Posted on 04/08/2011 11:19:23 AM PDT by Nachum
With the budget impasse about to result in a government shutdown, the federal government has just hours to finish up its highest priorities in the discretionary-spending world. Would that be paying the troops? Staffing Social Security support centers? Prosecuting criminals in federal court? Not exactly, as the Washington Post discovered this morning. The Department of Justice will spend its remaining budget today trying to expedite approval of a deal involving one of Barack Obama’s most significant supporters and one of his informal presidential advisers:
With a government shutdown looming, the Justice Department is hurrying to approve a controversial deal by Google on Friday that would allow the firm to acquire a powerful travel search software firm, though with some strings attached, according to a source close to the negotiations.
Antitrust officials are moving quickly to resolve months of negotiations with the tech giant over concerns that the acquisition could hurt competition in the travel search business. A shutdown could throw the talks into disarray because many Justice employees would not be able to work.
Government officials are seeking an agreement with Google that would require ongoing antitrust monitoring of the company, a first for the tech firm as it fends off rising concerns about its size and dominance on the Web.
Coincidentally, I’m sure, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was a big donor to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign in 2008. He now serves on Obama’s President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), after working on his transition team. Schmidt will retire from his CEO position at Google this month but will remain executive chairman of Google.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
The list, ping
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So now Google will be able to look for and book flights, buses, trains, cars, etc.
“Google everywhere you are!”
Is my tinfoil too thick or am I justified in wondering if Obama and Schmidt are working together to use Google to compile electronic dossiers on all Americans?
They needed to get this done quickly so Google can begin compiling data about people’s travel habits. The NSA is going to have a field day with that data. Look for less travel freedom in the near future.
Why are people still using Google for anything? Google is not your friend.
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