Category Archives: telecoms
If you think the Telco’s don’t have the Dems in their pocket..think again.
Surely this isn’t a surprise to anyone that pays attention. In an investigative piece for TruthOut, Matt Renner’s opening salvo is this:
A think tank with close ties to the telecommunication industry has been working with a key Democrat in the Senate on a domestic surveillance bill that would provide telecommunications companies with retroactive immunity for possibly violating federal law by spying on American citizens at the behest of the Bush administration.
Well, I’ll be damned..somehow I kinda figured with Rockefeller leading the charge there had to be an ulterior motive involved. Isn’t ‘think tank’ just a code word for special interests these days?
Third Way, a non-profit “progressive” think tank that is funded and controlled by hedge fund managers, corporate lawyers and business executives has advised Sen. Jay Rockefeller on a domestic surveillance bill that includes immunity for telecommunications companies with which Third Way board members have close ties.
Rockefeller is the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and has been the leading Democratic proponent of granting immunity to telecommunication companies that allegedly gave spy agencies access to their communication networks and databases without a warrant.
“I think we will prevail,” Rockefeller told the Politico on January 23, referring to the disagreement over retroactive immunity for telecoms, “it’s a pretty bad idea to appear cocky … I’m not pessimistic.”
Democrats connected to Third Way were integral in defeating a bill, supported by a majority of Senate Democrats, which might have prevented the telecoms from getting immunity.
Fuckers…read the rest..it’s guaranteed to piss you off my dear reader. If it doesn’t piss you off..well..you didn’t need those pesky civil rights anyway..
California’s Feinstein still on the fence? Help push her off!
Watch this short commercial by Brad Whitford about the two bills that greatly differ with regards to the retroactive telecom immunity that BushCo is trying to shove down our throat. Chris Dodd, bless his heart, has promised to filibuster the craptastic one. DiFi hasn’t said how she feels about the bill.
Call DiFi and tell that slut to make up her little mind and support NO amnesty for the Telco’s.
Her phone numbers:
Call one of following phone numbers (if one is busy, call the next number):
202-224-3841 (Washington, DC)
310-914-7300 (Los Angeles)
415-393-0707 (San Francisco)
619-231-9712 (San Diego)
559-485-7430 (Fresno)
If Senator Feinstein is not your Senator, please call the Capitol switchboard toll-free to contact your Senator:
1-800-828-0498
Rep. John Conyers in The Nation: “Setting the Record Straight on FISA”
Electronic Frontier Foundation FAQs on FISA
Open Left: “Tell Harry Reid: No Immunity for Lawbreaking Companies”
Info from the Courage Campaign.
Why does Harry Reid heart the Telecoms?
Money of course..lots and lots of it. From Glen Greenwald’s column at Salon:
Then again, AT&T is the second largest contributor overall to officials in Congress, having poured into the Beltway a total of $38 million in campaign contributions for the election cycles for which these records are available. Verizon is in 33rd place with over $15 million; BellSouth in 39th place with with over $14 million; Time Warner in 28th place with $17 million; and MCI in 83rd place with $8 million. The Communications Workers of America, which lobbies for all sorts of pro-telecom legislation, is in 13th place with close to $25 million. That’s $118 million of telecom money poured into the coffers of members of Congress, and the real total is much higher since this is only from the top 100. And now Congress, on a more or less bipartisan basis, is passing a law declaring that this industry shall be completely immune from any consequences even if they are found to have broken multiple federal laws in allowing illegal spying on all of their customers.
Now, it all makes sense doesn’t it? Methinks the majority of elected Dem’s are really just Rethugs in sheeple’s clothing.
Tags: Telecoms, Harry Reid, lobbying money
