September, 22 2009, 10:18am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Amina Fazlullah
Media & Telecommunications Counsel
Office: (202) 546-9707 x336
aminaf@pirg.org
US PIRG Disappointed to See Senate Republicans Bowing to Telecom Lobbyists
WASHINGTON
Statement
from Amina
Fazlullah, Media and Telecommunications Counsel for U.S. Public Interest Research Group, on Senator
Kay Bailey Hutchison's (R-TX) amendment to block the Obama
administration's attempt to impose formal net neutrality rules:
"Despite the
commitments made by the FCC and the President, Republican members of the Senate
have introduced a measure that would prevent FCC action on Network Neutrality
and leave consumers on the Internet vulnerable to unfair and discriminatory
practices.
"U.S. PIRG was
disappointed to see that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and other Commerce
Committee Republicans have chosen to introduce an amendment that would punish
the FCC for exploring the important issue of a fair and open Internet. The
amendment attached to the Interior Appropriations bill will be taken up in
Congress this week."
U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs), stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public, working to win concrete results for our health and our well-being. With a strong network of researchers, advocates, organizers and students in state capitols across the country, we take on the special interests on issues, such as product safety,political corruption, prescription drugs and voting rights,where these interests stand in the way of reform and progress.
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To the Feds, I'll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed them to get away with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain. It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.
Common Dreams has not independently verified its authenticity.
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