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Tuesday, August 01, 2006
ACTION ALERT: Net Neutrality Sleaze
According to Matt Stoller at MyDD:
Sen. Ted Stevens wants his [telecom] bill, and he's pushing like crazy to get it. It's going to be very hard for him to lobby Senators during the August recess, so he's looking to sign up 60 Senators who will commit to cloture during the lame duck session before the recess starts. In case you're wondering, that's unusual and somewhat sleazy.
The August recess starts Thursday, so we've got to put some heat on wavering Senators to make sure they don't commit to Stevens.
Rumors are flying about what Stevens is promising different Senators for their support, and we're not quite sure who he's going after specifically to convert. There are many Democrats who haven't taken a firm position on the Stevens bill yet, according to Save the Internet.
NOTE: NM Senator Jeff Bingaman is one of those who hasn't taken a position on the bill. I don't know what he's waiting for, do you?
Please call these Sen. Bingaman at 202-224-5521 and ask him to oppose the Stevens bill unless it contains strong provisions protecting net neutrality. If you have time, you can also call some of the others who have refused so far to go on record on this horrible bill. Click for contact info.
August 1, 2006 at 01:20 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink
Comments
Called Bingaman's office about net neutrality. Got the usual corporate-whore runaround I have come to expect: "the Senator hasn't made his views known at this time." I wanted to say, "oh, because he is too busy giving blow-jobs to telecom executives?" but I restrained myself. Really, though, why else would he be fence-sitting unless there was telecom campaign cash to lose. Otherwise, net neutrality is a no brainer. This "the Senator hasn't decided" was the same crap-response I got from Bingaman when I called about the bankruptcy bill, and filibustering Alito before he sold us out. Sigh. Will we ever get a principled real Dem Senator from New Mexico?
Posted by: DN Palacios | Aug 1, 2006 9:10:12 PM
Will we ever get a principled real Dem Senator from New Mexico?
Not until we get enough principled voters to DEMAND better!
Posted by: VP | Aug 1, 2006 9:49:43 PM
I called his office and got the same thing. I don't know why we would expect Bingaman to take a principled stand on this, representing us. After all, we haven't paid him bribes for his "campaign fund" like his telecom friends have so why do we think he should listen to us?
I felt like asking his staffer if it would help to write a big check to his campaign.
This strategy of saying they don't have a position yet or haven't "revealed" a position yet is another way to push constituents away. When we finally learn what Bingaman's position is, it will be too late to do anything about it.
We missed an opportunity by not running someone against Bingaman in the primary like what is happening to Lieberman. These incumbents get so arrogant hanging out in the DC bubble. What the hell does Bingman need more donations for? He doesn't even have a real opponent!
Posted by: techie | Aug 2, 2006 8:40:16 AM
I called too. Same story. I wonder if he lets his telecom buddies know what position he will take.
Posted by: larry j. | Aug 2, 2006 2:20:35 PM
