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Comcast: We Lobby for Awful Legislation for You, The Consumer

As noted yesterday, incumbent ISPs have paid convinced Tennessee Representative Marsha Blackburn to rush to the defense of awful, protectionist broadband bills these companies have been writing and getting passed for much of the last decade. Said bills block towns and cities from deploying broadband -- even in cases where nobody else will -- and in some cases even if they work with private industry. Blackburn insists her new bill would protect states rights from FCC meddling with states rights (though letting corporations write laws that trample local state rights is apparently just fine).

Incumbent ISPs generally don't like to talk about their roles in these bills, given that acknowledging they literally write state law solely for their own financial benefit doesn't make for great PR. Two of Blackburn's biggest campaign contributors are PACs tied to AT&T ($66,750) and Comcast ($36,600).

AT&T this week refused to comment on their role in Blackburn's push or these laws (and this is a game they've been playing for a very, very long time). Comcast did comment, telling the International Business Times they lobby for these awful bills on the behalf of the consumer:
quote:
Comcast has described community-owned Internet service providers as a waste of taxpayer money while seeking to limit their expansion. A spokesperson told International Business Times, "Comcast operates in 39 states and has 130,000 employees across the country. It is important for our customers, our employees and our shareholders that we participate in the political process. The majority of our PAC contributions are to the senators and members who represent our employees and customers."
In other words, Comcast writes laws stripping consumers of the right to decide their community's fate for themselves -- for you, the consumer. This is apparently a new Comcast favorite sound byte -- the company recently also stated they're lobbying Congress to get their merger approved -- for you, the people. In short, Comcast is eliminating state rights "for consumers," and Blackburn is protecting Comcast's ability to keep doing this because she really cares about local rights and Tennessee consumers. Right?

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bmccoy
join:2013-03-18
Port Orchard, WA

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bmccoy

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Comcast

»www.opensecrets.org/lobb ··· exType=s

Comcast & the NCTA spent more on lobbying than the Koch Brothers, Dow Chemical, Monsanto, GE, Grocery Manufacturers Association, Exxon, Pfizer, and dozens of other nasty corporations just to help you, the consumer! Thanks, Comcast!

/sarcasm