Is McCain in the Pocket of the Telecom Industry?

I saw a story on Techmeme this morning that says McCain and Obama are favored by information technology workers.  That makes sense to me.

But who is favored by the telecomm industry? For that we don't have to look farther than today's USA Today which reports that:

Of the 66 current or former lobbyists working for the Arizona senator or raising money for his presidential campaign, 23 have lobbied for telecommunications companies in the past decade, Senate lobbying disclosures show.

and

McCain is a senior member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the telecom industry and the Federal Communications Commission. He has repeatedly pushed industry-backed legislation since 2000, particularly during a second stint as committee chairman from 2003 through 2005. His efforts to eliminate taxes and regulations on telecommunications services won him praise from industry executives.

People who lobbied for telecom companies on those issues include McCain's campaign manager, his deputy manager, his finance chief, his top unpaid political adviser and his Senate chief of staff. Telecom companies have paid the lobbying firms that employed those top five McCain advisersmore than $4.4 million since 1999, lobbying records show.

So it should not surprise anyone that McCain's response to a question at last year's D conference on net neutrality generated this response:

Sen. McCain says we should let the market and technology solve the Net-neutrality issue: “When you control the pipe you should be able to get profit from your investment.”

I actually agree with that last part, but controlling the pipe is regulated in this country, particularly the wireless pipe. It's not nearly as simple as McCain makes it out to be in his quote from the D conference.

My suspicion is we won't get the kind of telecomm reform we need out of a republican administration, certainly not a McCain administration. That's unfortunate.

Comments

[DrMobius:]

Im confused here. He is behind de-regulation of telecom and thats a bad thing? The way I see it if the cable companies can operate on a deregulated front shouldn't telecom have the same advantage? If we are not going to have a state run telecom unit such as most other countries then let them fight for customers like the rest of the free market does.

BTW I am an Obama supporter.

2008 Mar 24 12:43 PM

[alpha24seven:]

As Obama is "in the pocket" of nuclear industry. We scream for a new energy paradigm. Unfortunately it won't come from Obama...

To me, this is much -- much -- more important than net neutrality.

2008 Mar 24 02:12 PM

[ghost402:]

Why is it that "Information Technology" workers favor Obama? is it because Obama and the Dems want to regulate more then the Republicans and "telecom" has to be regulated while on the other hand we need "bigger pipes" to support the applications of the future. The telecoms are supposed to provide more bandwidth for free? I don't get the logic, or the lack thereof? Of course Dems/Business/Regulati... are all synonomous and why do we need more telecom "reform". We tried it in 1984 and are finding that an oligopoly is probably what we will settle on. (One telecom and one cable company) per region.

2008 Mar 24 02:19 PM

[Just Say Whoa!:]

Is McCain in the Pocket of the Telecom Industry?

IN-CON-CEIVABLE!!!

There is no way McCain would ever ride on a corporate jet to opulent Bahamas vacation spots on someone else's dime.

Jack Abramoff is now in prison.

McCain has accepted $100,000 in donations from employees of Greenberg Traurig, the very firm where Abramoff once reigned.

Google "McCain Keating Five".

maverick
2: an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party

Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Brent Wilkes, Tom DeLay, Jerry Lewis, Kyle Dustin "Dusty" Foggo, Marvin I. Friedman, Duncan Hunter,
Jack Abramoff, Robert Ney, David H. Safavian...

2008 Mar 24 03:39 PM

[Socialism c...:]

So...who is standing up for the consumer? I want to know why I should be paying "Universal Service fees" and a few other fees...on every telecom bill I pay?? If someone chooses to live out in the boonies...that is *their* choice!! They should recognize that there are additional costs for doing so...such as additional gas for getting to the mall, and additional utility costs for running the service out to them! Oh...another one - the service fee to make the internet available in schools, etc. Are our students any better-educated in the last 10 years? No. Is the internet a necessity for such? No. Why the h#ll should you and I be paying for this? We shouldn't. Far, far too many things are becoming socialist, taxed-for "rights" in this country!!

We are overtaxed already by government...these types of utility taxes should not be legal. Who will stand up for the *consumer*??

2008 Apr 02 12:39 PM