Bonum Certa Men Certa

Microsoft Chooses New Lobbying Director with “Strong Ties to Democrats”

New government, new political party, new lobbying muscle

“Did you know that there are more than 34,750 registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C., for just 435 representatives and 100 senators? That's 64 lobbyists for each congressperson.”

--CIO.com



If a slogan says Change™, then surely it must materialise, right? Or was this the idea of the campaign manager to recite mottos like "unity", "hope" and "change", characterising the new candidacy as a blank sheet for everyone to cast a vote, submit an idea and give shape to through Web 2.0-ey Web sites.



Either way, cynicism aside, there are signs of Microsoft preparing for this Change™ and making its own internal changes. According to the press, Microsoft is appoints a new chief lobbyist in the United States.

Krumholtz opened the Microsoft federal government affairs office in Washington in March 1995 and served as a one-man shop for a year working out of the company's Chevy Chase sales office. Given the distance from Capitol Hill, Krumholtz, 47, spent most of his time in his Jeep on conference calls and writing and checking emails on the side of the road, said the company. During that time, he became known as "Jack in his Jeep."


We have already explained why lobbying is a bit of an oxymoron like "legalised corruption." It's nothing but a case of companies changing the laws to discriminate against their competitors and serve themselves better. Microsoft is by far the biggest felon in this area, with budgets allocated to these political maneuvers still increasing.

The development above is also covered here.

Jack Krumholtz, who started 14 years ago as Microsoft's only in-house lobbyist and then expanded the company's presence into one of the largest in the nation's capital, is stepping down.

He will be replaced in January as Microsoft's managing director of federal government affairs by Fred Humphries, who has led Microsoft's state government affairs team for the past eight years, overseeing the company's relationship with state and local officials.

The change comes as Democrats take over the presidency and increase their majority in both branches of Congress.

Humphries has strong ties to Democrats.


Could it be a coincidence that he has "strong ties to Democrats"? Until recently, Microsoft, Gates and even Ballmer (at a personal capacity) invested heavily in some Republicans. Here is some more information about this new guy.

Humphries succeeds Jack Krumholtz as managing director of federal government affairs for the company.

Humphries will be trading one Washington office for another. He is currently based in Redmond, Wash., Microsoft's headquarters, but will be moving to Washington, D.C., in January.

Krumholtz had been with the company since 1995.

Microsoft has named a new chief federal lobbyist, Fred Humphries, who has headed its state government affairs team.


Some more interesting background from the news:

In the wake of the Justice Department's antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, Krumholtz was tasked with increasing the company's presence in Washington.


The following headline about "Hired Gun" pretty much reflects on what these people do (watch the glamorising graphics in this Web site). It's like a sophisticated mafia that exchanges favours, which Europe pretends not to tolerate (in vain).

When Microsoft managing director Fred Humphries arrives in Washington, D.C. in January to run the high-tech giant's government affairs office, he will be returning to familiar territory, friends and former colleagues said Friday. Before moving to the West Coast, he spent a number of years as a Capitol Hill staffer and at the Democratic National Committee (see earlier blog post here) but his encore performance in the nation's capital will have him positioned on a new team within the political parlor game.


In other news, as we pointed out the other day, Bill Gates met Obama to talk about things he hasn't much of a clue about. This proved that the country is still being run by corporations, either directly or via their lobbyists, influence and self-glorifying icons (revisionists) who acquire media outlets to tell their twisted version of historical stories. To say more about that meeting with Gates:

Bill Gates Urges Obama to Increase Spending



...a simple message for President-elect Barack Obama: Increase spending.


That's easy to say when you don't pay taxes.

Lobbyists

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