Dr. Robert Epstein on business: what the evidence says · JRE #1768
SUBJECT: BUSINESS
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
has $150 billion in the bank right now in cash, makes huge donations to political candidates, and then can shift votes, millions of votes nationwide without anyone knowing that they're doing so.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
Alphabet has at various points held cash and marketable-securities reserves in the vicinity of $100-150 billion, so the scale of the company's cash position is roughly plausible depending on the specific quarter referenced. However, federal law bars corporations, including Alphabet and Google, from using general treasury funds to make contributions to federal political candidates or committees; any political spending must go through a separate-segregated-fund PAC funded by voluntary employee contributions and subject to federal contribution limits, not the company's own cash reserves. The Federal Election Commission states plainly that corporations and labor organizations are prohibited from making contributions and expenditures in connection with federal elections using general treasury funds. Epstein's own research concerns search-engine ranking effects on undecided voters, a distinct claim from direct corporate political donations, and the two should not be conflated. As stated, the claim that Google can and does make "huge donations to political candidates" out of its corporate cash reserves misstates U.S. campaign finance law, even though Alphabet's overall political spending through its PAC and lobbying arms is real and substantial.