FCC chair Genachowski named Obama "bundler" in Center for Public Integrity probe

[newsbot]

FCC chair Genachowski named Obama "bundler" in Center for Public Integrity probe

Some of the moneyed interests who backed Obama have deep ties with the telecom industry. Any wonder why telecom companies and not broadcasters get the most favorable treatment at the FCC?
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/06/1...sions-stimulus-money-government-contracts-and

 

[TheBigA]

Re: FCC chair Genachowski named Obama "bundler" in Center for Public Integrity probe

This blog makes it sound like this is something new. If you really want to study how big business gets things done with government, just study the Republicans. Dick Cheney was still doing business with Halliburton as VP. Most of the financial problems this country found itself in in 2008 were caused by Bush campaign contribtors. This is not strictly an Obama thing. In fact, things are a lot cleaner now than they were five years ago. But if the Bush regulators had been doing their jobs five years ago, we would not be in the hole we're in now.

 

[newsbot]

Re: FCC chair Genachowski named Obama "bundler" in Center for Public Integrity probe

This blog makes it sound like this is something new. If you really want to study how big business gets things done with government, just study the Republicans. Dick Cheney was still doing business with Halliburton as VP. Most of the financial problems this country found itself in in 2008 were caused by Bush campaign contribtors. This is not strictly an Obama thing.

Of course it's nothing new, but the Obama Administration has taken it to a new level. Read the actual article and learn.

 

[TheBigA]

Re: FCC chair Genachowski named Obama "bundler" in Center for Public Integrity probe

Of course it's nothing new, but the Obama Administration has taken it to a new level. Read the actual article and learn.

Not really. Roosevelt made Joe Kennedy Ambassador to England because he raised millions of dollars. Political patronage is how you get a big government job. But the appointees don't do the actual work. That's up to civil servants.

The surprising thing to me is how small the dollar amounts are. You might think a half million is a lot of money, but a Presidential campaign costs hundreds of millions. There is no crime, there is nothing illegal, nothing wrong. As the Romans said, "To the victor goes the spoils." That's why people want to be President in the first place.

You should read American history and learn. How do you think some of these dopes got elected in the first place? Power money and influence. Goes back to George Washington.

 

[TexasTom]

Re: FCC chair Genachowski named Obama "bundler" in Center for Public Integrity probe

Unfortunately, the FCC has been a notorious dumping spot for patronage appointments. That's true from long, long before Obama was president (heck, it goes back to before Obama was born).

That said, just because it's apparently a political tradition is no reason for Obama to continue doing it. What the FCC does is actually a pretty important regulatory role that deserves far more respect than it has gotten from presidents of either party.

And BigA is right about one thing -- the second Bush administration was also extremely effective at the fine art of political bundling. This is one of those selective outrage things -- we all get offended when the "other" party does it, and somehow it is more okay when our guys are in power.

 

[willdav713]

Re: FCC chair Genachowski named Obama "bundler" in Center for Public Integrity probe

Some of the moneyed interests who backed Obama have deep ties with the telecom industry. Any wonder why telecom companies and not broadcasters get the most favorable treatment at the FCC?
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2011/06/1...sions-stimulus-money-government-contracts-and

No wonder why AT&T and T-mobile are allowed to merge. And during the Bush years AT&T was allowed to become a landline monopoly once again. Clinton allowed a whole lot of mergers including the massive take up of mom and pop radio stations by Clear Channel along with the Republican house. Both sides are guilty. It is time to vote for the third party candidates.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

Re: FCC chair Genachowski named Obama "bundler" in Center for Public Integrity probe

It is time to vote for the third party candidates.

That is a fantasy we all toy with now and then. Put emphasis on the word FANTASY.

For a winning candidate to be effective, he/she must have relationships and connections to function effectively. Now and then a third-party candidate gets elected as a representative and find themselves in over their heads, they are ineffective, and only get re-elected if they establish ties to one party or the other. A third-party lone-wolf legislator has all the clout of a autumn leaf in a tornado.

The answer is for citizens to get involved in the process and demand that the process at your level be fair, honest, above board. That has to happen in tons of neighborhoods before there is enough influence to affect things at the national level. (or state level)

Do you attend meetings of a political party at the local level? Have you ever been a volunteer worker in a candidate's campaign team? If so, when the campaign was over, did you feel like anything changed because of your efforts?