SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
AT&T's Man in the White House
Jan 08, 2011
When President Obama said he was going to "bring change to Washington," no one expected William Daley to be his choice to get the job done.
Obama's incoming chief of staff is about as corporate friendly as any Democratic insider can be, which is saying a lot.
For supporters of an open Internet, Daley's appointment raises the prospect that the president will break all promises to defend Net Neutrality at the urging of a chief of staff determined to cozy up with industry and protect the status quo.
The outlook for any progress under Daley is dim.
Daley currently serves as a top executive at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co -- concerning those who had hoped to see this president rein in a reckless financial sector.
Daley once told the New York Times that the Obama administration had "miscalculated" by moving too far to the left on health care reform -- concerning those who had hoped the president would fight Republican efforts to repeal the law.
Daley served as a special counsel to President Clinton in 1993, helping the administration's successful push to ratify NAFTA -- concerning those across the labor movement, who delivered supporters to Obama by the busload.
It's worse for advocates of open and democratic media. From 2001 through 2004, Daley led lobbying efforts for SBC Communications, Inc. His first assignment was to lock in the company's local monopolies while allowing it to charge extortionate rates for competitors seeking to share SBC's lines, defying a basic communications principle known as "common carriage."
He was a top executive at SBC as the company laid the groundwork for its 2005 takeover of AT&T Corporation, after which it rebranded the merged entity as AT&T Inc. During that time, Daley worked very closely with Randall Stephenson, who has since risen through the ranks to become AT&T CEO and chairman.
He joined Stephenson and former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre in a 2002 meeting to lobby the FCC's top brass for industry deregulation. Daley, Stephenson and Whitacre wanted the FCC to declare that high-speed Internet access would no longer be considered a "telecommunications service," but rather an "information service." The regulatory change would give phone and cable companies broad latitude to raise prices, stifle competition and control consumer choice on the Web.
An all-too-compliant FCC obliged later that year, removing high-speed Internet access services from regulation under common carriage. Daley supported this radical move, which reversed the long-held rule establishing nondiscriminatory communications networks as essential to economic opportunity and innovation. (Read Aparna Sridhar's 2010 report for a good history of this deregulatory process).
In so doing, the FCC undercut its own ability to keep Internet providers from gutting Net Neutrality and interfering with our right to connect to any website, service or application on the Web.
AT&T Stakes Its Claim to the Oval Office
Now companies like Comcast and AT&T are vying to be the Internet's new gatekeepers -- creating special lanes for their own websites and services, or for those of a few big corporate partners, while leaving the rest of us on a digital dirt road.
However you look at it, there are very few degrees that separate Daley from his successor at AT&T, James Cicconi, who now leads lobbying efforts for the communications giant.
Daley's appointment to the White House brought praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where Cicconi serves as a director. The Chamber marches in lockstep with AT&T in opposing Net Neutrality. Working together, the two groups have been very effective in buying up opposition to Net Neutrality among Democrats and Republicans alike.
AT&T is the largest single corporate contributor to congressional campaigns, since 1989 giving more than $45 million in donations to both Republican and Democratic candidates. It spent nearly $13 million on DC lobbyists just in 2010.
AT&T has staked out the legislative branch. With Daley to start work in days, it can now make a claim to the White House, too.
Thus far, AT&T-funded Republicans have introduced one bill, designed to strip the FCC of its power to protect the open Internet. The president was expected to veto this and other anti-Net Neutrality legislation should it make its way to his desk.
But with Daley at his side, how long will it be before Obama caves?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Tim Karr
Tim Karr is a senior director at Free Press, the U.S.-based organization that advocates for more just and democratic media.
When President Obama said he was going to "bring change to Washington," no one expected William Daley to be his choice to get the job done.
Obama's incoming chief of staff is about as corporate friendly as any Democratic insider can be, which is saying a lot.
For supporters of an open Internet, Daley's appointment raises the prospect that the president will break all promises to defend Net Neutrality at the urging of a chief of staff determined to cozy up with industry and protect the status quo.
The outlook for any progress under Daley is dim.
Daley currently serves as a top executive at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co -- concerning those who had hoped to see this president rein in a reckless financial sector.
Daley once told the New York Times that the Obama administration had "miscalculated" by moving too far to the left on health care reform -- concerning those who had hoped the president would fight Republican efforts to repeal the law.
Daley served as a special counsel to President Clinton in 1993, helping the administration's successful push to ratify NAFTA -- concerning those across the labor movement, who delivered supporters to Obama by the busload.
It's worse for advocates of open and democratic media. From 2001 through 2004, Daley led lobbying efforts for SBC Communications, Inc. His first assignment was to lock in the company's local monopolies while allowing it to charge extortionate rates for competitors seeking to share SBC's lines, defying a basic communications principle known as "common carriage."
He was a top executive at SBC as the company laid the groundwork for its 2005 takeover of AT&T Corporation, after which it rebranded the merged entity as AT&T Inc. During that time, Daley worked very closely with Randall Stephenson, who has since risen through the ranks to become AT&T CEO and chairman.
He joined Stephenson and former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre in a 2002 meeting to lobby the FCC's top brass for industry deregulation. Daley, Stephenson and Whitacre wanted the FCC to declare that high-speed Internet access would no longer be considered a "telecommunications service," but rather an "information service." The regulatory change would give phone and cable companies broad latitude to raise prices, stifle competition and control consumer choice on the Web.
An all-too-compliant FCC obliged later that year, removing high-speed Internet access services from regulation under common carriage. Daley supported this radical move, which reversed the long-held rule establishing nondiscriminatory communications networks as essential to economic opportunity and innovation. (Read Aparna Sridhar's 2010 report for a good history of this deregulatory process).
In so doing, the FCC undercut its own ability to keep Internet providers from gutting Net Neutrality and interfering with our right to connect to any website, service or application on the Web.
AT&T Stakes Its Claim to the Oval Office
Now companies like Comcast and AT&T are vying to be the Internet's new gatekeepers -- creating special lanes for their own websites and services, or for those of a few big corporate partners, while leaving the rest of us on a digital dirt road.
However you look at it, there are very few degrees that separate Daley from his successor at AT&T, James Cicconi, who now leads lobbying efforts for the communications giant.
Daley's appointment to the White House brought praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where Cicconi serves as a director. The Chamber marches in lockstep with AT&T in opposing Net Neutrality. Working together, the two groups have been very effective in buying up opposition to Net Neutrality among Democrats and Republicans alike.
AT&T is the largest single corporate contributor to congressional campaigns, since 1989 giving more than $45 million in donations to both Republican and Democratic candidates. It spent nearly $13 million on DC lobbyists just in 2010.
AT&T has staked out the legislative branch. With Daley to start work in days, it can now make a claim to the White House, too.
Thus far, AT&T-funded Republicans have introduced one bill, designed to strip the FCC of its power to protect the open Internet. The president was expected to veto this and other anti-Net Neutrality legislation should it make its way to his desk.
But with Daley at his side, how long will it be before Obama caves?
Tim Karr
Tim Karr is a senior director at Free Press, the U.S.-based organization that advocates for more just and democratic media.
When President Obama said he was going to "bring change to Washington," no one expected William Daley to be his choice to get the job done.
Obama's incoming chief of staff is about as corporate friendly as any Democratic insider can be, which is saying a lot.
For supporters of an open Internet, Daley's appointment raises the prospect that the president will break all promises to defend Net Neutrality at the urging of a chief of staff determined to cozy up with industry and protect the status quo.
The outlook for any progress under Daley is dim.
Daley currently serves as a top executive at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co -- concerning those who had hoped to see this president rein in a reckless financial sector.
Daley once told the New York Times that the Obama administration had "miscalculated" by moving too far to the left on health care reform -- concerning those who had hoped the president would fight Republican efforts to repeal the law.
Daley served as a special counsel to President Clinton in 1993, helping the administration's successful push to ratify NAFTA -- concerning those across the labor movement, who delivered supporters to Obama by the busload.
It's worse for advocates of open and democratic media. From 2001 through 2004, Daley led lobbying efforts for SBC Communications, Inc. His first assignment was to lock in the company's local monopolies while allowing it to charge extortionate rates for competitors seeking to share SBC's lines, defying a basic communications principle known as "common carriage."
He was a top executive at SBC as the company laid the groundwork for its 2005 takeover of AT&T Corporation, after which it rebranded the merged entity as AT&T Inc. During that time, Daley worked very closely with Randall Stephenson, who has since risen through the ranks to become AT&T CEO and chairman.
He joined Stephenson and former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre in a 2002 meeting to lobby the FCC's top brass for industry deregulation. Daley, Stephenson and Whitacre wanted the FCC to declare that high-speed Internet access would no longer be considered a "telecommunications service," but rather an "information service." The regulatory change would give phone and cable companies broad latitude to raise prices, stifle competition and control consumer choice on the Web.
An all-too-compliant FCC obliged later that year, removing high-speed Internet access services from regulation under common carriage. Daley supported this radical move, which reversed the long-held rule establishing nondiscriminatory communications networks as essential to economic opportunity and innovation. (Read Aparna Sridhar's 2010 report for a good history of this deregulatory process).
In so doing, the FCC undercut its own ability to keep Internet providers from gutting Net Neutrality and interfering with our right to connect to any website, service or application on the Web.
AT&T Stakes Its Claim to the Oval Office
Now companies like Comcast and AT&T are vying to be the Internet's new gatekeepers -- creating special lanes for their own websites and services, or for those of a few big corporate partners, while leaving the rest of us on a digital dirt road.
However you look at it, there are very few degrees that separate Daley from his successor at AT&T, James Cicconi, who now leads lobbying efforts for the communications giant.
Daley's appointment to the White House brought praise from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where Cicconi serves as a director. The Chamber marches in lockstep with AT&T in opposing Net Neutrality. Working together, the two groups have been very effective in buying up opposition to Net Neutrality among Democrats and Republicans alike.
AT&T is the largest single corporate contributor to congressional campaigns, since 1989 giving more than $45 million in donations to both Republican and Democratic candidates. It spent nearly $13 million on DC lobbyists just in 2010.
AT&T has staked out the legislative branch. With Daley to start work in days, it can now make a claim to the White House, too.
Thus far, AT&T-funded Republicans have introduced one bill, designed to strip the FCC of its power to protect the open Internet. The president was expected to veto this and other anti-Net Neutrality legislation should it make its way to his desk.
But with Daley at his side, how long will it be before Obama caves?
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.