Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets

by Peter Schweizer

Particularly exciting for the Permanent Political Class was the fact that Silicon Valley was suddenly fully engaged. Getting tech nerds to pay tribute to Washington had always been a difficult proposition. Many in the high-tech field tend to be libertarians—they just want to be left alone. And given the intensely competitive nature of the industry and the fast pace of innovation, politics is largely seen as a distraction. “They would rather be innovating,” Bob Herbold, the former COO of Microsoft, told me. The Permanent Political Class was offended by this fact. “The [tech] industry had an attitude that government should do what it needs to do but leave us alone,” one Hill staffer told BusinessWeek. “Their hands-off approach to Washington will come back to haunt them.”