On the Net Neutrality Commerce Committee Tie

by Matt Stoller, Wed Jun 28, 2006 at 01:15:59 PM EDT

In terms of the vote, well, we pretty much expected this, though we weren't sure whether we could keep the Dems unified. They held under intense lobbying pressure from the telecoms. I think it's fair to say that we've reversed the momentum on this issue, turning it from a little noticed 23-8 subcommittee vote in the House on April 5 to today's 11-11 tie in Commerce Committee and clearly what will be a contentious floor fight. There's now a primary challenger against Al Wynn in MD-04, Donna Edwards, and the Verizon/AT&T/Comcast/Cox giants are in the process of turning their brand names into Walmart level territory.

George Allen, maverick McCain, and Conrad Burns all voted against a free internet. Here's the amount of money they took from telecom PACs and associated individuals:

George Allen: $72,000
John McCain: $44,250
Conrad Burns: $162,600

Of course McCain sold out the goo goo groups when it mattered, and went with the corporate wing of the party. No surprise there.

It's important to keep the pressure up prior to the floor fight. If you live in one of these states, call your Senator and thank them/chide them for their vote on Snowe-Dorgan. I've bolded the good guys.

Chairman Ted Stevens (AK): (202) 224-3004; (202) 224-2354 FAX
John McCain (AZ): (202) 224-2235; Fax: (202) 228-2862
Conrad Burns (MT): 202-224-2644; Fax: 202-224-8594
Trent Lott (MS): (202) 224-6253; Fax: (202) 224-2262
Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX): 202-224-5922; 202-224-0776 (FAX)
Olympia J. Snowe (ME): (202) 224-5344; FAX (202) 224-1946
Gordon H. Smith (OR): 202.224.3753; Fax: 202.228.3997
John Ensign (NV): (202) 224-6244; Fax: (202) 228-2193
George Allen (VA): (202) 224-4024; Fax: (202) 224-5432
John E. Sununu (NH): (202) 224-2841; FAX (202) 228-4131
Jim DeMint (SC): 202-224-6121; Fax: 202-228-5143
David Vitter (LA): (202) 224-4623; Fax: (202) 228-5061

Co-Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (HI): 202-224-3934; Fax: 202-224-6747
Jay Rockefeller (WV): (202) 224-6472; (202) 224-7665 Fax
John F. Kerry (MA): (202) 224-2742 - Phone; (202) 224-8525 - Fax
Byron L. Dorgan (ND): 202-224-2551; Fax: 202-224-1193
Barbara Boxer (CA): 202-224-3553
Bill Nelson (FL): 202-224-5274; Fax: 202-228-2183
Maria Cantwell (WA): 202-224-3441; 202-228-0514 - FAX
Frank R. Lautenberg (NJ): (202) 224-3224; Fax: (202) 228-4054
E. Benjamin Nelson (NE): Tel: (202) 224-6551; Fax: (202) 228-0012
Mark Pryor (AR): (202) 224-2353; Fax: (202) 228-0908

Tags: Byron Dorgan, Donna Edwards, John McCain, net neutrality, Olympia Snowe (all tags)

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Re: On the Net Neutrality Commerce Committee Tie

Minor correction - Daniel Inouye would be the 'ranking member' not the 'co-chairman'. Democrats don't get any co-chairs. :(

by karichisholm 2006-06-28 01:46PM | 0 recs

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Stars not aligned for regulation

Mercury must be retrograde for communications regs to pass, silly. Jerome knows.

by bubbadude 2006-06-28 02:01PM | 0 recs

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Burns

Tester better use this as an election year issue. Burns has touted his efforts to bring broadband internet to rural Montana. If this vote isn't a flip-flop I don't know what is.

by jkfp2004 2006-06-28 02:07PM | 0 recs

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Burns, Allen, Ensign, and Hutchison

Lets make 'em hurt. They're up for re-election.

If anything could give Jack Carter and Barbara Ann Radnofsky an opening, this is it. Webb and Tester don't need the extra ammo, but they can use it anyway.

Well, ok, maybe Webb could use the help too.

Played right, and depending how the floor fight goes, this could really be big in Nevada and Texas. This is like when the FCC tried to raise ownership limits on media markets, and Safire and Krugman were BOTH screaming. This can move voters in really unexpected directions.

Hutchison is popular in Texas as a semi-moderate, but she's not really respected. Everyone knows she's a bit of a lightweight (just like Ensign). Send a hard-hitting, intelligent, well-delivered critique, and if she whiffs the response in a way that plays into her weakness, she could lose the center. We're supposed to have a pretty high turnout governor race (four candidates!), so if Radnofsky can pick up the Friedman and Strayhorn types... anyway, I think we should try to make these Senators sweat.

by texas dem 2006-06-28 02:10PM | 0 recs

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Also

how do we look now for a floor fight?

We held both Nelsons and Pryor. Assuming those three are good representatives of the Tim Johnson/Mary Landrieu/Ken Salazar wing, then it looks like we should be able to keep at least 41, if not all 45, together.

And for the optics, we REALLY need to keep all 45 together. "DEMOCRATS SAVED THE INTERNET!" Best campaign slogan EVER.

Worst would be if we lose 6 Dems and pick up 5 Rs, so we win the floor fight but we can't wrap our name around it. Chafee and Snowe can jump on board if they want, but I really want to hear that a united Democratic Party saved the Internet.

=====

Seriously, folks who know: how do we look for 45 votes? Do we already have Biden or Bayh or Feinstein selling us out? I really hope not.

by texas dem 2006-06-28 02:18PM | 0 recs

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Re: On the Net Neutrality Commerce Committee Tie

For those wanting to spank Kay Bailey, get this.

She did not attend one minute of today's markup.

Not one.

Stevens delivered her "no" vote by proxy.

Message: She didn't even care enough to show up.

by bukowski 2006-06-28 05:07PM | 0 recs