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5 Feb, 9 tweets, 2 min read
BREAKING: Microsoft to address its track record of awful political giving by... renaming its PAC to "the Microsoft Corporation Stakeholders Voluntary PAC (MSVPAC)." to "capture the fact that it is funded exclusively by voluntary donations of Microsoft stakeholders".
Microsoft is also pledging not to support the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the Electoral College for the duration of the 2022 cycle. After that, presumably—back to normal! No word on whether this limit extends to leadership PACs and other forms of indirect giving.
The company is also creating "a new Democracy Forward Initiative to support organizations that promote public transparency, campaign finance reform, and voting rights" that will work to undo the harms its political giving arm subsidizes.
FInally, the company will "promote and join a conversation with other businesses and organizations that want to strengthen democracy. Recent events have raised issues of importance to PACs across the business community."
In other words, Microsoft is trying to coat the irritant of employee anger at its support for antidemocratic extremists in pearly layers of bureaucracy. There will be study groups and new initiatives! Hopefully employees will not be bamboozled and will push for PAC abolition.
Remember—Microsoft donated to WV Attorney General Patrick Morrisey a week AFTER he filed suit to throw out the 2020 Presidential election results. These new self-imposed limits would not prevent Microsoft from donating to him again. The PAC (whatever its rebranded name) must die.
Microsoft listened to its employees' concerns about bankrolling sedition and responded by inserting a "V" into MSPAC. I think we all know what it stands for.
Link to Microsoft's public statement on political giving here: blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/…
* correction— I see in the full MS statement (I was working from extracts) that they've extended their self-imposed hiatus to state officials as well, presumably including Morrisey. Since these limits are easy to skirt by donating to parties and other PACs, I see this as cosmetic

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2 Feb
Google's post-election FEC report is out. On December 16, Google gave Darrell Issa $5,000 to help retire his primary campaign debt. On January 6, Issa voted to overturn the lawful results of the Presidential election. Image
Google made a similar $5,000 donation to Wyoming senator Cynthia Loomis on December 16. On January 6, Loomis was one of eight senators who voted to reject the Electoral College vote. Image
And on December 4, 2020, Google gave $5,000 to Jim Risch's leadership PAC, called Save America. What did Save America spend it on? Making sure that Republicans would win the Georgia Senate races. Googlers, this is who you work for. ImageImage
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Microsoft held an employee town hall today. I obtained a copy of Microsoft President Brad Smith's remarkably candid explanation of why Microsoft will continue to fund politicians whose conduct is completely at odds with the company's stated values notes.pinboard.in/u:maciej/90342…
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