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Re:737 Max Explanation by a Software Engineer by spenczar5 on Monday March 18, 2019 @01:53AM (#19418962)
> Boeing has spent more money lobbying the US federal government over the last 20 years than any other company.

This is simply false. Boeing has spent a lot, but less than General Electric, or the National Association of Realtors, or many (many!) healthcare and pharmaceutical companies.

Source: https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/top.php?indexType=s

Re:737 Max Explanation by a Software Engineer by bgorman on Monday March 18, 2019 @01:18PM (#19422996)
While your source seems to suggest that my statement is false, a closer looks shows that the only corporation (I.e. not an industry special interest group like the national association of realtors) that spent more money than Boeing was General Electric. So I would say your statement is even more misleading than mine. General Electric has fallen off a cliff since 1998. I suppose my "20" years statement is false according to "OpenSecrets", but if you change my statement to "15" years, it is probably correct, since General Electric did most of their lobbying closer to 1998 than 2018.
Re:737 Max Explanation by a Software Engineer by spenczar5 on Monday March 18, 2019 @07:43PM (#19426516)
> I would say your statement is even more misleading than mine.

Fair enough, I guess. I think of groups like Blue Cross/Blue Shield or the NAR as representing corporations, but I can see how you'd disagree on a strict reading. I didn't mean to mislead.

> General Electric has fallen off a cliff since 1998.

In 1998, GE spent $7.28m on lobbying. Nearly every year since then, they have spent more than that, generally staying north of $16m per year, with the exception of the last three years.

Your statement is true only for the last three years.

Same source: https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D00000012... for GE, https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?id=D00000010... for Boeing.

Re:737 Max Explanation by a Software Engineer by bgorman on Monday March 18, 2019 @10:03PM (#19427434)
I appreciate your fact-checking. I do not mean to mislead anyone.