Telecom Musical Chairs: Regulators And Lobbyists Swap Roles, Everyone Wins! (Except The Public)

from the musical-chairs-without-a-chair-being-taken-away dept

Thu, Apr 24th 2014 3:34am — Mike Masnick

We've talked plenty about the big revolving door between government and big business lately, but there are still some moments that are purely insane that show just how broken the system is. On Wednesday, news broke that former FCC commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker has been named the new CEO of CTIA, the main lobbying organization for mobile phone operators. Baker is no stranger to questionable revolving door moves, seeing as just months after she voted to approve Comcast's merger with NBC Universal, she took a top lobbying job with Comcast. Funny how that works.

But, in this case, it's even more ridiculous because, as Jon Brodkin points out, the current head of the FCC, Tom Wheeler, previously was CEO of CTIA as well. And prior to that he was CEO of NCTA (the cable industry's main lobbying group). And, to top it off, the current head of CTIA is none other than former FCC chair Michael Powell.

If you're keeping score at home, it looks like this:

Michael Powell: FCC Chair -> NCTA boss
Meredith Atwell Baker: FCC Commissioner -> Comcast -> CTIA boss
Tom Wheeler: NCTA boss -> CTIA boss -> FCC Chair

They're playing a game of musical chairs where no chair is ever removed... and they all get fabulously wealthy scratching each others' backs. Even if everyone is being completely sincere in their positions (a big if, but let's assume it for now), the real problem here, again, is that the perception of rampant corruption is encouraged by this sort of thing, leading the public to seriously distrust the government. When the top two lobbying organizations on these issues are manned by former top officials and the current top FCC official used to run both those organizations, there's a pretty clear implication that it's the public interest that's going to get shafted.

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Filed Under: fcc, lobbyists, meredith atwell baker, michael powell, musical chairs, revolving door, tom wheeler
Companies: ctia, ncta

27 Comments

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Ninja (profile), 24 Apr 2014 @ 3:26am

And that's the problem with the US. Bankers are running the financial system, telecoms are running the FCC... Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if oil companies were running the EPA!

It's a global problem. A poll on Avaaz showed that the people want this corporate influence out. But how can us, mere peons, fight the might of money? It's harder than we suppose to go without.
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2014 @ 5:57am
  
  Re:
  'how can us, mere peons, fight the might of money? '
  
  The only tool available is a passionate, educated vote. Same as always. Until people get off the couch to pay attention, nothing will change until someone screws up their TV.
  
  Actually, I am very much hoping that somewhere along here something *will* screw up their TV. It is, sadly, our last, best hope.
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  - Rich, 24 Apr 2014 @ 6:50am
    
    Re: Re:
    Money is also a good tool. If we, collectively, just stopped buying stuff until the laws were changed to actually serve the public, it wouldn't take long. I know it won't happen though.
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  - PRMan, 24 Apr 2014 @ 7:30am
    
    Re: Re:
    Good luck voting in an "educated manner" when they ignore anybody who would actually change anything.
    
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSbkFpAA4CA
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    - PRMan, 24 Apr 2014 @ 7:31am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      (Sorry for the Alex Jones at the end. Didn't know.)
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  - jupiterkansas (profile), 24 Apr 2014 @ 7:55am
    
    Re: Re:
    In that case, there is no hope.
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  - Lurker Keith, 24 Apr 2014 @ 2:22pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Congress already screwed up TV. Over-the-Air broadcasts were broken when Congress forced the switch to digital before the tech was ready. & I'm mere minutes from a major metropolitan area w/ their own stations, so there's no reason my TV should "skip" when tractor trailers, for example, go by. This problem affects EVERY CHANNEL, even PBS, though to varying severity.
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    - John Fenderson (profile), 24 Apr 2014 @ 3:12pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Yes, the digital switchover was simply terrible all around and made OTA TV suck hard for a lot of people.
      
      I'm of mixed mind about whether this is good or bad. The fewer people who watch TV, the better. However, OTA TV does have societal benefits, and those have been harmed.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2014 @ 3:53am

It is one of the most corrupt governments on the planet, so no surprise here.
Ok maybe not the most corrupt, but only because they made corruption legal.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2014 @ 4:00am

Well at least the government get people well versed with the issues.
/SARC
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2014 @ 4:06am
  
  Re:
  Sad, But, True.
  
  That's basically the argument used when nominating these people for the government jobs.
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zip, 24 Apr 2014 @ 5:18am

as predictable as broken campaign promises
A presidential candidate named Barack Hussein Obama certainly recognized this problem early on and promised -- adamantly and repeatedly -- that Washington's 'revolving door' would end if he was elected president. Instead it got worse.

I have a theory: If you want to predict which promises a candidate is most likely to break, count the number of times they repeat that promise, and the forcefulness in which they say it.
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2014 @ 5:28am

In biology this is called a symbiotic relationship. Specifically it's called a mutualistic relationship. It's a win-win situation. Come on Mike, why are you so against win-win situations where everyone wins?
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- David, 24 Apr 2014 @ 7:43am
  
  Re:
  Sort of like a symbiotic relationship between tapeworms and scabies. Win-win. Except for the host.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2014 @ 10:18am
    
    Re: Re:
    I would have thought it was more like AIDS and Kaposi's sarcoma.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2014 @ 11:39am
    
    Re: Re:
    The public doesn't matter. Haven't you learned that by now?
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blaktron (profile), 24 Apr 2014 @ 5:56am

It should be illegal to use knowledge and skills funded by the public to lobby on behalf of corporations, since that is a direct conflict in use of public funds.

And they don't need laws to do it, just better contracts.
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DocGerbil100 (profile), 24 Apr 2014 @ 6:02am

Evidence
Hello, Mr Masnick. :)

You seem very inclined to give these people the benefit of the doubt and I find myself wondering: exactly what evidence will you need that they are corrupt in the worst way?

These are experienced politicians, professional lobbyists for their industries - how is there any plausible likelihood that they're oblivious to the impropriety of such incestuous relationships? How can there be any chance at all that they don't know how it looks from the outside?

If they were ever to be tried in court for corruption, they might be able to claim some measure of plausible deniability, but that's not the same as having credibility from the outset. These men have none.

Powell, Baker and Wheeler are textbook cases of utterly shameless, corrupt officials - and short of making public, signed confessions - or wearing sandwich-boards with "whore for sale" written on them - there's not much more they could do to prove it.
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Apr 2014 @ 9:28am
  
  Re: Evidence
  > exactly what evidence will you need that they are corrupt in the worst way?
  
  The kind which stops them burying him in libel litigation for saying it.
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trollificus (profile), 24 Apr 2014 @ 8:26am

If people can't see that they need to vote for whoever these two corrupt parties are most passionate about excluding, we deserve more of what we're getting.

And shame on any of you people (and when I say "you people" I mean YOU PEOPLE) who think there's a good guy/bad guy dichotomy between the two parties. The Democrats sweet talk you with good intentions and pay off the 'right' people, and you roll over to have your belly scratched.

Fuck. It's no wonder this shit goes on and on...
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Coyne Tibbets (profile), 24 Apr 2014 @ 12:57pm

There's room for a skit
There's room for a skit here.

[Setting: Two chairs on opposite sides of a table, both empty. Bob and Ken enter: Bob sits in the left chair and Ken in the right.]

Bob: There ought to be a law.

Ken: You're right, there ought to be a law. Why don't you write one?

Bob (hands a piece of paper to Ken): This ought to do it.

Ken: Okay, this isn't going to be very palatable to the public. No problem; I can just bypass the public comment phase and publish... [A bell sound is heard] Whoops!

[Bob and Ken rise and change chairs.]

Bob: As I was saying, I can just bypass the public comment phase and publish it in the Federal register.

Ken: Sounds good.

Together: Profit will follow.

Ken: There ought to be a law.
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Anonymous Coward, 25 Apr 2014 @ 12:06am

It's true. The United States is no longer a Constitutional Republic, nor a Representative Democracy.

The United States is now a...

Plutocracy:

[ploo-tok-ruh-see]
noun, plural plutocracies.

1. the rule or power of wealth or of the wealthy.
2. a government or state in which the wealthy class rules.
3. a class or group ruling, or exercising power or influence, by virtue of its wealth.

or perhaps...

Oligarchy:

[ol-i-gahr-kee]
noun, plural oligarchies.

1. government by the few.
2. a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes.
3. a country, business, etc., that is controlled by a small group of people .

I suppose both Oligarchy and Plutocracy, describes the present day political system of the United States, but I feel Plutocracy describes it more accurately.
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- jupiterkansas (profile), 25 Apr 2014 @ 9:46am
  
  Re:
  Psst... It's always been an oligarchy.
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- Anonymous Coward, 25 Apr 2014 @ 5:49pm
  
  Re:
  How about a Plutocratic Oligarchy.
  Sort of says it all methinks.
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GEMont (profile), 25 Apr 2014 @ 5:47pm

Can the public change the laws?
"....and they all get fabulously wealthy scratching each others' backs."

...and you still haven't figured it out yet.

They ARE getting fabulously wealthy, and they just don't give a damn what you think because there aint a damn thing you can do about it.

Why on earth should they care if the impression of corruption is being sent out by these actions, when the public is absolutely powerless to do anything at all about it.

Go ahead. Make a suggestion as to what could be done by the public to stop such blatantly corrupt practices.

The laws say its 100% ok to bribe politicians with placement in the industry or commercial operations they do favors for while in office. The law even says its OK to pay them cash for favors. Its called lobbying.

Can the public change the laws?

Not a hope in hell as long as the Fed is simply the PR department of Big Business and Big Business belongs to the Mob.
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Zurls, 28 Apr 2014 @ 8:05pm

Cheatsheet to who's killing net neutrality at the FCC
Actually, the revolving door is much worse. How much?

- FCC chairman Tom Wheeler - before FCC, president and CEO of the CTIA (wireless trade group), then president and CEO of the NCTA (National Cable Television Assoc.), then telecom & cable lobbyist, now FCC Chairman
- FCC commish Ajit Pai - former assoc. general counsel at Verizon
- FCC commish Michael O'Reilly - former policy adviser in the Office of the Senate Republican Whip.
- Lead legal adviser Matthew DelNero - former Comcast adviser, retained by the Wireless Assoc. (CTIA) and the National Cable and Telecom Assoc.
- Legal adviser Brendan Carr - attorney for AT&T, CenturyLink, Verizon, and the U.S. Telecom Assoc.

- Former FCC chairman Michael Powell - CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Assoc.
- Former FCC chairman Julius Genachowski - joined the shadowy, Bush run private equity firm Carlyle Group
- Former FCC commish Meredith Attwell Baker - before FCC worked at CTIA (wireless trade group), then FCC, then lobbyist for Comcast, now head of CTIA
- Former FCC commish Jonathan Adelstein - president and CEO of PCIA: The Wireless Infrastructure Assoc.
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Eden, 29 Apr 2014 @ 1:09pm

It is one of the most corrupt governments on the planet, so no surprise here.
Ok maybe not the most corrupt, but only because they made corruption legal.
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