No Wonder Pickering Votes for the Telecomms
Jun 26, 2006 19:27 Filed in: Mississippi/Jackson
American Radio Works has
performed a valuable service by making available
online a database of free travel taken by
our legislators and their staffs and paid for
mostly by lobbyists between January 2000 and
December 2005.
Out of curiosity, I looked up my congressman, Chip Pickering, and came away with a much deeper understanding of why he votes the way he does. He's vice chairman of the house Energy and Commerce Committee and a member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. That's the committee and subcommittee that defeated net neutrality amendments and gave the phone companies almost everything they wanted. Pickering was with them all the way.
So let's look into where he's traveling and who's paying his travel. Our Mississippi legislators are here. Pickering's page is here.
His office reported 38 office trips furnished by outside parties, amounting to $39,078.90 in value. Pickering's share was $14,850.99. Of the 14 trips he reported, 5 were paid for by telecoms: 3 by CTIA-The Wireless Association, 1by AT&T, and one by BellSouth. Four trips were paid for by defense contractors.
His staff took a lot of trips that were paid for by the telecoms. I haven't counted them up, but the great thing about the Internet is that you can look at the information yourself with a couple of clicks. (By the way, do you think you would be able to access that information if the telecoms had the power to control the content coming into your home or business? Pickering's vote against net neutrality would give them that power.)
Pickering, who serves on a committee with jurisdiction over telecommunications and the Internet, seems to be awfully popular with the big telecommunication companies. For a little more insight into his friends, click over to OpenSecrets and look at where his campaign contributions are coming from. In 2005-2006, the communication/electronics sector gave him $171,211, far outstripping the next sector, health, with $105,454.
Now look who his biggest donors are: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. Together, these five corporations gave $62,000 and Pickering is running unopposed. Every one of these corporations has a direct interest in controlling access and usage of the Internet. Every one of them fought net neutrality bills in Congress with swarms of lobbyists and millions of dollars spent on slick, misleading commercials.
Now you can understand why Pickering doesn't care a fig about the Internet empowering citizens; he knows on which side his bread is buttered and votes accordingly.
Unfortunately, he has no Democratic opponent in November. It's hard to believe that Mississippians, if they were really informed, would return him to Congress given his record of voting against his constituents' interests. Then again, it just may be that he doesn't regard the people of his congressional district as his constituents, but just chumps to be thrown a bone now and then while he cuts taxes and doles out pork for his real constituents. You judge.
Out of curiosity, I looked up my congressman, Chip Pickering, and came away with a much deeper understanding of why he votes the way he does. He's vice chairman of the house Energy and Commerce Committee and a member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. That's the committee and subcommittee that defeated net neutrality amendments and gave the phone companies almost everything they wanted. Pickering was with them all the way.
So let's look into where he's traveling and who's paying his travel. Our Mississippi legislators are here. Pickering's page is here.
His office reported 38 office trips furnished by outside parties, amounting to $39,078.90 in value. Pickering's share was $14,850.99. Of the 14 trips he reported, 5 were paid for by telecoms: 3 by CTIA-The Wireless Association, 1by AT&T, and one by BellSouth. Four trips were paid for by defense contractors.
His staff took a lot of trips that were paid for by the telecoms. I haven't counted them up, but the great thing about the Internet is that you can look at the information yourself with a couple of clicks. (By the way, do you think you would be able to access that information if the telecoms had the power to control the content coming into your home or business? Pickering's vote against net neutrality would give them that power.)
Pickering, who serves on a committee with jurisdiction over telecommunications and the Internet, seems to be awfully popular with the big telecommunication companies. For a little more insight into his friends, click over to OpenSecrets and look at where his campaign contributions are coming from. In 2005-2006, the communication/electronics sector gave him $171,211, far outstripping the next sector, health, with $105,454.
Now look who his biggest donors are: AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Nextel, the National Association of Broadcasters, and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. Together, these five corporations gave $62,000 and Pickering is running unopposed. Every one of these corporations has a direct interest in controlling access and usage of the Internet. Every one of them fought net neutrality bills in Congress with swarms of lobbyists and millions of dollars spent on slick, misleading commercials.
Now you can understand why Pickering doesn't care a fig about the Internet empowering citizens; he knows on which side his bread is buttered and votes accordingly.
Unfortunately, he has no Democratic opponent in November. It's hard to believe that Mississippians, if they were really informed, would return him to Congress given his record of voting against his constituents' interests. Then again, it just may be that he doesn't regard the people of his congressional district as his constituents, but just chumps to be thrown a bone now and then while he cuts taxes and doles out pork for his real constituents. You judge.
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