Joe Biden Picked An Interesting Day To Raise Money From Silicon Valley…

from the timing-is-everything dept

Where was VP Joe Biden during yesterday’s big SOPA/PIPA blackout? Apparently he was cruising around Silicon Valley for cash from tech CEOs. Biden, of course, has been seen as the White House’s key man in supporting Hollywood efforts to pass ever more draconian copyright laws. One would hope that the various tech CEOs he met with spent some time showing him how their websites were blacked out in protest. From the article linked above, Biden spoke about a variety of topics during prepared remarks… but said nothing about SOPA/PIPA (or, at least the reporter didn’t mention it). Given the White House’s existing statements concerning the bills, he’d probably be limited in what he can say anyway… but is this a sign that Biden might finally realize that his previous actions were so damaging to the part of the economy that is developing innovation and actually creating jobs?

But, of course, it appears the White House was hedging its bets. While Biden went to Silicon Valley… Obama went to Disneyworld:

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Comments on “Joe Biden Picked An Interesting Day To Raise Money From Silicon Valley…”

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36 Comments
Nastybutler77 (profile) says:

I’ve come to the conclusion that no candidate for President is worthy of the office, due to the very fact that they want to be President. We should employ scouts that go around the country looking for someone with all the qualities that make a wise, effective leader and force him/her to be President for four years. It should be against his/her will as that is a key quality they should be looking for.

Brian Schroth (profile) says:

This is the standard way Washington operates. Create a shitty law at the behest of one industry to give them the return on their investment. Then go to the opposing industry and say “Nice little industry you’ve got going there. It would be a shame if this shitty law were to pass and mess it up…”

Then you can get money from everyone!

Anonymous Coward says:

Re: Re:

I think you might need to double check your sources on who gets what money from where:
“Yet Obama still received $884,000 from the oil and gas industry during the 2008 campaign, more than any other lawmaker except his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).”
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=e01

The myth that Republicans and Democrats are corrupted by difference sources of money is just that, a myth. Corporations are more than willing to jump across the isle with their dollars because they see the isle for what it is, a fiction designed to provide the illusion of choice to the common voter.

Anonymous Coward says:

I hear all this talk of “high tech” companies in Silicon Valley (actually, the Santa Clara Valley), but it baffles me why companies like Google, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and the like constantly come up in conversation as high-tech leaders. (To be fair, Google has over the years morphed in a direction that many may deem to reflect being classifiable as a high tech company.)

Is IBM an example of what high tech is all about? Yes. Intel? Yes. HP? Yes. AMD? Yes. Apple? Yes. Lockheed Martin? Yes. Cisco? Yes. LSI Logic, National Semiconductor, Nvidia, Oracle, Genetech, Abbott, Gilead, LCA? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. I do not included NASA Ames because of its status as a government facility.

What sets these and others like them apart? They perform basic and applied research, invent, manufacture, and distribute the very products needed for so many of what I believe are more aptly described as pseudo-high tech to ply their trade. They also, I believe, far and away collectively employ the largest number of persons in the area.

My comment is not to denigrate the work product of companies whose names are constantly bandied about regarding SOPA and jobs, but only to ask why are they, to the exclusion of others, the ones receiving all the attention? Likely they are the ones most concerned about SOPA, but are they really the ones that are receiving the lion’s share startup investment? I do not know the answer, but my experience suggests they are not.

Just food for thought when the discussion turns to the creation of copious numbers of jobs.

That Anonymous Coward (profile) says:

This is what we call a call back…
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111114/10493316765/vp-joe-biden-explains-why-sopa-protect-ip-are-anti-american-bad-idea.shtml

I wish someone at the event had just run that video in the background and flat out asked him which face he was talking out of today. He has shown he is 2 faced and has no concept of the things at play, he just wants money.

The Luke Witnesser says:

Here lies the truth about SOPA/PIPA that even TechDirt has yet to report: what MPAA, RIAA, and Hollywood execs do not want you to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzS5rSvZXe8

The truth behind why these big companies responsible for SOPA and PIPA are also responsible for piracy itself is far more insidious than even their outmoded business model.

Hint: can you say, do as I say so I can crush you under heel?

Mercy Grant says:

BLACK MARCH

BLACK MARCH
Thursday, March 1st to Saturday, March 31st, 2012

With the continuing campaigns for Internet-censoring legislation such as SOPA and PIPA, the closure of sites such as Megaupload under allegations of ?piracy? and ?conspiracy?, the time has come to take a stand against music, film, and media companies? lobbyists.

The only way is to hit them where it hurts.
Their profit margins.

March 2012 is the end of the 1st quarter in economic reports worldwide.

Do not buy a single record. Do not download a single song, legally or illegally. Do not go see a single film in cinemas, or download a copy. Do not buy a DVD in the stores. Do not buy a videogame. Do not buy a single book or magazine.

Wait the four weeks to buy them in April; see the film later, etc. Holding out for just four weeks, maximum, will leave a gaping hole in media and entertainment companies? profits for the 1st quarter, an economic hit which will in turn be observed by governments worldwide as stocks and shares will blip from a large enough loss of incomes.

This action will give a statement of intent:

?We will not tolerate the Media Industries? lobbying for legislation which will censor the internet.?

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