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Bankrolled by broadband donors, house democrat/republican lobby FCC against net neutrality
Bankrolled by broadband donors, lawmakers lobby FCC on net neutrality
Watchdog decries politicians' claims that they "are acting in the public interest."
by David Kravets - May 16 2014, 10:20pm CEST
BROADBAND GOVERNMENT WEB CULTURE
110
Andrew Magill/Flickr
The 28 House members who lobbied the Federal Communications Commission to drop net neutrality this week have received more than twice the amount in campaign contributions from the broadband sector than the average for all House members.
These lawmakers, including the top House leadership, warned the FCC that regulating broadband like a public utility "harms" providers, would be "fatal to the Internet," and could "limit economic freedom."
According to research provided Friday by Maplight, the 28 House members received, on average, $26,832 from the "cable & satellite TV production & distribution" sector over a two-year period ending in December. According to the data, that's 2.3 times more than the House average of $11,651.
What's more, one of the lawmakers who told the FCC that he had "grave concern" (PDF) about the proposed regulation took more money from that sector than any other member of the House. Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) was the top sector recipient, netting more than $109,000 over the two-year period, the Maplight data shows.
Dan Newman, cofounder and president of Maplight, the California research group that reveals money in politics, said the figures show that "it's hard to take seriously politicians' claims that they are acting in the public interest when their campaigns are funded by companies seeking huge financial benefits for themselves."
Signing a letter to the FCC along with Walden, who chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, were three other key members of the same committee: Reps. Fred Upton (R-MI), Robert Latta (R-OH), and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). Over the two-year period, Upton took in $65,000, Latta took $51,000, and Blackburn took $32,500.
In a letter (PDF) those representatives sent to the FCC two days before Thursday's raucous FCC net neutrality hearing, the four wrote that they had "grave concern" over the FCC's consideration of "reclassifying Internet broadband service as an old-fashioned 'Title II common carrier service.'"
The letter added that a switchover "harms broadband providers, the American economy, and ultimately broadband consumers, actually doing so would be fatal to the Internet as we know it."
Not every one of the 28 members who publicly lobbied the FCC against net neutrality in advance of Thursday's FCC public hearing received campaign financing from the industry. One representative took no money: Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV).
Greg Walden Republican (Elected 1998), OR House district 2 $109,250
Eric Cantor Republican (Elected 2000), VA House district 7 $80,800
John A. Boehner Republican (Elected 1990), OH House district 8 $75,450
Fred Upton Republican (Elected 1986), MI House district 6 $65,000
John Barrow Democrat (Elected 2005), GA House district 12 $60,500
Bob Latta Republican (Elected 2007), OH House district 5 $51,000
George "G.K." Butterfield Democrat (Elected 2004), NC House district 1
$34,500
Kevin McCarthy Republican (Elected 2007), CA House district 23 $33,000
Marsha Blackburn Republican (Elected 2002), TN House district 7 $32,500
Cathy McMorris Rodgers Republican (Elected 2005), WA House district 5
$31,500
Raymond "Gene" Green Democrat (Elected 1992), TX House district 29 $27,000
Scott Peters Democrat (Elected 2013), CA House district 52 $21,800
Joaquin Castro Democrat (Elected 2013), TX House district 20 $18,250
Kurt Schrader Democrat (Elected 2009), OR House district 5 $16,000
Bill Owens Democrat (Elected 2009), NY House district 21 $15,500
Bobby Rush Democrat (Elected 1992), IL House district 1 $15,000
Loretta Sanchez Democrat (Elected 1996), CA House district 46 $12,000
Albio Sires Democrat (Elected 2006), NJ House district 8 $9,000
Alcee Hastings Democrat (Elected 1992), FL House district 20 $7,000
Marc Veasey Democrat (Elected 2013), TX House district 33 $6,750
Bennie Thompson Democrat (Elected 1992), MS House district 2 $6,500
Sanford Bishop Democrat (Elected 1992), GA House district 2 $6,000
Henry Cuellar Democrat (Elected 2005), TX House district 28 $5,000
David Scott Democrat (Elected 2002), GA House district 13 $3,500
Gregory Meeks Democrat (Elected 1996), NY House district 5 $3,500
Corrine Brown Democrat (Elected 1992), FL House district 5 $3,000
William Lacy Clay Democrat (Elected 2000), MO House district 1 $2,000
Nick Rahall Democrat (Elected 1976), WV House district 3 $0
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/05/bankrolled-by-broadband-donors-lawmakers-lobby-fcc-on-net-neutrality/
asshole democrats.....turncoat bastards.
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