President Obama To Nominate Cable and Wireless Lobbyist To Head FCC 304
symbolset writes "The Wall Street Journal and others are reporting that longtime telecomm lobbyist Tom Wheeler will be nominated to head the Federal Communications Commission. According to the LA Times: 'Wheeler is a former president of the National Cable Television Assn. and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Assn. Despite his close ties to industries he will soon regulate, some media watchdogs are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. "As someone who has known Tom for years, I believe that he will be an independent, proactive chairman," said Gigi B. Sohn, president and chief executive of Public Knowledge, adding that she has "no doubt that Tom will have an open door and an open mind, and that ultimately his decisions will be based on what he genuinely believes is best for the public interest, not any particular industry."'"
Yep, typical (Score:3, Insightful)
I really wish the alternatives in the recent elections weren't more in bed with corporate interests.
Re:Yep, typical (Score:5, Insightful)
What do you expect? This is the same party that gave us the DMCA.
Re:Yep, typical (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, you can generalize that last part as well. No one is going to do any job you want them to do unless you keep on them or they have their own interests in doing it. Politicians aren't going to have our interests at heart unless you threaten to kick them out if they don't. And we're not doing that.
Bring back Teddy (Score:3)
The only time that is not true is when enough people oppose the money.
Or when you have an honest man for a president who truly does place the public good above his own greed. The only two examples I can think of offhand are George Washington and Teddy Roosevelt.
Obama is just as corrupt as Bush, he is a team player.
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I don't believe anyone genuinely believes President Washington was perfect. It is just that the modern examples we have make him seem so.
Re:Bring back Teddy (Score:4, Insightful)
I enjoy reading Revolutionary War history, and apparently, he was held in incredibly high esteem by his contemporaries. He may not have been perfect, but he was certainly principled, and took his *CONSTITUTIONAL* responsibilities seriously.
Re:Bring back Teddy (Score:4, Interesting)
He was as human as any, but his near-saint status is not unearned, and those would claim it was are likely oblivious to what he really did with his life.
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Hogwash. President Bush was part of the power elite. He is responsible for his actions as is President Obama. I can not say that the current administration is worse than the former although they seem to be making a special effort.
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That's what I've been preaching for the last few months. Politicians listen to money, because the people don't take the time to make them listen.
My own state is an example of this. We contacted a democrat and had him vote against the recent gun control legislation. Did he do this because we asked him to? Did he do this because the NRA promised him big checks? Only time will tell. But at least in this instance, he voted what I can only assume is the will of the loudest people. (I also believe in my so
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Well said, interkin3tic!!! Well said!!!
That is one of the most succinct descriptions of our current political system that I've read to date (other than "politicians suck"). In fact, all we have left is "political theater."
I've been suggesting that we start an "abstain campaign(TM)" (Note I TM'd that). Make a point of going to the polls, but write in your nomination/vote. However, write in something like "These candidates are not worthy of my vote. My vote is too precious to throw away. I abstain." This is p
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What do you expect? This is the same party that gave us the DMCA.
The best bought mongrel dogs taxpayer money can buy.
All politicians should serve three terms, two in office and one really long term in prison.
Third parties (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Third parties (Score:4, Insightful)
The most viable third party, the libertarians, really really really are pro-corporate in their actual published platform. The lack of money in that regard seems to just be and artifact of their lack of electoral potential.
Re:Third parties (Score:5, Insightful)
This is a common misunderstanding/misperception. The Libertarians vehemently oppose corporate welfare and public/private partnerships. What you're calling "pro-corporate" is really not true - they believe that in general, the market should be left alone, regulation minimized and clear separation between companies and government should exist. They are deeply suspicious of things like the military-industrial complex.
The Libertarians believe that a person has a right to the fruit of their own labors, and that people should be free from burdensome regulation and oppressive government manipulation of markets. This is not "pro corporate" this is "pro human". They also believe that just as a person should be free to succeed, they should be free to fail. The libertarians are passionately opposed to "bail outs" and "stimulus" government corporate welfare programs.
Any Libertarian who tried to pull the sort of shenanigans that we're seeing here would be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail by his/her own party.
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If you want to be modded up, you should always remind slashdotters about the libertarian stance on drugs...
Re:Third parties (Score:5, Insightful)
Any Libertarian who tried to pull the sort of shenanigans that we're seeing here would be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail by his/her own party.
And then the Libertarian would rebrand himself a Republican and run as that.
Plus, it wouldn't matter anyway - after killing off regulations, the large corporations would have an even larger stranglehold on the marketplace, as there would be no anti-trust laws to keep them from colluding, price-fixing, etc. and any competitor who tried to enter the field would be crushed before they could get a foothold.
Re:Third parties (Score:4, Informative)
as there would be no anti-trust laws to keep them from colluding, price-fixing, etc. and any competitor who tried to enter the field would be crushed before they could get a foothold.
You're confusing "minimal" with "no" regulation. Very different words.
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OK. How do you define or find "minimum" then?
Pretty sure different people will define that differently, so no point in using that word at all.
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Corporations are creations of the government, giving limited legal liabilities to large companies.
The so-called "libertarian paradise" would NOT include corporations, and so no limited legal liability for the officers/owners of those large companies.
Which would mean that most of them would dissolve and the rest
What if there were no anti-trust laws? (Score:2)
after killing off regulations, the large corporations would have an even larger stranglehold on the marketplace, as there would be no anti-trust laws to keep them from colluding, price-fixing, etc. and any competitor who tried to enter the field would be crushed before they could get a foothold.
This sounds scary, but the reality is that a burdensome regulatory system favors large entrenched companies over start-ups. Back when Microsoft was smaller, they didn't like government, but these days they have a to
Re:Third parties (Score:5, Interesting)
Is it "pro human" to let someone die of an easily-treatable health condition just because they previously depleted their savings and can't work while disabled?
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I think libertarian ideals are far to under-represented to make such sweeping generalizations. But the argument stems from without regulation corporations would rape us. It doesn't matter as it stands now the corporations are raping us all through regulation.
Now the FCC has had some positive effects and I cannot sit here and throw rotten tomatoes at their past actions. But reading the summary makes me think we just got shat on one more time. The cable and cellular industry does not inspire non-biased for th
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Do you believe easily treatable conditions would cost as much as they do in a libertarian society with no government enforced monopolies, compared to what we have right now in a world run by drug patents and with the AMA artificially limiting the number of doctors we have?
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Reality has shown their beliefs are absolute trash when put into practice. Greedy assholes will always be greedy assholes and they tend not to care what happens to anyone that isn't t
Re:Third parties (Score:5, Insightful)
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But that doesn't fit the Leftwing view that anything different from their limited view is 100% wrong, therefore deserves to be mocked and exaggerated.
I've started parroting their techniques back at them. They make exaggerated claims about things they don't understand, I make exaggerated claims about what they believe. "All Liberals believe government should tell people how much they should make, and should pick the winners and losers through the body politic. And government should punish the successful and
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The thing is, while your techniques should be good for entertainment, they arent going to work to get these people on our side. And (some of) them should be, and we need them desperately. A lot of people on the left, I have found, are coming from a deeply libertarian place. They simply dont have the most basic grasp of economics, and have absorbed the long-obsolete labour theory of value subconsciously. To be brought on board, they have to first have their conscious attention brought to how much of their wo
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You misunderstand. No one thinks people will play nice if you remove the umpire.
We think that if the umpires job is very strictly and tightly defined and if he does his own job and lets the players do theirs, then the game will work out better all around.
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The wonderful thing about a free society is that no one works by force (unlike statist governements).
If a consenting adult chooses to engage in a mutually beneficial contract and sell his time and service to another for an agreed upon compensation, that hardly fits your example of "capitalists have the right to the lions share of the fruits of others' labor".
The fact that a voluntary system of rewards, employment, creation, production and business opportunity is a superior system to leftist/statist "work fo
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No true Scotsman is a form of begging the question where a person redefines his terms to mean the thing he needs it to mean to exclude counterexample to his claim. That doesn't mean that any time someone points that a term excludes a given example they are committing that fallacy. In particular GP pointed out that the general characteristics of libertarian thought are counter to GGP's claims. That's not fallacious. Further, when discussing large heterogeneous groups like political parties you should expect
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I am a libertarian and I don't support the military, industrial, media complex. I support proper accountability for corporations by holding their senior officers and corporate boards personally liable for corporate sponsored crimes. Additionally, I support being able to pull ill gotten gains from private trusts as well. Change the laws so that those running these non-person entities are held responsible for corporate sponsored crimes, and you'll see a change in corporate culture. You don't have to destroy c
Re:Third parties (Score:4, Insightful)
This is why Libertarians are hated so much by both sides. The corps run both the R's and D's and use social issues to divide the population into these two camps. Divide and conquer works today as it always has. Blacks against Whites, Gay against Straight, Religious versus Atheists, etc. You'll notice shit like the patriot act gets full bipartisan support though. When will people wake up? I think only when they get hungry. As long as the bread and circus acts keep going it will never change.
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It goes for understanding that things are never usually black and white, libertarian or not. So what party do you recommend following? Ron wouldn't have destroyed everything we've worked for. The picture you you paint is one of extremism untempered by a working republic. Which is what were heading towards, just in a socialist fascist sense instead of a libertarian form.
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yet the Republicans are goose-steppers par excellence
Just about everyone in government is - no matter the party.
now glaring irrationalist white Christian male identity
I guess small-minded bigotry is ok, if it's the right sort of small-minded bigotry.
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First libertarians havent 'chosen' the Republican party - it was the only one where we appeared to have a chance last election. Historically since 1970 we have had caucuses in both Republicratic parties and a third party as well. Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich worked well together on several issues. We are ultimately working for the Republic not for a party.
Second, the "deregulated capitalism" you talk about has nothing whatsoever to do with libertarianism, nothing. It's corporate capitalism, crony capitiali
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Regulation to big corporations is like the briar patch to Brer Rabbit.
"Oh no Mr Government! Don't pass any more regulations!"
http://washingtonexaminer.com/timothy-p.-carney-mattel-exempted-from-toy-safety-law-it-helped-write/article/36618 [washingtonexaminer.com]
Oh look, one of the biggest players exempted from toy safety laws that they wanted implemented. Of course, small companies need to spend a fortune to comply.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
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Then you look at the facts...
No, all I see it a baseless insinuation.
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The market is always controlled by ruling elite, be it government, corporations or whatever.
But yeah, you can't take politics out of the market, because market *is* politics. Economics is just the tool for the ruling elite to push their agenda. Again, whatever that elite is.
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You fail to see that corporations use government regulations to control the market to their exclusive benefit and kill any competition. There is no free market capitalism and has not been for decades.
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Is it hard to talk while fellating that straw man?
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Yet.
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Revolution won't fix anything as it stands now, it would be a peasants revolt and no one would be left running the show, we'd be left squabbling over how and who to run it so rule that out until you see a succession and leadership make a lawful stand with a declaration of their sovereignty. I don't see anyone volunteering for that one any time soon.
Otherwise were left with voting and we all know thats a rigged game. So enjoy the show while it lasts. No Andrew Jacksons around to save our asses at the moment.
The revolving door continues to spin (Score:4, Insightful)
adding that she has "no doubt that Tom will have an open door and an open mind, and that ultimately his decisions will be based on what he genuinely believes is best for the public interest, not any particular industry."
Seriously?
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They said exactly what they could say to dispel any concerns that he might be a biased industry shill so they could assuage fears of the populace?
DIABOLICAL!
wolf in sheep skin shoes (Score:5, Funny)
in other news Dr. Kevorkian to head Department of Health and Human Services
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What is wrong with Dr. Kevorkian, let's hope you won't get into the situation to beg doctors to end your life...
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in other news Dr. Kevorkian to head Department of Health and Human Services
Humor aside,
Dr. Kevorkian's belief in a person's ultimate control over their own lives & bodies from birth until death, regardless of the wishes or views of any other person on this planet, makes him the perfect candidate for such a position.
Suicide, abortion, plastic surgery, drug use... none of that going on in my body due to my own decisions is any of your fucking business.
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So, go do drugs, I honestly don't care, and believe you have that right. But you are not getting a dime from me without pissing in a cup.
So go eat tasty food, I honestly don't care, and believe you have that right. But you aren't getting a dime from me if you have a BMI over 24%.
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Haha, I guess I am a victim of Poe's Law.
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Forget PCP.
Let's talk about prescription drugs that are 90% subsidized and trigger a cascade of side effects that mean you need to pop 5 or 6 of them regularly while they do who knows what to your insides.
"Just say No" isn't just for the drugs that the establishment likes to demonize.
Widespread and perfectly respectable middle class drug abuse is probably older than you are.
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Death won't stop him from voting, why should it stop him from holding office?
Conflict of interest (Score:5, Insightful)
This doesn't even pass the sniff test with regards to conflict of interest. Obama is as much of a tool of industry as W ever was, his entire populist election campaign of 2008 was one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated on the American public. Seriously, look at industry after industry and you will see Obama acting fundamentally the same. How many bankers are in jail for the collapse of the economy, etc, etc?
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hey at least the republicans will filibuster this
Re:Conflict of interest (Score:5, Insightful)
Every President that gets elected to a second term stop giving a shit. It's the home stretch to pad their pockets and spend paradise on a beach.
Re:Conflict of interest (Score:4, Informative)
Really? Every one? Must have missed FDRs slacking the second time round cause he got a third.
Re:Conflict of interest (Score:5, Interesting)
Neil Macbride [justice.gov], former Business Software Alliance general counsel and vice president was appointed US Attorney shortly after President Obama's first inauguration - probably at the behest of his former boss Vice President Joe Biden. Since then he has been a tireless bulldog as the US Government's enforcement arm of the MPAA and RIAA - notably in the case of Kim Dotcom's Megaupload [slashdot.org] in New Zealand, which is now bordering on an international incident.
Darned right it doesn't pass the sniff test.
The lobbyist connection (Score:2)
I think this needs to be investigated. Seriously. This is not normal. Now the lobbyist with power can now do what he was unable to do when he was powerless (but just placing bribes) lobbyist.
Some shit is going to happen following this and it is going to be bad.
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Not normal? Industry insiders being appointed to gov't positions that regulate said industry? That's unfortuately very normal. The Treasury Department is full of ex-Goldman Sachs people, the Department of Justice is full of ex-RIAA and MPAA lawyers, etc.
Oh come on (Score:2)
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I think this needs to be investigated. Seriously. This is not normal. Now the lobbyist with power can now do what he was unable to do when he was powerless (but just placing bribes) lobbyist.
Some shit is going to happen following this and it is going to be bad.
They have already re-labeled his paychecks as "campaign contributions". What isn't normal?
This is good news (Score:2)
I keep getting questions from people asking me to give them an example of regulatory capture. Now I have one.
More of the same... (Score:5, Interesting)
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I voted for the the Green...much good it did, but there it is.
Re:More of the same... (Score:5, Insightful)
The more votes a third party gets, the more the Rs and Ds try to copy their policies in order to win those votes back. Better to change position on a few topics then let another party gain good media attention. The third parties see that someone cares about them and they keep on fighting for their principles. Your vote does more than you think it did.
Thank you for voting for a different party.
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Out of mod points, but would like to thank the AC for his synopsis.
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I voted for the the Green...much good it did, but there it is.
That's your problem right here. Should have voted for the Purple [midwinter.com].
With one difference... (Score:2)
Obama is not a war monger like 'W'. He is more like Bush Sr.
With that said, I reject the "wasted vote" doctrine of bipartisan purity as you do. Esp. if one lives in a state that is comfortably R or D, there is no excuse to not make your conscience felt at the polls.
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Obama is not a war monger like 'W'. He is more like Bush Sr.
What, precisely, makes you think that CIA Death Squad manager George Herbert Walker Bush is not a war monger?
C&W? (Score:2)
Where does it say that Wheeler worked for Cable & Wireless? [wikipedia.org] Gotta watch those titles.
Democracy (Score:2)
The end of Google Fiber? (Score:4, Interesting)
Getting real tired of your sh*t Obama (Score:2)
First we have the SOPA loveboat heading up NSF funding, and now Cable lobbyists in charge of the FCC? Whats next, putting Prenda lawyers in charge of the US Patent Office?
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I am sure Salt Marsh would be a great public servant
This is nothing new (Score:5, Insightful)
Despite the promises made by President Obama, there are plenty of lobbyists with jobs in government, hired on his watch. What's one more? What difference does it make?
http://www.businessinsider.com/meet-the-lobbyists-inside-the-obamas-administration?op=1 [businessinsider.com]
Regulatory Capture (Score:2)
This is to help combat global warming (Score:2)
The fast that revolving door spins, the more circulation of air we get. Okay, so maybe that'll just make the ice caps melt faster, but I'm sure their hearts are in the right place.
Well, technically.... (Score:2)
"No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years."
If he hasn't been a lobbyist within the past two years, I suppose we ought to give him a pass. Right?
This is nothing new (Score:2)
Don't worry (Score:2)
Fucking hell... (Score:4, Insightful)
Two heads of the same hydra (Score:2)
"No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems - of which getting elected and re-elected are number and number two. Whatever is number three is far behind." -- Thomas Sowell
With that in mind: "President Obama is expected on Wednesday to nominate Tom Wheeler, a venture capital investor and fund-raiser in Mr. Obama’s presidential campaigns, [nytimes.com] as chairman of the Federal Communications Commissi
It is time to choose your party (Score:4, Informative)
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This bridge here is yours for the low low price of 3.50
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I vote to put a bell on him! Who's with me?!
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Probably but it isn't conflicting with any of his interests so why should he care?
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Oh, Obama. You're no President Bartlet, that's for sure.
Pear-shaped national policy's gotta count for something.
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The universal health-care is overwhelmingly in favor of health care corporations and not nearly as much in favor of actually providing a really good social health care system for everyone to participate in equally. Meanwhile the ultra-rich can still pay for the best private medicine known to man.
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Meanwhile the ultra-rich can still pay for the best private medicine known to man.
The ultra-rich will always be able to pay for the best private medicine known to man. They do this in the USA, they do this in Canada, and they even do it in Great Britain. They will always be able to buy better cars than you, bigger boats, and bigger airplanes. What's your point, that all of that stuff should be free?
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To above and below, the idea of this healthcare bill is to provide the working class with health care better or more on par with what the ultra rich get by doing it communally, socialist. Because teamwork is better then doing it by yourself. Because groups are stronger then individuals.
But I don't get why you guys are ragin so hard, you have your utopian nightmare. I'm just pointing out that its not so damn utopian as you might think.
All is not lost (Score:5, Informative)
Part of the vetting process for this means taking down your blog. Fortunately the Wayback Machine is our friend. I haven't read the whole blog yet, but this article about SOPA [archive.org] seems to indicate Mr. Wheeler might not be entirely clueless.
Hat tip to Slate [slate.com]'s Emma Roller, who found it.