| reply to jslik
Re: DSL -> FiOS You obviously aren't aware of Pennsylvania's own version of Tammany Hall - Pittsburgh. A significant amount of what the city government does is in violation of federal and/or state law, but they do it anyway knowing full well that the government officials responsible for acting to enforce such laws simply won't do it.
When I lived in the city I personally filed dozens of complaints with the Cable Bureau regarding violations of the Federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 taking place, they couldn't have cared less, never got a response to any. When Verizon began deploying FIOS in the area they constructed a multi-story, high tech facility in the center of the city expecting it to be the core of system that would serve the city and the multiple universities that surrounded it; the facility sat dark and empty for years because regardless of what federal law said the city refused to negotiate in good faith with Verizon while Comcast poured money into the coffers of politicians in the city and that of Governor Ed Rendall to keep it so. Regardless what federal laws said, they maintained Comcast's monopoly through their actions as long as they possible could.
And it's not just cable, the state's constitution forbids city's from passing gun laws yet they do it all the time. The county (Allegheny) has been under court order for nearly a decade to reassess home values in order to comply with federal and state requirements for equitable and fair taxation standards and the Chief Executive currently running for governor (Dan Onorato) has essentially told the courts to piss off in order to maintain an illegal system that has lower and middle income homeowners subsidizing the wealthy ones living in the city. I literally pay more in property taxes (as a percentage and in total dollars) on my modest three bedroom ranch than turn of the century mansions and 5, 6, and 7 bedroom mega homes in the wealthiest neighborhoods of the city valued many times more. Every court has ruled against these criminal politicians and told them to correct the problem and they simply refuse to comply.
Pittsburgh's government has been a single party, pay-to-play Democratic political machine for 60+years that operates outside the law at will. |
