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Cindy McCain Gets Her Own Verizon Cell Tower
Hey, the telco would do the same for you...
The baby bells should certainly be thankful to Obama. After all, he saved them billions of dollars by voting to give them immunity from civil prosecution for their role in handing over consumer voice and Internet data wholesale to the NSA. AT&T already threw a closed door party for Democrats that the press couldn't attend, and while McCain didn't even bother to vote that day, the Washington Post reports the McCains still get the red carpet treatment from the baby bells. Verizon delivered a mobile cell tower -- the kind usually reserved for disasters -- to the McCain household when they couldn't get decent cell coverage. Before you start complaining that this stinks of inappropriate influence peddling, be aware that according to the McCain campaign, Verizon would do the same for any one of you:
quote:
"Mrs. McCain's staff went through the Website as any member of the general public would -- no string pulling, no phone calls, no involvement of Senate staff," Rogers said. "Just because she is married to a senator doesn't mean she forfeits her right to ask for cell service as any other Verizon customer can."
But the Washington Post report indicates that Verizon used their existing relationship with the Secret Service to try and get a permanent tower placed on the McCain property -- which sits in a rural and largely uninhabited part of Arizona that normally wouldn't warrant construction. Estimates to install a 40-foot tower with two antennas and a microwave dish, surrounded by a six-foot wooden fence -- approach six figures. The Post claims tower construction plans were scrapped right around the time they began asking questions. The Post of course highlights McCain's history with telco lobbyists:
quote:
Five campaign officials, including campaign manager Rick Davis, have worked as lobbyists for Verizon. Former McCain staffer Robert Fisher is an in-house lobbyist for Verizon and is volunteering for the campaign. Fisher, Verizon chief executive Ivan Seidenberg and company lobbyists have raised more than $1.3 million for McCain's presidential campaign and Verizon employees are among the top 20 corporate donors over McCain's political career, giving more than $155,000 to his campaigns.
In case the mobile Verizon tower wasn't enough, AT&T provided a second mobile AT&T tower. "You can't have a presidential nominee in an area where there is not cell coverage," says an AT&T spokesperson. Remember, they'd do the same for you.

Most recommended from 96 comments



r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium Member
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX

2 recommendations

r81984

Premium Member

Really?

I guess this is change you can believe in.