Obama's Crony Capitalism will Kill Net Neutrality. New FCC Staff in Bed with ISPs

[Armstead]

Former Comcast and Verizon Attorneys Now Manage the FCC and Are About to Kill the Internet

By Lee Fang

Under the new proposed system, companies such as Comcast or Verizon will be able to create a tiered Internet, in which websites will have to pay more money for faster speeds, a change that observers predict will curb free speech, stifle innovation and increase costs for consumers.

Like so many problems in American government, the policy shift may relate to the pernicious corruption of the revolving door. The FCC is stocked with staffers who have recently worked for Internet Service Providers (ISP) that stand to benefit tremendously from the defeat of net neutrality.

The backgrounds of the new FCC staff have not been reported until now.

Take Daniel Alvarez, an attorney who has long represented Comcast through the law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP. In 2010, Alvarez wrote a letter to the FCC on behalf of Comcast protesting net neutrality rules, arguing that regulators failed to appreciate “socially beneficial discrimination.” The proposed rules, Alvarez wrote in the letter co-authored with a top Comcast lobbyist named Joe Waz, should be reconsidered.

Today, someone in Comcast’s Philadelphia headquarters is probably smiling. Alvarez is now on the other side, working among a small group of legal advisors hired directly under Tom Wheeler, the new FCC Commissioner who began his job in November....

MUCH MORE DISGUSTING DETAIL AT LINK

[woo me with science]

1. What a predatory disaster this presidency has turned out to be,

over and over and over again.

[Armstead]

2. No more predatory than most -- but more demoralizing that he's gone the route of corruption

[TheBlackAdder]

3. You'd only know how wrong you were, if you took courses in politics. The "Iron Triangle".

Select Legislators, Bureaucracies & Special Business interests ONLY!



The average citizen has NO say in what goes on. Just look at the dismantling of the USPS.


You have politicians who get legal bribes from business to do their bidding, mostly on select committees.

You have businesses who are legally bribing politicians to get them to enact laws and pressure bureaucracies that favor them.

Then, there is the stagnant bureaucracy who is at the mercy of the legislators, fearing cuts and executive firings.



===

The president isn't in this equation. Nice try though.

This is strictly by the legislature, accepting funding. Private groups and people are not allowed to participate, because MONEY is the primary driver.

[MFrohike]

4. Tip

If you're going to be condescending to people, it helps not to make really dumb mistakes. The president nominates the FCC commissioners who make the rules, so he is very much part of the equation.

[Armstead]

6. Who the fuck do you think appoints the officials in executive agencies like the FCC?

[TheBlackAdder]

11. Nice language. The president nominates then, but the Senate confirms them.

That still leaves the influence of the "Iron Triangle" as the primary motivating force.

It all comes down to money.

[Armstead]

14. (Sorry for the language. I was worked up.) I agree that it all comes down to money but...

The president chooses who is appointed, and he didn't have to pick a Comcast/Cable Industry shill who would, in turn hire his industry-lobbyist friends to key "regulatory" posts within the FCC.

Obama's role in this is inexcusable.

[jwirr]

18. I often wonder why he nominates the people he does. They often seem like the enemy from

within. To me he seems to think these insiders are going to be able to understand enough to fix the problem when in fact they are part of the problem.

It is l like he does not see the picture we see.

[oneofthe99]

25. net worth

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/15/obama-net-worth_n_3281555.html

What would you venture to guess will be his net worth within 3 years after he leaves office'

[GoneFishin]

27. I like the phrase "enemy within". Less folksy sounding than "fox in the hen house".

Both are a good fit though to describe what Obama and Bush before him have done over and over again.

I don't believe this is about appointing knowledgeable people. There is more to it than that. One appointment maybe, but not so farging many of them.

[Armstead]

34. If you're rich or an Insider you're smarter than the rest of us mere mortals

That sometimes seems like the mantra of too many political leaders today.

.......or they're just looking to feather their nest once they leave office

[Enthusiast]

20. +1 a whole fucking bunch.

[Phlem]

5. Sadly you are wrong.

Obama is perfect in every possible way.

[Dragonfli]

7. Unlike Mary Poppins who was only "practically perfect in every way".

Mary was a bit of a slacker...

[moondust]

8. Is it a coincidence

that the Comcast/Time Warner merger is in the works at the same time as this? Sheesh.

[woo me with science]

9. No.

[Armstead]

15. The Industry Crooks are making a grb for it all -- and Obama is helping them

[QC]

21. But just wait until his second term--then his true liberal self

will come busting out.

Or so I have been assured.

[SammyWinstonJack]

31. HA!

[Armstead]

33. More like his true Corporate Self, from the way things are going

[tiredtoo]

10. This type of activity is what drove the college students to Ron Paul

Do not know why but, college students seem to have a fool me once attitude. (sarcasm)
This is also a strong factor in the expected dismal showing of college students in the upcoming mid-terms.

[Armstead]

16. Unfortunately I agree -- This is not behavior that will cause people to flock to vote for D's

[Enthusiast]

22. I suspect that is part of the objective.

Sorry to say.

[Doctor_J]

28. yep. then the white house will blame those disgusted voters for the loss

in Nov.

[Vattel]

12. Please explain in detail

what set of regulations the FCC should put in place, why that set of regulations is superior to all possible alternatives, and how those regulations will withstand all legal challenges. Otherwise STFU! (I am being facetious here.)

[Dragonfli]

13. You are channeling a corporate lawyer and fox news "guest" liberal

I recommend you dive into a vat of salt to banish the darkened spirits.

[Armstead]

17. I hope you're being facetious.

[Enthusiast]

19. K&R! Curbing free speech is the objective.

[Doctor_J]

29. and enriching the 1% even more

[librechik]

23. after the demise of "commercial-free pay television" (lol) back in the early days of cable

this was inevitable. We've just been in a safe period where they couldn't quite make it happen. Just shitty broadband. Now they have slipped a toe under the tent It's all over anyway. Citizens don't have influence. Thank you Clinton and Obama, among others...

[Doctor_J]

24. poll on how the BOG will treat this

1. It's really a great thing
2. The president had nothing to do with it

[Armstead]

30. 3)Ignore it because it is so outrageously awful there is no defense of it

[raouldukelives]

35. 4) Launch of the indisputable emoticons.

[Armstead]

36. You're using one of the favorites

[City Lights]

26. Well, isn't that special!

:fuckit:

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. rec