[A href="http://www.downwithtryanny.com"]www.downwithtryanny.com[/A]
[H3 class=post-title]DO YOU KNOW WHICH CONGRESSMEN WANT TO GIVE AWAY THE ONCE-FREE INTERNET TO THE BIG TELECOMS? [/H3] [DIV class=post-body] [DIV style="CLEAR: both"][/DIV][A href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2601/1108/1600/monopoly.jpg"][img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2601/1108/400/monopoly.jpg" border=0][/A]
A couple weeks ago I reminded DWT readers that there is another crucial reason for everyone, not just New Hampshire residents, to get actively involved in Paul Hodes' campaign to get the low-down, rubber-stampin' right wing varmint, [A href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2006/04/charlie-bass-corrupt-republican-rubber.html"][FONT color=#334477]Charlie Bass[/FONT][/A] out of Congress. Aside from just sleep-walking through the last 2 sesssions of Congress and basically giving Bush and DeLay a green light on every far-fetched, hare-brained scheme they come up with the wreck our great nation, Bass has joined a vile coalition of corrupt and reactionary Beltway Insiders (of both political parties) to give away the internet to their corporate paymasters.
[A href="http://www.commoncause.org/site/pp.asp?c=dkLNK1MQIwG&b=1164513"][FONT color=#334477]Common Cause[/FONT][/A] has been warning us about this plot in no uncertain terms. "The Telecommunications Act of 1996 promised more competition, more diversity, lower prices, more jobs and a booming economy. Instead, the public got more media concentration, less diversity and higher prices. Now Congress is poised to take up new telecom legislation, and special interests are once again mounting a campaign focused on almost complete deregulation of the telecommunications industry. It is vitally important that history does not repeat itself. What is at stake is not just how much consumers pay for access to the Internet or their cable TV, but rather the fabric of American civic discourse--how ideas get communicated or are stifled, whether citizens will have a way to get the information they need to govern themselves."
Now Sean Paul at [A href="http://agonist.org/sean_paul_kelley/20060423/internet_freedom_its_that_simple"][FONT color=#666666]The Agonist[/FONT][/A] and Matt Stoller at [A href="http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/4/24/123726/983"][FONT color=#334477]MyDD[/FONT][/A] are banging (loudly) on the chimes of freedom. We're in trouble-- big trouble-- and these congressional creeps are trying to ramrod this through without anyone knowing. Matt and Sean Paul are part of an ad hoc [A href="http://savetheinternet.com/"][FONT color=#334477]Save the Internet Coalition[/FONT][/A] which is seeking 3 simple things:
[BLOCKQUOTE]The freedom to go where we want
The freedom to say what we want
And the freedom to innovate[/BLOCKQUOTE]
Every politician who votes to give away the free internet to their contributors in the telecom industry should be defeated-- and that includes corporate Democrats as well as Republicans. Monopolies stifle freedom and innovation; they are inherently un-American. Or maybe you agree with Ed Whitacre, an avaricious pile of stinking shit on two legs who is also the Chairman of AT&T when he says that [A href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/21/AR2006012100094_pf.html"][FONT color=#334477]"the Internet can't be free."[/FONT][/A] Do you?
Art Brodsky at [A href="http://www.tpmcafe.com/node/29086"][FONT color=#334477]Talking Points Memo Cafe[/FONT][/A] has all the background and paints a clear picture of why this could be a catastrophe, a bipartisan one, like so much of the worst of Bush. We've come to expect Republican to take bribes from corporations and then let the corporations write the laws that affect their businesses. Six sleazy Democrats, on the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, all of whom deserve to be defeated, joined the GOP mad rush for telecom bribes. The Democrats taking bribes from Verizon and the other telecoms are Eliot Engel (NY-17), Bart Stupak (MI-01), Ed Towns (NY-10), Al Wynn (MD-04), Charlie Gonzales (TX-20) and Bobby Rush (IL-01). The Democrats on the Subcommittee who fought to preserve net neutrality are Ed Markey, Rick Boucher, Anna Eshoo, Jay Inslee, John Dingell, Mike Doyle, and Frank Pallone. All but one of the Republicans-- as usual in the back pocket of Big Business-- voted to kill net neutrality. The enemies: Fred Upton (MI), Michael Bilirakis (FL, who is resigning but is trying to get his equally horrible son into Congress in his place), Cliff Stearns (FL, who has a great Democratic opponent this year in [A href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2006/04/if-you-live-in-florida-theres-still.html"][FONT color=#334477]Dave Bruderly[/FONT][/A]), Paul Gillmore (OH), Ed Whitfield (KY), Barbara Cubin (a vulnerable Repug who deserves to be and can be beaten in November by [A href="http://www.traunerforcongress.com/"][FONT color=#334477]Gary Trauner[/FONT][/A]), John Shimkus (IL), the abominable "Chip" Pickering (MS), Staten Island anomaly [A href="http://vetovito.blogspot.com/"][FONT color=#334477]Vito Fossella[/FONT][/A](NY), George Radanovich (CA), the aforementioned piece of crap from New Hampshire, Charles F. Bass, Greg Walden (OR), Lee Terry (NE), ultra-corrupt Mike Ferguson (NJ, whose progressive challenger this year, [A href="http://www.lindastenderforcongress.com/"][FONT color=#334477]Linda Stender[/FONT][/A] deserves maximum support), John Sullivan (OK), Marsha Blackburn (TN), and, probably the worst of all, [A href="http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2005/12/god-strikes-down-texas-right-wing.html"][FONT color=#334477]a man God has shown us He hates[/FONT][/A], Joe Barton (TX).
Matt at MyDD is [A href="http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/4/24/0380/49587"][FONT color=#334477]bloggin' up a storm[/FONT][/A] on this and he's got all the low down as well as action points we can all take. We need to-- NOW.[/DIV]
