Member Since: 2/16/2012
Posts: 8,740
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Google/Microsoft sponsor anti-gay CPAC conference
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A book lampooning Barack Obama at the CPAC conference last year. (Reuters/Jonathan Ernst.)
In recent years, Microsoft has become one of the most gay-friendly corporations in America. Yet, as the company unveils a new advertisement featuring a same-sex wedding and signs onto a brief supporting marriage equality, Microsoft provides support for CPAC, the agenda-setting Republican conference that has moved to eject gay Americans from the conservative movement.
As Americablog reported, for the second year in a row, CPAC refused to allow GOProud, a right-wing gay advocacy group, from participating in their conference this week. “We got kicked out last year because we are gay,” said GOProud’s Jimmy LaSalvia over Twitter, adding, “We won’t be at CPAC.”
Though the American Conservative Union, the sponsor of CPAC, does not reveal its donors, I have a list of the group’s benefactors in previous years. In addition to Shell Corporation, the Edison Electric Institute, Koch Industries, and Chevron, Microsoft provides a significant contribution to the American Conservative Union Foundation. It appears that this year is no different. The Huffington Post’s Zach Carter tweeted a photo of Microsoft’s booth at the convention yesterday. The American Conservative Union’s board also includes a Microsoft representative, Suhail Khan.
Microsoft lobbies on dozens of issues, from tech policy to trade and tax issues. It seems likely that Microsoft helps underwrite CPAC to maintain influence among conservative activists and Republican politicians—to sell products and promote economic policies beneficial to Microsoft’s bottom line.
CPAC has been criticized not only for discriminating against GOProud, but also for providing a forum to a number of virulently anti-gay activists. If Microsoft is truly interested in reforming policies affecting gay Americans, it appears counterproductive to provide financial support to CPAC.
And it’s not only Microsoft that may face charges of hypocrisy. Cleta Mitchell, a partner to Foley & Lardner, the “Best Law Firm for LGBT Lawyers,” sits on the board of the American Conservative Union, which governs how CPAC is set up and run.
Notably, the Competitive Enterprise Institute (a big business-friendly think tank also sponsored in part by Microsoft) joined with a small group of conservative pundits to sponsor an event with GOProud near CPAC’s official confab, in part to protest the exclusion of gay conservatives.
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http://www.thenation.com/blog/173364...gay-conference
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Google Inc. (GOOG), whose chairman has served as an adviser to President Barack Obama, is a sponsor of this month’s Conservative Political Action Conference, co-hosted by the Tea Party.
Google is one of nine main sponsors, alongside the National Rifle Association and the Heritage Foundation, according to the conference’s website. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich are slated to speak at the three-day event, which starts in Washington on Feb. 9. Google is the only business listed among the primary sponsors.
The company says it will have a presence at both Republican and Democratic events during this year’s election season, including each party’s convention. Google also had a role in the Iowa caucus last month. The CPAC event was attractive because half the attendees are under 25 and heavy users of technology, Google said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
“This event is a great opportunity for us to showcase Google.com/elections and tools like Google+, which we hope will be used by every candidate and campaign,” the Mountain View, California-based company said.
The event features speakers on the other side of the political aisle from Obama, who is running for re-election this year. Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, then the company’s chief executive officer, served as an economic adviser to Obama in 2008 and urged lawmakers to approve the president’s jobs bill last year. Google’s workforce is the third-biggest corporate source of Obama’s campaign cash, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
More Lobbying
Google has played a bigger role in Washington politics over the past two years. The company doubled its lobbying spending and expanded its political action committee, which is used to give donations to candidates. Google, the world’s most popular search engine, faces scrutiny from federal regulators and U.S. lawmakers over its market power and handling of users’ privacy.
The company backed an Internet protest against Hollywood- backed anti-piracy bills in Congress last month that ultimately helped derail the legislation.
CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union, an organization founded in 1964, following the defeat of Barry Goldwater by President Lyndon Johnson. The group has put on CPAC in Washington since 1973.
“We’re planning hangouts with top Republicans and well respected conservative journalists at CPAC,” Google said, referring to its Hangout feature on its Google+ social network, which lets people host live video chats.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...tea-party.html
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such a great company, stands by their beliefs 
