ThinkCivics News
An educated citizenry is a vital requisite
for our survival as a free people.
Join ThinkCivics+
  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Health
  • US News
  • Faith
  • Science & Tech
  • World News
No Result
View All Result
ThinkCivics News
  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Health
  • US News
  • Faith
  • Science & Tech
  • World News
Join ThinkCivics+
No Result
View All Result
ThinkCivics News
Join TC+
Home US News Politics

It’s High Time GOP Congressional Leaders Rejected Big Tech Dollars

The Federalist by The Federalist
July 17, 2021
in Politics
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
0
It’s High Time GOP Congressional Leaders Rejected Big Tech Dollars

Facebook censorship board member Helle Thorning-Schmidt claimed on Thursday that free speech is not a human right. On the same day, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admitted the Biden administration is colluding with corrupt Big Tech companies to silence anything they deem “problematic” on social media.

There’s no denying Big Tech is the biggest threat to free expression in the United States and the most blatant violators of antitrust efforts. They silence conservatives, including a former US president and a member of Congress; participate in Orwellian reeducation initiatives; interfere in our elections; suppress anything deemed “offensive” or “disinformation”; help build China’s oppressive surveillance state; and obliterate alternative platforms by robbing them of digital infrastructure.

The only way to protect the First Amendment and make the digital sphere open to competition is for Congress to step in and upend Big Tech’s complete immunity from liability under Section 230 and break up the monopolies.

But how can Republican congressmen and women fight the tech oligarchs if they are simultaneously receiving tens of thousands of dollars from them? While Big Tech contributes significantly more money to Democrats, Republicans still receive a substantial amount of political donations.

Indeed, over 200 Republican members of Congress in the House and Senate received campaign contributions in 2020 from Political Action Committees (PACs) affiliated with Amazon, Google (which also owns Nest and Waze), and Facebook (which owns Instagram and WhatsApp). Twitter, Apple, and Snapchat do not appear to make PAC contributions to candidates.

In April, seven House Republicans vowed to reject any campaign contributions from Big Tech companies. Those Republicans include Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.), Chip Roy (Texas), Greg Steube (Fla.), Ralph Norman (S.C.), Dan Bishop (N.C.), Burgess Owens (Utah) and Andy Biggs (Ariz.).

Why didn’t House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy join them? Would that not have been a powerful statement? It’s probably because the biggest receivers of Big Tech donations aren’t the seven men who vowed to reject them, but members in GOP leadership and those who have significant influence in powerful committees like Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, Financial Services, and Appropriations.

Following the certification of the 2020 presidential election, corporate America (including Big Tech) punished members of Congress who refused to certify the election by announcing a pause on donations for those who did not vote to certify. Their public announcement was a statement to America: Big Tech has power over Republican members of Congress.

This was all the more reason for Republicans, whether they voted to certify or not, to band together and tell Big Tech “we don’t need your money and we don’t want your money.” But — seven men excepted — they didn’t.

This election cycle is the year members of Congress must sever ties with Big Tech. They should not even take meetings with these companies, so long as they are actively building unethical Chinese spyware, annihilating American’s first amendment rights, and actively destroying any semblance of free and fair elections.

Here are 20 GOP Congressional leaders who took the most campaign contributions from Big Tech in 2020 and should take zero dollars in 2021, beginning with House leadership:

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Republican Minority Leader

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $10,000

Facebook: $5,000

Total: $25,000

Rep. Elise Stefanik (N.Y.), Republican Conference Chairwoman and Member of Education and Labor, Armed Services, and Intelligence Committees

Google: $10,000

Amazon: : $10,000

Facebook: $1,500

Total: $21,500

Rep. Steve Scalise (La.), Republican Whip and Member of Energy and Commerce Committee

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $0

Facebook: $8,000

Total: $18,000

Rep. Drew Ferguson (Ga.), Chief Deputy Whip and Member of Ways and Means Committee

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $1,000

Facebook: $5,000

Total: $16,000

Other representatives and senators who should stop accepting money from Big Tech include, in order of total donation amount from Google, Amazon, and Facebook:

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Wash.), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $10,000

Facebook: $6,000

Total: $26,000

Rep. Patrick McHenry (N.C.), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $5,000

Facebook: $9,000

Total: $24,000

Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), Member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Ranking Member of the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee

Google: $10,0000

Amazon: $8,000

Facebook: $4,500

Total: $22,500

Rep. Darin LaHood (Ill.), Member of the House Ways and Means Committee

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $10,000

Facebook: $2,000

Total: $22,000

Sen. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee

Google: $9,000

Amazon: $6,000

Facebook: $6,000

Total: $21,000

Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas), Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $7,500

Facebook: $2,500

Total: $20,000

Rep. Robert Latta (Ohio), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology

Google: $7,500

Amazon: $7,500

Facebook: $5,000

Total: $20,000

Rep. Rodney Davis (Ill.), Ranking Member of the House Administration Committee

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $9,500

Facebook: $0

Total: $19,500

Rep. Kay Granger (Texas), Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee

Google: $9,500

Amazon: $10,000

Facebook: $0

Total: $19,500

Rep. Brett Guthrie (Ky.), Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittees on Health and Oversight and Investigations

Google: $7,500

Amazon: $7,500

Facebook: $4,000

Total: $19,000

Rep. Jeff Duncan (S.C.), Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee

Google: $10,000

Amazon: $3,500

Facebook: $4,500

Total: $18,000

Rep. Michael Burgess (Texas), Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Ranking Member of the House Rules Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process

Google: $7,500

Amazon: $5,000

Facebook: $5,000

Total: $17,500

Rep. Virginia Foxx (N.C.), Ranking Member of the House Education and Labor Committee

Google: $7,500

Amazon: $10,000

Facebook: $0

Total: $17,500

Sen. James Inhofe (Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Member of the Senate Small Business Committee

Google: $9,000

Amazon: $7,500

Facebook: $0

Total: $16,500

Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property

Google: $4,000

Amazon: $7,500

Facebook: $5,000

Total: $16,500

Sen. Mike Rounds (S.D.), Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Armed Services Committee

Google: $8,000

Amazon: $5,000

Facebook: $3,500

Total: $16,500

This article was originally published by The Federalist. Read the original article.

The Federalist

The Federalist is an online magazine that covers politics, policy, culture, and religion.

thefederalist.com
Tags: AlphabetAmazonBig TechCCPcensorshipChinacongressional RepublicansFacebookFree SpeechGoogleSilicone ValleysnapchatsurveillanceTwitter

Related Posts

Video Catches Confused President Biden Wearing Mask With No One Around, Removing Mask To Get In People’s Faces

Video Catches Confused President Biden Wearing Mask With No One Around, Removing Mask To Get In People’s Faces

May 23, 2022
Joe Biden’s Handlers Rush to Clean up His Statement on Taiwan

Joe Biden’s Handlers Rush to Clean up His Statement on Taiwan

May 23, 2022

Professor Turley Says ‘Voldemort-like’ Hillary Will Avoid Responsibility in Durham Probe

May 22, 2022

Justice May Be Coming for the 51 Who Signed the Intel Letter Against Hunter Biden Laptop

May 20, 2022
Load More
Next Post
Why liberals target Chick-fil-A

Why liberals target Chick-fil-A

Education Sec. Cardona retreats from making critical race theory part of new school grants

Education Sec. Cardona retreats from making critical race theory part of new school grants

Biden defends flagging Facebook posts for possible COVID misinformation: ‘They’re killing people!’

Biden defends flagging Facebook posts for possible COVID misinformation: 'They're killing people!'

TODAY'S TOP STORIES

  • Unvaccinated People Will Be Barred From This, Starting May 31

    Unvaccinated People Will Be Barred From This, Starting May 31

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Video Catches Confused President Biden Wearing Mask With No One Around, Removing Mask To Get In People’s Faces

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Protesters block, attack truck and horse trailer, driver runs them over

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Former MMA Fighter Chokes Out Punk Assaulting A Cop

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Buses Arriving in DC With Illegal Aliens Blow up One of Biden’s Biggest Lies and Leave the WH Babbling

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Handwritten Notes From 2017 Show FBI Agents Mislead DOJ On The Trump-Russia Investigation

by The Federalist
May 19, 2022
0
Handwritten Notes From 2017 Show FBI Agents Mislead DOJ On The Trump-Russia Investigation
National Security

Hillary Clinton’s campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann is currently on trial for lying to the FBI about his role in pushing...

Read more

Jankowicz Got The Boot, But Biden’s ‘Ministry Of Truth’ Hired Replacements Are WORST

by ThinkCivics Newswire
May 19, 2022
0
Jankowicz Got The Boot, But Biden’s ‘Ministry Of Truth’ Hired Replacements Are WORST
National Security

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hired the co-author of the PATRIOT Act, arguably the harshest crackdown on civil liberties...

Read more

MSNBC Guests Want GOP Labeled ‘Domestic Terror Party,’ Jail Time For Having The Wrong Opinions

by The Political Insider
May 19, 2022
0
MSNBC Guests Want GOP Labeled ‘Domestic Terror Party,’ Jail Time For Having The Wrong Opinions
National Security

We all know that Democrats and the left love to operate on the premise of “never let a good crisis...

Read more

Incredible Video: George W. Bush Accidentally Condemns ‘Unjustified and Brutal Invasion of Iraq’

by The Political Insider
May 19, 2022
0
Incredible Video: George W. Bush Accidentally Condemns ‘Unjustified and Brutal Invasion of Iraq’
National Security

George W. Bush committed a Freudian slip so brutal they may have to rename the phenomenon after him. The former...

Read more
This Year’s World Economic Forum in Davos Is as Disturbing as You’d Expect
Economy

This Year’s World Economic Forum in Davos Is as Disturbing as You’d Expect

by RedState
May 23, 2022
0

It’s the time of year again when thousands of the world’s most powerful and wealthy people gather in Davos, Switzerland...

Read more
Is Trump A Modern Day Nostradamus? Watch His Prediction Of What Would Happen If Biden Won
Economy

Is Trump A Modern Day Nostradamus? Watch His Prediction Of What Would Happen If Biden Won

by The Political Insider
May 23, 2022
0

President Trump is many things, to friend and foe alike. Is being a modern day Nostradamus among them? At least...

Read more
U.S. economy may outpace China’s this year for the first time in nearly 50 years
Economy

U.S. economy may outpace China’s this year for the first time in nearly 50 years

by Just the News
May 21, 2022
0

The growth of the U.S. economy is set to outpace that of China's for the first time in nearly five...

Read more
It Sure Looks Like Joe Biden Is Trying to Purposely Destroy the Country
Economy

It Sure Looks Like Joe Biden Is Trying to Purposely Destroy the Country

by RedState
May 21, 2022
0

The last several weeks in the United States have been a wild ride. Everything that could go wrong, short of...

Read more
Facebook Twitter RSS

Brilliantly

SAFE!

thinkcivics.com

Content & Links

Verified by Sur.ly

2022

Recent News

  • The Left Has Effectively Banned Christian Kids From Public Pools, Libraries, And Summer Camps
  • US airlines like Delta and United are so desperate for pilots they are dropping some requirements and considering cutting training hours to get more pilots flying sooner
  • Bill Maher Notices Something Odd About These Transgender Kids

Category

  • Culture & Society
  • Economy
  • Editorials
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Energy
  • Environment
  • Faith
  • Health
  • Immigration
  • Military
  • National Security
  • Politics
  • Science & Tech
  • US News
  • Videos
  • World News

© 2022 ThinkCivics Media. All Rights Reserved.

  • Login
  • Sign Up
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • Join
  • Contribute

© 2022 ThinkCivics Media. All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

OR

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.