Report Finds Big Telecom Spends $230,000 on Lobbying Every Day (vice.com) 32
A new study argues crappy U.S. broadband is an active policy choice -- and a direct result of pathetically weak U.S. lobbying and corporate finance laws. From a report: Over the last few years big internet service providers have killed net neutrality, eliminated most FCC oversight of broadband providers, derailed efforts to pass meaningful privacy rules, and thwarted a wide variety of proposals designed to deliver faster, cheaper fiber broadband competition. A new joint study by Common Cause and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union found that the telecom industry spent $234 million on lobbying during the 116th Congress alone, or nearly $230,000 a day. Comcast was the biggest spender at more than $43 million, with AT&T not far behind at $36 million. "The powerful ISP lobby will seemingly spend whatever it takes to keep politicians beholden to them and maintain a status quo that leaves too many Americans on the wrong side of the digital divide," the groups said.
Money is power (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3)
This is what happens when you let a small group of people have all the power.
Do you mean the ISPs or the politicians?
Re: (Score:2)
Liberals are yelling Corrupt Companies are causing our Government to be Corrupt
Conservatives are yelling Corrupt Government are causing our Companies to be Corrupt.
Both are corrupt and both can influence each other.
Government officials are keen on getting re-elected that takes money and good press. Telecom companies have money and heavily influence the press.
Telecom companies want to maximize profits, that means they don't want competition and regulations. Governments controls who has public work projects
Power is one thing, this is something else (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course, good luck in getting the rules changed to ban things like paid advocacy because that's against the interest of all the lobbyists meaning that the money arrayed against it will be overwhelming.
Re: (Score:2)
In Poland between WW1 and WW2 we had this law:
An official, guilty of accepting a gift or another material benefit, or a promise thereof, [in matters relevant to duties], shall be punished by death by shooting.
Bringing that back should solve the problem nicely.
Re:Power is one thing, this is something else (Score:5, Insightful)
Draconian punishments rarely solve problems because they go unenforced. They foster a culture of impunity.
A high probability of conviction is far more important than the severity of punishment.
Re: (Score:2)
that's against the interest of all the lobbyists
It is also against the interest of Congress.
Today's Senators are tomorrow's lobbyists.
Re: (Score:3)
$234M/year is around $500k per member of congress or almost three times their annual salaries. In any other job, a "donation" that large would be treated as a massive conflict of interest
This would be a big problem if the $230k/day were straight cash going into the pockets of the legislators. The money is actually spent on hiring lobbyists though. It is still a problem and there are far too many lobbyists but not all of the money talked about here is going directly into legislator's pockets*.
*well none of it actually goes into there pockets they are smart enough to funnel it into their campaign coffers
Re: (Score:2)
This would be a big problem if the $230k/day were straight cash going into the pockets of the legislators. The money is actually spent on hiring lobbyists though.
Some yes because those legal bribes won't give themselves away but I'd suspect the vast majority goes on campaign donations, lavish entertainment and gifts, "meetings" in the Bahamas etc. All scrupulously legal of course at least if any of them have any scruples left.
Re: (Score:3)
It's also what happens when the Supreme Court rules forms of political bribery to be "free speech". Corporations are not fucking people and shouldn't have all the same rights.
Re:Money is power (Score:5, Interesting)
Ban all donations. Ban second jobs for politicians, and ban them from working in industry for 10 years after they are out of office (give them a reasonable pension).
Give each party a fixed, low amount for campaigning. Ban all third party campaigning.
Japan's rules aren't far off that, so it's entirely possible.
Re: (Score:2)
Time is power, too (Score:2)
How? (Score:2)
How? Are you suggesting a revolution? Short of that, I don't see a way to fix things. Plus, most American voters think they live in some sort of great Democracy, so not even the voting body recognises how screwed up the system is, making a revolution unlikely...
Having said that, the poor/rich gap constantly increasing historically does lead to unrest, and right now that gap is pretty monumental, so I don't know...
I would ban politicians from working period (Score:2)
They're not allowed to own more than 3 primary residences and no other property that isn't personal in nature. They should also be banned from owning private jets or boats over a certain size (read: yachts). No stocks either.
In short, if you're at the state legislature or above you're allowed to live well, but you're not allowed to be rich. If you don't like
Re: (Score:1)
Thank you for consistently proving me right over the years. Nobody else is paying attention so I presume it is all entirely futile for both of us, but it's the thought that counts.
Good ROI (Score:2)
Based on the amount of subsidies they get, it seems like money well spent.
Re: (Score:2)
Then it's a good ROI on tax breaks, either way it's smart investing on their parts, rants about what it means to be part of a society or not.
Fuck AT&T (Score:2, Informative)
A new joint study by Common Cause and the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union found that the telecom industry spent $234 million on lobbying during the 116th Congress alone, or nearly $230,000 a day. Comcast was the biggest spender at more than $43 million, with AT&T not far behind at $36 million.
What a racket. Pay a few tens of millions per year on lobbying the government to protect their monopoly while the government turns around and gives them $428 million per year [arstechnica.com] for shitty 10 Mbps broadband.
Re: (Score:2)
What a racket. Pay a few tens of millions per year on lobbying the government to protect their monopoly while the government turns around and gives them $428 million per year for shitty 10 Mbps broadband.
And which they don't even spend on it, they hand it out as executive compensation instead. And, apparently, on lobbying for more.
Don't Worry, They'll All Be in Jail Soon (Score:3)
What do they call "Lobbying" when you do it it?
Well, let's see, shall we?
FEDERAL BRIBERY STATUTE 18 USC Â 201
The intent of the provision under 18 USC Â 201 is to impose prohibitions involving two acts constituting bribery. It is unlawful to commit the following acts that may result in the punishment of the giver and the receiver of the bribe.
* As to the giver, there must be a showing of the intention of giving something of value, or promising or offering something valuable to the public officer.
* As to the receiver, who must be a public officer, there is a showing of demanding, receiving or accepting something of value from another person
* That the consideration of the above mentioned act is to influence the conduct of any official act of the public officer as to the giver, or in exchange of influencing the performance of his official act with regards to the receiver.
Sounds pretty clear-cut. So what's the penalty? For you, I mean.
* An imprisonment of not more than fifteen years
* Both criminal penalties of imprisonment and a fine
* Disqualification to hold office in the government and the forfeiture of any benefits arising from his government services.
So relax, we have laws to prevent these things. Everything's going to be just fine. We're a nation of laws you know.
Re: (Score:1)
This is the system (Score:1)
The laws aren't weak. They just don't favor peopl (Score:2)
When the Supreme Court rules that money is speech, that's anything but weak. When they rule that corporations are people, that's anything but weak. They simply favor sociopathic corporations not Joe citizen, because bribes (i.e. "lobbyists").
The ONLY important political issue in the U.S. (Score:2)
People want to argue about this or that political issue (usually a wedge issue which is hyper relevant during the campaign but never mentioned during the actual term), but without campaign finance reform, reform on lobbying, and term limits any solution on any issue is going to be tainted by corruption. It's ridiculous that we even call it "campaign finance" when it is bald faced bribery.
While we bitterly bicker over irrelevancies, the real work that gets done in congress is serving campaign donors and lob
So? (Score:2)
Well, if there are a total of 365 lobbyists who earn an average of $230K including benefits, what exactly does that prove?