Matthew Lasar with Ars Technica takes a look at AT&T's campaign contributions this morning. It's a pretty thorough look.
My thoughts on Matthew's story are below. They don't reflect Sprint's views on this matter.
At the federal level, via Open Secrets, you can look up exactly how much companies give to candidates. Tracking donations at the state level is harder because states don't have the same disclosure requirements.
As far as my own disclosure, I've worked as a political fundraiser earlier in my career and I regularly give to candidates who share my views. I don't give money to Sprint's PAC. Our PAC regularly gives money to a wide range of candidates who support the company's positions on telecom issues, but who don't share my views on other issues important to me. (Our PAC manager is not happy about this, but to me, political donations are like voting -- it's a very personal choice.)
As for the story I've linked to above, you have to decide if you agree with the assumption that when people (or companies) give to candidates, they are expecting something in return. (You also have to decide what that "something" is.)
When I give money to candidates, I expect candidates to vote the way I would vote if I was in public office. I'm not looking for anything else.
But for other folks, that's not always the case. People give money to campaigns for all sorts of reasons. When I was a fundraiser, I was surprised to find out how many wealthy people made political contributions simply because of social pressure from their wealthy friends who asked them to donate.
I never got a good read on why companies supported a particular candidate or party -- the reasons seem to vary. Sometimes companies give to politicians who represent their employees in Congress. Sometimes they give funds to the candidates who are backed by the company's CEO or board members. But in my experience, most companies give PAC money to candidates who support their public policy agenda.
Personally speaking, as long as that is disclosed to the public, I don't have a problem with people or individuals giving money to whomever they wish. In my view, the problem comes when the public is not told how much money is being given or who is giving it.
