I wouldn't read too much into this. A large number of companies split there political capital between the parties, to 'hedge their bets'.

But don't you think that this practice is indicative of a larger problem -- that regardless of which major party is in power, corporations can't lose?

Ah, but corporations can lose — if they don't contribute to the right politicians.

Politicians should be required to wear NASCAR uniforms, so that we would know who owns them.

Yes, though the larger problem is that major corporations can have "the best democracy money can buy".

CPAC isn't just a regular Republican thing. It's super super right wing. It's John Birch Society-level wingnuts.

More info here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-03/google-sponsoring-c...

Is there any evidence that they haven't sponsored this event in the past?

According to the article, it sounds like they are doing this to push Google+ .