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from: Waxing America

November 12, 2007
Reflections on the AT&T Cable Bill and the Wisconsin Sell Out

The comments from the supporters of the AT&T cable legislation that passed the Wisconsin Senate make it obvious they never intended to honestly discuss the issue.

All they say is that the bill will bring competition to Wisconsin.

They never acknowledged that we offered an alternative that AT&T endorsed* and that made competition even more viable.

They never acknowledged that they sold out Wisconsin when they could have supported the legislation that AT&T endorsed in Illinois.

There are three reasons they choose to ignore sound public policy:

* First they have no sense of history and no understanding of what it means to be a progressive, either from the Democratic side or the Republican side. Go back to the 1920's and 1930's and examine how electric power and telephones were extended to the most remote and rural parts of the United States. That would be about 95% of this country. It was government regulation that required the utilities to provide service. The price that the utilities paid to serve the wealthiest and most economically viable parts of the country was to provide service to rest of the territory.
* That is why when the advocates of the cable bill say that everyone will benefit from the new competition, we know that their claims are false. Only the must lucrative areas will get service. This bill allows the cable companies to pick and choose where they will provide the new competitive service.
* Finally, there is the matter of what this bill cost. Literally. The Wisconsin legislators were bought cheap. When we see the final tally it will show that they took no more than a few hundred thousand dollars for their campaigns. They should have taken millions given what it was worth to the victors. Pikers. Every last one of them. Democrats just do not have enough experience in selling out, but they will get better with time.

*AT&T supported a bill in Illinois which was introduced as an amendment in the Wisconsin Senate.