Thread by @Pinboard

Amazon's post-election PAC filing is out, and it's full of interest. Just like Google, the company gave Darrell Issa $5,000 to retire his campaign debt on December 18, days before Issa voted to overturn the results of the Presidential election.

Amazon gave $5000 to Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson's "American Revival PAC" on December 17. Johnson voted to overturn the election three weeks later.

Amazon gave $5000 to West Virginia representative Carol Miller's "Cut The Bull PAC*" on December 17. She voted to overturn the Presidential election three weeks later.

* A note on these Leadership PACs: each legislator is allowed to run one, and give the money where they want

Amazon gave $2500 to North Carolina congressman David Rouzer's "Deciding Critical Races PAC" on December 17. On January 6, Rouzer voted to overturn the presidential election.

Amazon donated $1500 to California congressman Ken Calvert's "Eureka PAC" on December 17. Calvert voted on January 6 to overturn the Presidential election.

Amazon gave $2500 to Texas congressman Lance Gooden's "Growing Our Own Dynamic Economy Now PAC" (a lot of these leadership PACs go in for cutesy acronyms) on December 17. Gooden was yet another vote to throw out the results of the Presidential election.

Amazon gave $2500 to Kentucky congressman Hal Rogers' "Help America's Leaders PAC" $2500 on December 17. Rogers voted to overturn the Presidential election on January 6.

Amazon gave $2500 to Indiana representative Jackie Walorski's torturously named "Jump Into Action For Conservatives To Keep Our Ideas Elevated PAC" on December 17. Walorski voted to overturn the Presidential election on January 6.

Some of these donations require less explication than others. When Amazon gives to the "Let's All Keep Electing Republicans PAC", it's pretty clear where they stand.

Amazon gave $2500 to Tennessee representative John Rose's "Republicans Offering Solutions For Everyone PAC" on December 17. Rose voted to throw out the lawful results of the Presidential election on January 6.

Amazon gave $2500 to Kansas congressman Ron Estes' "Restoring our Nation PAC" on December 17. Estes voted to destroy the nation instead on January 6. Perhaps Amazon could get a refund on this donation, which was substantially not as described.

Amazon gave $5000 to Pennsylvania congressman Guy Reschenthaler's RvfPAC on December 17. Reschenthaler voted to throw out the results of the Presidential vote on January 6.

Finally, Amazon gave $1000 to Tennessee representative Tim Burchett's "Volunteer Issues PAC" on December 17. Burchett voted to overturn the Presidential election on January 6.

Why is it that when we look in the pockets of these seditionists, we find so many checks from Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and Google? (I covered the other tech companies' support of sedition in an earlier thread

https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/1356427194810081280

)

There's nothing compelling these tech companies to continue participating in this employee funded form of legalized bribery. Apple and IBM don't have a PAC, and they seem to cling to life despite their refusal to "pay to play". These PACs could (and should) disappear tomorrow

But the tech company leadership knows that they can simply brazen it out. Witness Microsoft president Brad Smith's remarks last month, where he just openly says that his company is paying for access and special treatment by giving to legislators

https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/1352487435242926080

Ultimately, this is in the hands of employees. Workers have the power defund the PAC. The FEC filings are public, and you can talk to coworkers who pay into this corrupt system (by paycheck deduction), and make sure they know where their money went.

[A final technical note on these donations: there's a two year cycle to corporate political giving, which is why so many of the donations in this thread (made after the eleection) were to legislators' leadership PACs instead of individual candidates.

This 2 year cycle also means that promises these companies made to suspend political giving to seditionists are cynical and empty. The period we're in now is the deadest time of the political cycle for corporate giving. The promise to "suspend" for a while means nothing at all.]