Blog 2.3

1. Which health based interest groups are identified as receiving funding from Coke?

2. What did these health based groups do in return for Coca Cola?

3. What does the article claim the sugar industry did 50 years ago to the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine study?

4. What kinds of policies is Coca Cola trying to lobby against now?

5. What legislation was being considered in California that would have impacted ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft?

6. How much money did those companies spend lobbying California lawmakers?

7. Which political parties are giving support to Uber and Lyft?

8. Who seems to be the loser when policies regulating Uber and Lyft are not adopted?

9. How many lobbyists does AT&T keep on staff?

10. Where does AT&T rank among telecommunications companies in terms of amounts donated?

11. What % of the House and what % of the Senate does AT&T currently donate to?

12. How do you expect this to benefit AT&T as they try to acquire Time Warner, a deal which will need government approval?

Answers:

1. The American Heart Association (AHA), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) all receive funding from Coke.

2. They all seemed to skew findings and information in a way that would not be detrimental toward sugar producers and soda producers, specifically Coke.

3. "The sugar industry... exerted strong influence on early research about heart disease. That study, in JAMA Internal Medicine, showed how the sugar industry funded research by Harvard scientists that claimed cholesterol and saturated fat were the primary culprits of heart disease, and played down studies that suggested that sugar played a critical role."

4. "The New York Times reported in August 2015 that Coca-Cola was funding and providing logistical support to a nonprofit called the Global Energy Balance Network, which played down the role that diet and sugary drinks have  in the obesity epidemic, and stressed the importance of exercise."

5. "The companies are also resolving high-profile court cases that challenged how they hire drivers — without hurting their shared core position that drivers aren't their employees."

6. "In the current legislative session, Uber and Lyft have spent nearly $900,000 combined on lobbying."

7. Democrats support Uber and Lyft because the supporters, who are young politicians that believe in new technologies (such as Uber and Lyft), see this to be of as great importance to our quality of life as light bulbs and whatnot.

8. The state of California loses in this battle of regulations as policies keep getting delayed; the longer Uber and Lyft are not regulated, the longer they are given to grab a hold of society.

9. AT&T has one hundred registered lobbyists on staff.

10. "AT&T is the biggest donor to federal lawmakers and their causes among cable and cellular telecommunications companies..."

11a. 85.98% of the House of Representatives receives funding from AT&T.

11b. 85% of the Senate receives funding from AT&T.

12. Because 85% of Congress is receiving funding from AT&T, it is likely that Congress will likely allow for Time Warner to be acquired by AT&T, seeing as how the answer of, "No," would possibly lead to funding cuts.