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Google: The Halliburton of the Obama Administration 

Feb. 21, 2013 1:59am

Erik Telford is Vice President of Strategic Initiatives & Communications at the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity.

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erik.telford@franklincenterhq.org

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Google: The Halliburton of the Obama Administration

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt (AFP)

Nestled among the lofty rhetoric of “hope and change,” Barack Obama made a core promise during the 2008 campaign that he would put an end to the corporate cronyism that has long pervaded the political system. “The days of sweetheart deals for Halliburton will be over when I’m in the White House,” he proclaimed. What President Obama left out however, was that the days of sweetheart deals for his cronies had only just begun–with his chief corporate advocate, Google, quickly emerging as the Halliburton of his administration.

Though the Internet giant recently faced serious federal antitrust charges that might have broken up other companies, it emerged virtually unscathed just two months after President Obama won re-election with significant financial and creative assistance from Google and its executives. Unquestionably the president’s most indispensable corporate ally, the terms of Google’s recent antitrust settlement are just the latest example of crony capitalism benefiting the company under the Obama Administration.

An investigation by the FTC found Google to be engaged in activities involving the illegal manipulation of search results to favor its own products, scraping content from other websites without any provision allowing those with objections to opt-out, and imposing restrictions that prevent portability of search advertising campaigns across AdWords and other platforms.

Google is still facing a litany of cases at the state level–Texas, California, Ohio, New York, and Oklahoma–as well as the European Union. Yet Google walked away from the federal case with a non-binding “handshake” agreement in which it says it will make minor changes to some of its search functions. Moreover, there is no way for the FTC or any other agency to enforce the terms of the agreement should Google decide not to comply.

Regardless of how people feel about antitrust laws, the hallmark of corruption is to selectively enforce laws in a way that harms your opponents and accommodates your allies. In this case, an administration that has been aggressive on antitrust enforcement when, for instance, spiking the AT&T and T-Mobile merger, took no enforceable action against Google even after finding wrongdoing.

It raises a major ethical conflict when the beneficiary of an agreement with terms so favorable that their propriety is questioned, has such incestuous ties to the very administration granting the dubious arrangement.

President Obama and Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt (AP)

Google, and particularly its Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, have a relationship with President Obama that is too close for comfort. Schmidt has been a top-dollar donor to Obama since 2007, has consulted on his campaigns, and currently serves as a member of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. According to press reports, he was offered the post of Treasury Secretary in the second term–but ultimately declined. While holding court as one of Obama’s most trusted and generous confidants, Schmidt has continued to serve as one of Google’s most visible government relations operatives.

Since 2008, there has been a steady flow of cash, personnel, and technology from Google’s California headquarters to the White House. Google employees have given the President over $1.5 million in combined donations. In fact, they were his fourth-largest source of cash in 2008, and in third-largest in 2012. Google’s biggest contribution however was the specially-designed technology, not yet available to the public, that allowed Obama to connect with voters in ways his opponents could not.

The sad truth is that this settlement is just the latest, amid a long line of examples, in what has emerged as the cornerstone of Google’s Obama-era business model: break the law, or make the law, in a way that shackles opponents, while boosting their own bottom line – without suffering any real consequences.

While Google scratched Obama’s back, the favor has been returned in spades. It has happened with “net neutrality” regulations and rigged spectrum auctions being pushed through at the FCC, and in addition to this latest settlement, the DOJ’s voluntary 2011 settlement with Google over additional illegal advertising practices.

Some conservatives like Google, hate regulators, and therefore look favorably on the company’s string of free passes. But Google opposes big government only when it restricts Google, and the Obama administration has no commitment to regulatory restraint. Google, like Halliburton, should play by the same rules as everyone else.

Erik Telford is the Vice President of Strategic Initiatives & Outreach at the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity.

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Comments (7)

media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on February 25, 2013 at 2:51am
How can anyone support Democrats when you obviously have not only the guy that approved GMO products in the White House with a brewing water pollution problem, but that the associated diseases and problems by GMO’s might pad a lot of people’s pockets with cash due to Obama Care, which will not make money unless people are sick?

There is no reason to pass ObamaCare by some in big business unless they can make money? Why the rush to GMO products without more testing? If that is not a “sweet heart deal”, what is?

Then you have the photography issue, in order for police to search (look) they have to have a warrant, yet they are not restricting data they get access to provide civil liberty protections (to protect from tyranical narcissm and excessive taxes)? They say they make people money, so everybody looks the other way?

Somebody wants to create some kind of “hive mind”, and Google Glass is a next logical step in the process? There are so many legal liabilities in the company, at a strategic point it could fail and end up in the hands of a government? They sell you on technology, but humans still control the results with non-technical means?

Download your mind to Google? No thank you, this is not stuff they are hiding? One way to improve health is to change your Omega 3 balance upside down, so that it is 2/3 instead of 1/3 compared to Omega 6 (people with bad moods?) due to GMOs? Ask your doctor?

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chuckiechan
Posted on February 24, 2013 at 10:28am
The real issue isn’t economic. Obama is using Facebook and Google to profile you in such a way to nuance the sound bites and issue presentation in exactly the way your particular demographic needs to hear it to agree with them.

That’s why the political discussion today is so polarized – facts have been replaced with phrases that have been filtered through social media and key word scanning of e mail’s. Cooperation between parties has been abandoned, because anything said can and will be used against you in the court of demographic profiling.

If I G mail you or post on face book how much I like “sticking it to the rich”, I’ve just put my .02 cents into Obama’s messaging statistics. And no one asked me if I was kidding.

Remember, all you need to do now a days is convince that 3% who “wobbles” and you win. So you do what it takes to tell them what they want to hear.

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- media-bias-steals-elections
  Posted on February 25, 2013 at 2:58am
  That’s what they call “Rhetoric”, and you are right, that’s quite insiteful, they have automated the system to a point where they are clogging their own systems, search engines are having quite a challenge sifting through the automated posts of people rubber stamping things (or your imaginary friends created with Python scripts). This is why the Tea Party is so successful because it depends on grass roots and person to person connections, not electronic ones.
  
  Taking the human element out of the conversation allows for voter fraud issues as well, with 20 million conversations demanding basic traceability and audit trails that provide a solid foundations for civil rights that can audit elections for a few weeks before results are published is the next logical step to do with or without the help of Google and others?
  
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DEC1123
Posted on February 24, 2013 at 8:41am
Google also has privileges to land and park their airplanes on government facilities – the NASA Ames Research Center.

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VanceUppercut
Posted on February 21, 2013 at 10:36pm
I’m sorry, did Google get paid millions of dollars to build shower facilities for US troops, then botch the job due to shoddy materials and poor workmanship, resulting in several servicemen being destructed to death? And then did they get paid millions more to go back and fix the facilities that they screwed up in the first place?

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- VanceUppercut
  Posted on February 22, 2013 at 6:06pm
  *”destructed to death” should read “electrocuted to death”.
  
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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on February 21, 2013 at 12:10pm
Failure of global companies to segregate their products and services, so that Americans can deny their funds from going to reward nations of Islam, supporting an establishment of religion that violates their civil rights, should be targeted for new law suits, demanding that Americans be able to ensure that none of their funds are mixed in with the profits of global companies that funnel rewards to individuals who have dedicated their lives to violating the civil rights of Americans?

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