Mark Zuckerberg's Super PAC: 'People in tech represent one of the most powerful political forces'

Young_Chitlin

By: JILL REILLY

Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg's first attempt into the world of politics has left him looking boastful and arrogant. The 28-year-old is planning to launch a new political advocacy group made up of Silicon Valley figures which will initially concentrate on immigration and education reform.

But a leaked prospectus for the Political Action Committee has revealed boasts that figures in the information technology industry will be able to project spectacular political power due to their bank balance and social standing. The claims come in an e-mail document drawn up by Joe Green who has been tipped to run the new advocacy group, reported political newspaper Politico. Joe Green is the former college roommate of Mr Zuckerberg who, unlike his famous friend, decided to stay enrolled in Harvard instead of dropping out to make Facebook.

Under a section titled 'our tactical assets,' the prospectus lists three reasons why 'people in tech' can be organized into 'one of the most powerful political forces.'

'1: We control massive distribution channels, both as companies and individuals. We saw the tip of the iceberg with SOPA/PIPA.

'2: 'Our voice carries a lot of weight because we are broadly popular with Americans.

'3. We have individuals with a lot of money. If deployed properly this can have huge influence in the current campaign finance environment.'

The prospectus also states that Microsoft founder Bill Gates is founding member of the group named 'Human Capital.' Source suggests that Mr Gates has not yet signed up and the group will not go by that name. After discovering it had been leaked Mr Green issued a statement saying: Some of the information contained in this email is outdated and not representative of the kind of work this organization will perform. Moreover, I regret some of the language in the email was poorly-chosen and could give a misimpression of the views and aspirations of this organization and those associated with it.'

In February the California-based, New York native held a fundraiser in Silicon Valley for New Jersey governor Chris Christie. Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla become close with the governor since he donated $100million in 2011 to help improve public schools in one of the state's toughest cities. A fan with that kind of money could undoubtedly be helpful for Mr Christie as he evaluates his presidential prospects for 2016.

'They admire his leadership on education reform and other issues and look forward to continuing their important work together on behalf of Newark's school children. Mark and Priscilla are happy to host him at their home to support his re-election,' Facebook spokesman Sarah Feinberg told Buzzfeed. Prior to the Christie fundraiser, Zuckerberg had kept his political leanings close to the vest.

He predictably posted in January about the proposed laws relating to internet privacy, but it also comes as the Facebook office in DC has bulked up their public policy presence. Just last week, they released a picture of Republican Congressman Bill Johnson signing a wall at the DC office when he came in for a visit with their policy team about an unspecified topic.

Aside from his 2010 donation to Newark public schools and the fundraiser for Christie last month, Zuckerberg’s only publicly-recorded donations have been to the Political Action Committee run by his company. From there, the Facebook PAC has donated to a spread of both Democratic and Republican politicians. His spending hasn’t been limited to political campaigns, as he and his pediatrician wife donated a total of $498.8million to charitable causes in 2012, putting them in line after billionaire Warren Buffett.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that he donated 18 million shares of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation in 2012. The shares are valued at about $498.8million and he directed it towards the local group. Education and health programs are two of the many ways that the non-profit directs their funds. 'Together, we will look for areas in education and health to focus on next. I'm hopeful we'll be able to have as positive an impact in our next set of projects,' Mr Zuckerberg posted on his Facebook page at the time of his December donation.

WYRM

This is the information age and they together control or "can" control the campaign of information and misinformation. Media is media, now the techies are in the bidding, it seems like a logical course of events.

StoneColdMikey

Imo this good so then ? like SOPA, PIPA and other acts in that nature never happens.