Apple US government lobbying efforts far behind Google, MS

31410updated 02:34 am EDT, Thu May 10, 2012 Apple 11th place among tech firms

Politico reports that Apple has spent only $500,000 on federal lobbying and associated governmental programs thus far in 2012. By contrast, political action committees (PAC) formed by Google have dropped $5 million, and a separate Microsoft PAC has doled out $1.8 million in the same time period. Sources within Washington suggest that Apple will have a rocky road with DC lawmakers unless they start building a "Washington brand."The data comes from the freely-available Congressional lobbying disclosure reports, published quarterly on Capitol Hill. Highlights of the report put HP in third place among tech firms with $1.6 million, Oracle with $1.1 million, Amazon at $900.000, and Dell just ahead of Apple at $620,000. Apple has typically not relied on relationships within Washington DC to deal with problems, but rather has taken care of issues internally and quietly.

Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) wrote Apple CEO Tim Cook a public letter asking the company to stop selling a third party application that created fake drivers' licenses. Apple made no public statement regarding the removal following the application's seemingly overnight disappearance from the App Store. More complex problems like e-book price-fixing loom, and won't be so easy to dispatch.

Recent pressure is being applied by politicians and mainstream media using Apple as a target to make a point about fiscal policy. Following a New York Times article about Apple's overseas earnings and legal shields being employed to avoid US taxation, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) took to Sunday morning television to say "Why should Apple pay at 10 percent and some other company that can

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