Editing Comcast (section)

===Lobbying and electoral fundraising===
With $18.8 million spent in 2013, Comcast has the seventh largest [[Lobbying in the United States|lobbying]] budget of any individual company or organization in the United States.<ref name=TopSpenders>{{cite web
 | url        = https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?showYear=2013&indexType=s
 | title      = Lobbying: Top Spenders 2013
 | publisher  = [[OpenSecrets]]
 | access-date = February 21, 2014
 }}</ref> Comcast employs multiple former [[United States Congress|U.S. Congressmen]] as lobbyists.<ref name=Web>{{cite news
 | url        = https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/business/media/comcasts-web-of-lobbying-and-philanthropy.html?rref=technology
 | title      = Comcast's Web of Lobbying and Philanthropy
 | website    = The New York Times
 | author     = Eric Lipton
 | date       = February 20, 2014
 | access-date = February 21, 2014
 }}</ref> The [[National Cable & Telecommunications Association]], which has multiple Comcast executives on its board, also represents Comcast and other cable companies as the fifth largest lobbying organization in the United States, spending $19.8 million in 2013.<ref name=TopSpenders/> Comcast was among the top backers of [[Barack Obama]]'s presidential runs, with Comcast vice president [[David L. Cohen|David Cohen]] raising over $2.2 million from 2007 to 2012.<ref>{{cite news
 | url        = https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/09/13/us/politics/obamas-top-fund-raisers.html?_r=1&
 | title      = Obama's Top Fund-Raisers
 | website    = The New York Times
 | date       = September 13, 2012
 | access-date = March 7, 2014
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news
 | url        = https://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/198350-comcast-time-warner-execs-have-been-big-obama-supporters/
 | title      = Comcast, Time Warner execs have been big Obama supporters
 | newspaper  = The Hill
 | author     = Justin Sink
 | date       = February 13, 2014
 | access-date = May 7, 2014
 }}</ref> Cohen has been described by many sources as influential in the U.S. government,<ref>{{cite news
 | url        = https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/david-cohen-chief-dealmaker-in-washington-is-comcasts-secret-weapon/2012/10/29/151e055e-080a-11e2-858a-5311df86ab04_story.html
 | title      = David Cohen may be Comcast's secret weapon, but in D.C. he's a wonk rock star
 | newspaper    = The Washington Post
 | author     = Cecilia Kang
 | date       = October 12, 2012
 | access-date = March 7, 2014
 }}</ref> though he is no longer a registered lobbyist, as the time he spends lobbying falls short of the 20% which [[Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995|requires official registration]].<ref>{{cite web
 | url        = http://articles.philly.com/2014-03-04/news/47863612_1_cohen-comcast-nbc-universal-government-affairs
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140309235519/http://articles.philly.com/2014-03-04/news/47863612_1_cohen-comcast-nbc-universal-government-affairs
 | url-status = dead
 | archive-date = March 9, 2014
 | title      = David L. Cohen quite influential without being a "lobbyist"
 | website    = The Philadelphia Inquirer
 | author     = Jonathan Tamari
 | date       = March 4, 2014
 | access-date = March 7, 2014
 }}</ref> Comcast's [[Political action committee|PAC]], the Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal Political Action Committee, is among the largest PACs in the U.S., raising about $3.7 million from 2011 to 2012 for the campaigns of various candidates for office in the [[United States Federal Government]].<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.fec.gov/press/summaries/2012/ElectionCycle/file/pac_financial_activity/PAC5a_2012_24m.pdf
 |title       = Top 50 Corporate PACs by Receipts January 1, 2011 – December 31, 2012
 |publisher   = Federal Election Commission
 |access-date  = March 9, 2014
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140213133216/http://www.fec.gov/press/summaries/2012/ElectionCycle/file/pac_financial_activity/PAC5a_2012_24m.pdf
 |archive-date = February 13, 2014
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref> Comcast is also a major backer of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association Political Action Committee, which raised $2.6 million from 2011 to 2012.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.fec.gov/press/summaries/2012/ElectionCycle/file/pac_financial_activity/PAC8a_2012_24m.pdf
 |title       = Top 50 Trade PACs by Receipts January 1, 2011 – December 31, 2012
 |publisher   = Federal Election Commission
 |access-date  = March 11, 2014
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20140213133240/http://www.fec.gov/press/summaries/2012/ElectionCycle/file/pac_financial_activity/PAC8a_2012_24m.pdf
 |archive-date = February 13, 2014
 |df          = mdy-all
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | url        = https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00010082&cycle=2012
 | title      = National Cable & Telecommunications Assn
 | publisher  = [[OpenSecrets]]
 | access-date = March 11, 2014
 }}</ref> Comcast spent the most money of any organization in support of the [[Stop Online Piracy]] and [[Protect IP|PROTECT IP]] bills, spending roughly $5 million to lobby for their passage.<ref>{{cite web
 | url        = https://money.cnn.com/2012/01/25/technology/sopa_pipa_lobby/index.htm
 | title      = SOPA and PIPA attract huge lobbying on both sides
 | website  = CNN Money
 | author     = David Goldman
 | date       = January 25, 2012
 | access-date = March 27, 2014
 }}</ref>

Comcast also backs lobbying and PACs on a regional level, backing organizations such as the Tennessee Cable Telecommunications Association<ref>{{cite news
 | url        = http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2011/may/30/lobbyists-had-busy-year-nashville/
 | title      = Lobbyists had busy year in Nashville
 | newspaper  = Times Free Press
 | author     = Andy Sher
 | date       = May 30, 2011
 | access-date = March 15, 2014
 }}</ref> and the Broadband Communications Association of Washington PAC.<ref>{{cite news
 | url        = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/10/31/comcast-is-donating-heavily-to-defeat-the-mayor-who-is-bringing-gigabit-fiber-to-seattle/
 | title      = Comcast is donating heavily to defeat the mayor who is bringing gigabit fiber to Seattle
 | website    = The New York Times
 | author     = Andrea Peterson
 | date       = October 31, 2013
 | access-date = March 15, 2014
 }}</ref> Comcast and other cable companies have lobbied state governments to pass legislation restricting or banning individual cities from offering public broadband service.<ref>{{cite magazine
 | url        = http://www.theatlanticcities.com/technology/2011/11/telecom-lobby-killing-municipal-broadband/420/
 | title      = How the Telecom Lobby is Killing Municipal Broadband
 | magazine  = The Atlantic
 | author     = Emily Badger
 | date       = November 4, 2011
 | access-date = March 27, 2014
 }}</ref> [[Municipal broadband]] restrictions of varying scope have been passed in a total of 20 U.S. States.<ref>{{cite web
 | url        = https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/02/isp-lobby-has-already-won-limits-on-public-broadband-in-20-states/
 | title      = ISP lobby has already won limits on public broadband in 20 states
 | website  = Ars Technica
 | author     = Jon Brodkin
 | date       = February 12, 2014
 | access-date = March 27, 2014
 }}</ref>

According to [[Watchdog journalism|watchdog group]] Documented, in 2020 Comcast contributed $200,000 to the Rule of Law Defense Fund, a fund-raising arm of the [[Republican Attorneys General Association]] that was shown to have provided funding to the [[Save America March]] that devolved into an [[January 6 United States Capitol attack|attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://documented.net/2021/01/republican-attorneys-general-dark-money-group-organized-protest-preceding-capitol-mob-attack/|title=Republican Attorneys General Dark Money Group Organized Protest Preceding Capitol Attack|date=January 7, 2021|access-date=January 11, 2021|publisher=Documented|first=Jamie|last=Corey}}</ref>