OT - Opensecrets.org- NewsCorp donates more to democrats?
SonicsR1/WAB
BaSSiStiSt
Terraholm
> http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000227&cycle=2010
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> Ouch.
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Why buy the GOP cow when they already own the milk
Terraholm
> http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000227&cycle=2010
>
> Ouch.
>
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43773668/ns/politics/
The company's board approved a new disclosure policy for its political
giving in April after two 2010 donations by Rupert Murdoch, the
Australian mogul who controls the company, raised concern among
shareholders.
Murdoch gave $1 million to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and $1.25
million to the RGA, saying later that he hoped it would help Republican
John Kasich, a former commentator on News Corp.'s Fox News. Kasich is
now Ohio's governor.
News Corp. was the top donor to the RGA in 2010, according to research
conducted by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
===
"The RGA became sort of the RNC (Republican National Committee), because
the legislators and governors picked at the state level were the ones in
charge of drawing the lines that will determine the outcome of the next
congressional race," she said.
Terraholm
News Corp. is “well into the upper echelon of entities” trying to
influence the federal government, says Dave Levinthal, editor of
OpenSecrets.org, a Web site that catalogues special interest spending.
Its biggest weapon? Lobbying, by far. The company has dispensed more
than $42 million since 2001 trying to curry favor with lawmakers and
regulators.
“This is not a one trick organization,” says Levinthal. “They wage their
political battles using a variety of weapons.”
That amount has steadily climbed since News Corp. and its affiliates
paid out a relatively paltry $1.8 million in 2001. It was also the year
when Murdoch began his quest to acquire a majority stake in DirecTV, a
satellite network that would help expand his distribution.
The deal stalled, thanks in part to Sen. John McCain, who warned that it
could lead to a troubling consolidation of power in one company's hands.
But by 2003, News Corp. had bumped up its lobbying budget to about $2.8
million—and the Federal Communications Commission had cleared the way
for the purchase.
The next big bounce came in 2006, the year the FCC began reevaluating
its ban on one company owning both print and television outlets in a
single market. That year, News Corp. spent $4.2 million on lobbying, as
relaxing those guidelines would make it easier for Murdoch to snatch up
multiple media properties. (In the 1990s, Murdoch had to battle the
bureaucracy to obtain a waiver from the FCC to own both the New
York-based Fox station and the New York Post, which he had earlier been
forced to sell.)
More recently, the company has spent around $5.3 million a year to push
its agenda. In 2010, News Corp. used some of its budget to urge
congressional Republicans to keep the federal government from
intervening in its negotiations with the Cablevision franchise in New
York over its attempt to double the fees charged to broadcast News Corp.
programming, which led to a temporary blackout. A spokeswoman for
Murdoch and News Corp. did not respond to a request for comment.
Beyond lobbying, Murdoch and his company have made millions of dollars
worth of political contributions. (Murdoch himself has given more than
$130,000 in the last decade. News Corp. has given about $1.7 million.)
Though he makes no secret of his right-leaning views and has generally
backed political conservatives on both sides of the Atlantic, Murdoch's
donations over the years have often been less ideological than
opportunistic.
Murdoch has personally given money to Sens. John Kerry and Chuck
Schumer, two of the most liberal Democrats in the Senate. He even held a
fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's Senate reelection campaign, which
reportedly netted $60,000, while personally giving $2,100 to the cause.
The vast majority of Murdoch's money, however, goes to Republican
candidates and causes. In 2010, as the GOP was trying to retake the
House, Senate and several state houses, News. Corp. donated an
eye-popping $1.25 million to the Republican Governors Association and $1
million to the Chamber of Commerce. The move angered some shareholders,
who demanded more transparency from the company. As the News of the
World imbroglio grows, more attention is being paid to that second
seven-figure gift because the chamber has been advocating for reforming
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act—the very law the Justice Department could
use to pursue News Corp. executives for the phone hacking scandal.
Few on Capitol Hill wanted to talk about Murdoch's sway, but Melanie
Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics says it's “clearly
outsized” when compared to others. “Money is a big factor,” says Sloan,
CREW's executive director. “But it's amplified when you combine it with
their megaphone. Positive exposure on Fox News is worth a lot.”
Terraholm
> http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000227&cycle=2010
>
Phone hacking: Murdoch paid US anti-bribery law lobbyists
$1m donation to US Chamber of Commerce in spotlight amid calls for
prosecution of News Corp in America, where it is based
Rupert Murdoch donated $1m to a pro-business lobby in the US months
before the group launched a high-profile campaign to alter the
anti-bribery law – the same law that could potentially be brought to
bear against News Corporation over the phone-hacking scandal.
News Corporation contributed $1m to the US Chamber of Commerce last
summer. In October the chamber put forward a six-point programme for
amending the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA, a law that punishes
US-based companies for engaging in the bribery of foreign officials.
Progressive groups in the US have speculated that there is no
coincidence in the contemporaneous timing of the Murdoch donation and
the launch of the chamber's FCPA campaign, which they claim is designed
to weaken the anti-bribery legislation. "The timing certainly raises
questions about who is bankrolling this campaign – if it's not News
Corporation who is it?" said Joshua Dorner of the Centre for American
Progress action fund.
The FCPA can imprison and fine individuals and companies. It was signed
into law in 1977 as a means of clamping down on the bad behaviour of US
companies abroad. In recent years it has been increasingly usesd. The 10
heaviest FCPA settlements have all occurred since 2007 and total $2.8bn.
News Corporation, which has its headquarters in the US, emphasises in
its corporate literature that it has a global anti-bribery policy. "We
don't offer, give, solicit or accept bribes or kickbacks, either in cash
or in the form of any other thing or service of value," it says.
But evidence has come to light that News Corporation employees working
for the News of the World bribed police officers in the UK. "What News
of the World did would seem to fall squarely within the parameters of
the FCPA," said Philip Raible, a media lawyer with Rayner Rowe LLP in
New York.
A Republican representative in New York, Peter King, has called on the
FBI to look into claims that News of the World was involved in
phone-hacking activities in the US. And several members of Congress have
written to the US attorney general, Eric Holder, asking him to see
whether News Corporation has breached the FCPA
Ouch indeed...