6 ms·

Silicon Valley Cozies Up to Washington, Outspending Wall Street 2-1

102 points by jazzyk 10y ago

omouse 10y ago
Keep in mind this is venture capitalists or founders spending, employees don't most of what SV elitists are lobbying for.
- adrenalinelol 10y ago
  The same is true on Wall St. A run of the mill analyst/associate/vp isn't going to burn their money by donating it to a political candidate.
  - mancerayder 10y ago
    That's a good point. It's funny how 'Silicon Valley' and 'Wall Street' have connotations such that the poor schmuck at the bottom of the totem pole gets caught in the net. It should be thought of more like 'White House' or 'Brussels', i.e. powercenters, which I think is what the labels may have originally tried to do.
ComteDeLaFere 10y ago
Wow. Considering this, and the fact that tech will undoubtedly get blamed for designing many jobs out of existence, how long before we see an Occupy Sand Hill Road? Asked with some humor, but... not really.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >how long before we see an Occupy Sand Hill Road? I say it in every "Rage against the system!" thread on these boards: there are many people here who are "the system" as far as the proletariat are concerned. As SV rises in power and its players become engrossed in politics, that becomes more evident. So be careful when you wish for revolution. You might find yourself on the wrong side.
  - liquidise 10y ago
    You make a great point about how the system already exists and in many ways the SV crowd is it. Looking forward, what is there to be done to prevent SV, Seattle, Austin and Denver from becoming the Detroit/Rust Belt of the next economic industrial shift?
  - exBarrelSpoiler 10y ago
    It's not so hard to defect, when the time comes. And in tech, there has always been some degree of resentment between engineers and the managerial-founder-VC class.
- justinlardinois 10y ago
  Remember this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bus_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bus_protests The underlying social tension hasn't gone away.
throwaway98237 10y ago
Back in 2005-2006 I was working on Wall St., studying for my CFA exam, working to get a place in our equities group, all while half-diverting my attention to the other coast, watching in awe as a whole bunch of upstarts were following in the footsteps of Robert Noyce and crew, building a new future. This new future didn't seem to look like the old way of doing business, like on Wall St., where it was where you went to school, who your neighbors were, who's ass you kissed at work. It was like the wild west, where the fit survived and prospered, where anyone could go and make a new life, and build something that would improve everyone's life. Fast forward 5 years or so and my delusions of "this time it will be different" were all but shattered. Watching Facebook put up walls around the commons, watching Apple fence off their garden, watching Google get into bed with the government and our military. Watching payroll head-counts become more and more dominated by sales teams. Watching founders head for the exit that is Wall St., which is exactly where Noyce and Crew had fled from back in the day. My guess is that it's all about the systemic qualities of our economic system. How could Silicon Valley had become anything else. I mean, if we're honest about it, Silicon Valley's first big customer was the military. And where there is money to be made Wall St. and the Ivy League will soon follow, stamping out cookie cutter companies implementinng their tried and true methodology for extracting the maximum value for shareholders. So sad.
- samfisher83 10y ago
  I am pretty sure stanford is an IVY school and its been at the heart of SV.
  - s_q_b 10y ago
    Stanford is not a member of the Ivy League, although it is a peer institution. I believe the OP's point was that the highest performing students will go wherever the most money can be made, and that elite institutions eventually steer their graduates into the most lucrative path. Right now that is financial services.
  - notfromhere 10y ago
    The Ivy league is exclusively an east coast thing.
mslkmdf 10y ago
I'm not sure you know what Occupy Wall Street was about.
- oldmanjay 10y ago
  To be fair, it's really hard to tell from the outside because the messages were all so muddled and the actions amounted to hanging out in a park. What's your take?
  - mslkmdf 10y ago
    Well the root cause was banks being bailed out and almost nobody being punished. Doesn't really relate to automation killing off jobs in any way.
- ComteDeLaFere 10y ago
  Since I live a few blocks from Zuccatti Park and was present for most of the Occupy rise and fall, I'm pretty sure I know what it was about, but feel free to share. And yes, I personally feel that a clear parallel is shaping up.
  - mslkmdf 10y ago
    What is the parallel between automation and gross negligence/corruption?
    - randall 10y ago
      Influence leading to gross negligence / corruption. Power corrupting all. Not the OP, but just a guess.
- sctb 10y ago
  We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12736324 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12736324 and marked it off-topic.
ktamura 10y ago
Unsurprising at all. All businesses/sectors are at the mercy of policymakers, and it's natural to invest some of the newfound wealth into influencing public policies. The size of lobbying budget is more or less a proxy for the size and the growth of the sector. The irony, of course, is Silicon Valley's holier-than-thou self-righteousness in relation to Wall Street and/or lobbying.
AndrewKemendo 10y ago
Silicon valley is doing better at politics, and yes spending is up, but is influence? The big companies are very new to this game and the people who think they are big players, aren't. Apple seems to be the only one that has some teeth as they were able to resist being compelled for the signing keys, however the powers that be just went to the Israelis for a crack. If you want to see what effective lobbying looks like look at Lockheed, Northrop, CACI, Honeywell etc... These guys get massive legislation passed, sponsor candidates, control voting on the floor of Congress. Musk has arguably come the closest to being a real player in the game but has a very mixed records and is not rely seen as as much of a threat to ULA and the auto industry. Silicon valley is realizing it needs this, but it has been lucky so far that it hasn't had to fight many entrenched players. This will change as ambitions rise.
- gjolund 10y ago
  Google is working directly with the Clinton campaign. I think they have it figured out.
  - AndrewKemendo 10y ago
    No, that isn't proof of anything. If you aren't working both sides you don't have a long term position.
    - gjolund 10y ago
      They aren't working both sides. That is the point.
      - AndrewKemendo 10y ago
        I'm not following you or perhaps you are not familiar with political cycles or the horsetrading that goes on. See there aren't really any "winners" in politics, just temporary inhabitants of certain roles - roles which have vacillating levers for control, and ideologies. So if Clinton wins, there is still the pesky problem of a possibly republican controlled congress (House more than likely) at some cycle - and then 4 years later doing it all again. This whole checks and balances thing isn't really efficient for getting things done (Madison made sure that was possible) for corporate interests, so if you need, say bi-partisan support for a bill that has a nice clause in in that supports (or doesn't) lets say H1B visa allocations for FY 2018 - then you need more than just the support of the executive branch. If the representative/senator that the tea party, or whatever the trump people are calling themselves, supports feel like [Insert Corporation] isn't on their side, then they can't compel the representative/senator to vote on their side and thus their power is reduced. You need to work both sides, otherwise you aren't in the game.
djyaz1200 10y ago
Tech enjoyed a long period of minimal regulation as it was changing/moving fast and government didn't understand it. No longer. Just like auto, finance and other big industries tech will be heavily regulated. These regulations will be used to ensure those with money and power are able to keep it. Like it or not that's how our country works.
- rtkwe 10y ago
  You don't have to bring in a nefarious motive for SV starting to lobby harder to make sense. When they weren't being heavily regulated congressional ignorance about tech didn't really matter. Then Washington starts coming out with some really misguided information and privacy laws like sopa so the big tech companies had to get involved or wind up dealing with bad regulations.
  - confounded 10y ago
    If you believe that Google and Facebook are lobbying to protect your privacy rights, I'd encourage you to check-out their records in Europe, where their interests tend to get tested a little more[0][1]. If you do care about your privacy, data regulation, and abusive copyright legislation, I'd urge you check out the EFF[2], and consider becoming a member. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_concerns_regarding_Google#European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_concerns_regarding_Goo... [2]: https://www.eff.org/ https://www.eff.org/
gabrielgoh 10y ago
does anyone have details on what these lobbying efforts are directed towards?
jgalt212 10y ago
Yes, must keep the trustbusters at bay.

102 points by jazzyk 10y ago

Keep in mind this is venture capitalists or founders spending, employees don't most of what SV elitists are lobbying for.

adrenalinelol 10y ago
The same is true on Wall St. A run of the mill analyst/associate/vp isn't going to burn their money by donating it to a political candidate.
- mancerayder 10y ago
  That's a good point. It's funny how 'Silicon Valley' and 'Wall Street' have connotations such that the poor schmuck at the bottom of the totem pole gets caught in the net. It should be thought of more like 'White House' or 'Brussels', i.e. powercenters, which I think is what the labels may have originally tried to do.

ComteDeLaFere 10y ago

Wow. Considering this, and the fact that tech will undoubtedly get blamed for designing many jobs out of existence, how long before we see an Occupy Sand Hill Road? Asked with some humor, but... not really.

forgetsusername 10y ago
>how long before we see an Occupy Sand Hill Road? I say it in every "Rage against the system!" thread on these boards: there are many people here who are "the system" as far as the proletariat are concerned. As SV rises in power and its players become engrossed in politics, that becomes more evident. So be careful when you wish for revolution. You might find yourself on the wrong side.
- liquidise 10y ago
  You make a great point about how the system already exists and in many ways the SV crowd is it. Looking forward, what is there to be done to prevent SV, Seattle, Austin and Denver from becoming the Detroit/Rust Belt of the next economic industrial shift?
- exBarrelSpoiler 10y ago
  It's not so hard to defect, when the time comes. And in tech, there has always been some degree of resentment between engineers and the managerial-founder-VC class.
justinlardinois 10y ago
Remember this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bus_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_bus_protests The underlying social tension hasn't gone away.

throwaway98237 10y ago

Back in 2005-2006 I was working on Wall St., studying for my CFA exam, working to get a place in our equities group, all while half-diverting my attention to the other coast, watching in awe as a whole bunch of upstarts were following in the footsteps of Robert Noyce and crew, building a new future. This new future didn't seem to look like the old way of doing business, like on Wall St., where it was where you went to school, who your neighbors were, who's ass you kissed at work. It was like the wild west, where the fit survived and prospered, where anyone could go and make a new life, and build something that would improve everyone's life. Fast forward 5 years or so and my delusions of "this time it will be different" were all but shattered. Watching Facebook put up walls around the commons, watching Apple fence off their garden, watching Google get into bed with the government and our military. Watching payroll head-counts become more and more dominated by sales teams. Watching founders head for the exit that is Wall St., which is exactly where Noyce and Crew had fled from back in the day. My guess is that it's all about the systemic qualities of our economic system. How could Silicon Valley had become anything else. I mean, if we're honest about it, Silicon Valley's first big customer was the military. And where there is money to be made Wall St. and the Ivy League will soon follow, stamping out cookie cutter companies implementinng their tried and true methodology for extracting the maximum value for shareholders. So sad.

samfisher83 10y ago
I am pretty sure stanford is an IVY school and its been at the heart of SV.
- s_q_b 10y ago
  Stanford is not a member of the Ivy League, although it is a peer institution. I believe the OP's point was that the highest performing students will go wherever the most money can be made, and that elite institutions eventually steer their graduates into the most lucrative path. Right now that is financial services.
- notfromhere 10y ago
  The Ivy league is exclusively an east coast thing.

mslkmdf 10y ago

I'm not sure you know what Occupy Wall Street was about.

oldmanjay 10y ago
To be fair, it's really hard to tell from the outside because the messages were all so muddled and the actions amounted to hanging out in a park. What's your take?
- mslkmdf 10y ago
  Well the root cause was banks being bailed out and almost nobody being punished. Doesn't really relate to automation killing off jobs in any way.
ComteDeLaFere 10y ago
Since I live a few blocks from Zuccatti Park and was present for most of the Occupy rise and fall, I'm pretty sure I know what it was about, but feel free to share. And yes, I personally feel that a clear parallel is shaping up.
- mslkmdf 10y ago
  What is the parallel between automation and gross negligence/corruption?
  - randall 10y ago
    Influence leading to gross negligence / corruption. Power corrupting all. Not the OP, but just a guess.
sctb 10y ago
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12736324 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12736324 and marked it off-topic.

ktamura 10y ago

Unsurprising at all. All businesses/sectors are at the mercy of policymakers, and it's natural to invest some of the newfound wealth into influencing public policies. The size of lobbying budget is more or less a proxy for the size and the growth of the sector. The irony, of course, is Silicon Valley's holier-than-thou self-righteousness in relation to Wall Street and/or lobbying.

AndrewKemendo 10y ago

Silicon valley is doing better at politics, and yes spending is up, but is influence? The big companies are very new to this game and the people who think they are big players, aren't. Apple seems to be the only one that has some teeth as they were able to resist being compelled for the signing keys, however the powers that be just went to the Israelis for a crack. If you want to see what effective lobbying looks like look at Lockheed, Northrop, CACI, Honeywell etc... These guys get massive legislation passed, sponsor candidates, control voting on the floor of Congress. Musk has arguably come the closest to being a real player in the game but has a very mixed records and is not rely seen as as much of a threat to ULA and the auto industry. Silicon valley is realizing it needs this, but it has been lucky so far that it hasn't had to fight many entrenched players. This will change as ambitions rise.

gjolund 10y ago
Google is working directly with the Clinton campaign. I think they have it figured out.
- AndrewKemendo 10y ago
  No, that isn't proof of anything. If you aren't working both sides you don't have a long term position.
  - gjolund 10y ago
    They aren't working both sides. That is the point.
    - AndrewKemendo 10y ago
      I'm not following you or perhaps you are not familiar with political cycles or the horsetrading that goes on. See there aren't really any "winners" in politics, just temporary inhabitants of certain roles - roles which have vacillating levers for control, and ideologies. So if Clinton wins, there is still the pesky problem of a possibly republican controlled congress (House more than likely) at some cycle - and then 4 years later doing it all again. This whole checks and balances thing isn't really efficient for getting things done (Madison made sure that was possible) for corporate interests, so if you need, say bi-partisan support for a bill that has a nice clause in in that supports (or doesn't) lets say H1B visa allocations for FY 2018 - then you need more than just the support of the executive branch. If the representative/senator that the tea party, or whatever the trump people are calling themselves, supports feel like [Insert Corporation] isn't on their side, then they can't compel the representative/senator to vote on their side and thus their power is reduced. You need to work both sides, otherwise you aren't in the game.

djyaz1200 10y ago

Tech enjoyed a long period of minimal regulation as it was changing/moving fast and government didn't understand it. No longer. Just like auto, finance and other big industries tech will be heavily regulated. These regulations will be used to ensure those with money and power are able to keep it. Like it or not that's how our country works.

rtkwe 10y ago
You don't have to bring in a nefarious motive for SV starting to lobby harder to make sense. When they weren't being heavily regulated congressional ignorance about tech didn't really matter. Then Washington starts coming out with some really misguided information and privacy laws like sopa so the big tech companies had to get involved or wind up dealing with bad regulations.
- confounded 10y ago
  If you believe that Google and Facebook are lobbying to protect your privacy rights, I'd encourage you to check-out their records in Europe, where their interests tend to get tested a little more[0][1]. If you do care about your privacy, data regulation, and abusive copyright legislation, I'd urge you check out the EFF[2], and consider becoming a member. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Facebook [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_concerns_regarding_Google#European_Union https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_concerns_regarding_Goo... [2]: https://www.eff.org/ https://www.eff.org/

gabrielgoh 10y ago

does anyone have details on what these lobbying efforts are directed towards?

jgalt212 10y ago

Yes, must keep the trustbusters at bay.