A bit of an update to that whole AT&T-linked senators story from the other day. Well, our complaining must have worked because the senators will no longer try to block Net Neutrality. USA!
A Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee (that’s where Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, who first made the proposal, resides) staffer told this to the Washington Post:
While we are still generally opposed to net neutrality regulations, we have decided to hold off on the amendment because [FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski] approached us and we are beginning a dialogue.
So, a small victory for Net Neutrality for the time being. I’m hesitant to dance in the streets because they’re still “generally opposed” to the regulation. And why wouldn’t they be? When you’ve got the likes of AT&T funding your campaigns to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, you better damn well know what side your bread is buttered, so to speak.
That’s the beauty of lobbying: AT&T makes how many million dollars per year, and yet it only takes a couple thousand to totally skew the legislative process to its favor. Amazing political process we’ve got here.
via DailyFinance
Good job Nicholas and crew!
Honestly…I’m not BS’n you guys.
I live in San Antonio, TX. Senator Hutchison is my senator.
When I read your story the other day I spent some time on the phone with the Senator’s San Antonio and Austin office staff. I accomplished nothing. I was directed to call the D.C. office because they are actually the office that handles pending legislation – or some such.
As little as I accomplished with her two Texas offices, I accomplished even less when I called her D.C. office. I was transferred to two staffer’s voice-mails…and that’s it. No one has called me back yet. Likely, because I don’t donate as much as the telecom lobbyist do.
(I am a Republican and I have supported the Sen. in the past and I was thinking of supporting her in her gubernatorial primary run against our incumbent governor.)
Anyway. I support the FCC on Net Neutrality and I wanted to speak to someone and offer them my opinion and my desire for the Sen. to change her course.
Mostly I wanted to tell her that she shouldn’t be trying to pass things off in an appropriations bill. (That’s what really ticked me off.) If her position has merit, then she should present the matter on it’s own agenda.
We’ll see what happens.
Anyway, again, good journalism works. If I’da’ never read your story I wouldn’t have known about the amendment issue and I never would have called the Sen’s office.
Who knows? Maybe 30k other Texas CrunchGear readers made the same call.
PX4, I’m in Austin and feel the same way about Hutchison. I e-mailed her office and got a fairly large letter about how she didn’t want the government to start regulating the internet.
I replied back and said, “Net Neutrality doesn’t regulate the internet, it regulates the companies that allow access to the internet.”
Maybe Crunchgear can get a quote from her…
I’ll try, but I doubt a United States senator (or their press office’s janitor) is going to talk to lil ol’ CrunchGear.