(Above: Rush Limbaugh discusses Yellowhammer’s story on the D.C. political class targeting Apple)
Talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh shouted out Yellowhammer News today while discussing a YH story titled “The D.C. political class thinks it’s time to take a bite out of Apple.”
Here’s an excerpt from the story, which was written by Yellowhammer founder Cliff Sims earlier this year:
[T]he K Street lobbyists and career politicians whose livelihoods depend on America’s most successful entrepreneurs having to come to D.C. and kiss their… rings… have been frustrated at Apple’s refusal to play their game for a long time, and they think it’s about time Apple paid the piper.
Apple has historically spent comparatively little money on lobbying, choosing to out-innovate their competition rather than trying to get a leg up through favorable regulation or legislation.
According to POLITICO, Apple “spent less than $2 million on lobbying in 2012 — less than in 2011 — despite its being an election year. By contrast, Google spent $18.2 million, Microsoft spent $8.1 million and even Facebook laid out $4 million. After the first quarter of 2013, Apple’s lobbying expenditure was $720,000, a fraction of the $4 million by Google or the $2.45 million by Facebook.”
Apple doesn’t have a Political Action Committee and made no federal corporate campaign contributions during the entire 2011-2012 campaign cycle.
Sims went on to lay out how the D.C. political class has targeted Apple, one of America’s most innovative companies, especially after their former CEO Steve Jobs passed away.
“[I]f Apple had spent more time and money building a lobbying presence in Washington, the government would have backed off,” experts cited in the story concluded.
El Rushbo had this to say about Yellowhammer’s take:
This is from a website called Yellowhammer… It’s a news site that concentrates on Alabama political news — it’s a bird. They have come across a tidbit that makes total sense. “The D.C. political class thinks it’s time to take a bite out of Apple.” People are really ticked off at Apple ’cause they don’t have a PAC, they don’t spend lobbying money, they don’t have anyone interacting with K Street, and they are going to be targeted.
I mean, this story lays out in great detail what, really, an extortion town Washington can be. You want the Justice Department to lay off? Pay up. You don’t want a class action suit or a Microsoft-kind-of-treatment. Pay up. And Apple has — that was because of Jobs — they didn’t want any part of it, didn’t want any political identity and so forth — not directly linked to the business. And now they’re going to pay… It’s an extortion town.
You can read the full story here.
Follow Adam on Twitter @AdamYHN
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