More than 60 present and former telecom lobbyists work for McCain's campaign

[babylonsister]

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1173708.html

In Senate, McCain has been reliable ally of big telecom firms
By Greg Gordon - [e-mail]

Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, August 21, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A8



WASHINGTON – John McCain broadcasts his affection for Theodore Roosevelt, but his opposition to regulating the local telephone industry suggests that he may not share the former president's passion for busting huge corporate trusts.

Unlike Roosevelt, who railed against "malefactors of great wealth," McCain's positions frequently have echoed those of the giant regional Bell phone companies, now consolidated as AT&T, Verizon and Quest, the big survivors of the telecommunications wars of the last quarter-century.

McCain's opposition to the 1996 Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act, intended to spur competition by pressuring the Bells to lease their lines and switches to competitors cheaply, offers a window into how he might view regulation of other markets as president.

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McCain backed Michael Powell "because Powell shared McCain's belief in a free marketplace," Bounds said.

Watchdog groups charge that McCain has been too cozy with the phone giants. Executives of the consolidated Bells, the head of their trade group and their present and former lobbyists have raised as much as $4.25 million for McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, data from the nonprofit groups Public Citizen and Campaign Money Watch show.

More than 60 present and former telecom lobbyists work for McCain's campaign as staffers and volunteers, some in high-echelon posts while on leave from their firms.

Bounds said McCain "has never taken legislative action on behalf of any special interest," including the Bells.