\n

A more recent breakdown of campaign financing by Bloomberg<\/a> found several things. One, big telecom, which has largely been forgotten about during the myopic, multi-year DC policy fixation on \u201cbig tech,\u201d was far and away among the biggest donors to insurrectionists and election conspiracy theorists:<\/p>\n

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Bloomberg found that companies like Comcast not only didn\u2019t pause donations to election deniers long, they ramped up the funding of those candidates right before the midterms<\/em>, as it was working tirelessly to keep the FCC mired permanently in partisan gridlock<\/a> so it can\u2019t do any of the things the public wants (restoring net neutrality, restoring media consolidation rules). <\/p>\n

As is usually the case, Comcast didn\u2019t much want to talk about why it throws money at people trying to destroy democracy:<\/p>\n

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By the end of the 2021, the Philadelphia-based cable giant had not only resumed giving to those candidates, but increased its contributions throughout 2022 to $365,500, becoming the second-biggest donor to election deniers among the tech and telecom firms. Comcast didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The mainstream press being, well, the mainstream press, Bloomberg chooses to inform its readers that telecom companies are lobbying radical anti-democracy insurrectionists and conspiracy theorists to \u201cboost broadband rollout\u201d:<\/p>\n

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Conversely, telecom companies and semiconductor makers want more government aid for programs to boost broadband rollout and domestic manufacturing. That requires developing relationships with newly empowered Republicans.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Most of the federal COVID and infrastructure broadband funding has already been assigned. And most of the dictating of who gets that money is being determined on the state level<\/a>, not the federal. Bloomberg just somehow forgets<\/strong> to mention that AT&T and Comcast have been working tirelessly, arm in arm with the GOP, to keep the FCC mired in partisan gridlock<\/a> in perpetuity. <\/p>\n

All told, most of the claims by corporations that they\u2019d be more discerning about their campaign financing in the wake of January 6 wound up being bullshit. And any interest in campaign finance reform in the wake of this giant middle finger to democracy appears similarly hollow. <\/p>\n

\nFiled Under: campaign donations<\/a>, campaign finance reform<\/a>, conspiracy theorists<\/a>, election denier<\/a>, elections<\/a>, gop<\/a>, insurrectionists<\/a>, january 6<\/a>, lobbying<\/a>, maga<\/a>, republican<\/a>
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Companies: at&t<\/a>, comcast<\/a>, verizon<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n