Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cable Lobbyist Tom Wheeler Confirmed As New FCC Chief

Posted by Unknown on from the jealous-of-australian-data-caps dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The U.S. Senate confirmed Tuesday the nomination of a new chairman to the Federal Communications Commission. Wheeler is a former investor and head of telecommunications industry groups. President Barack Obama said, when announcing Wheeler as his choice in May, that 'for more than 30 years, Tom has been at the forefront of some of the very dramatic changes that we've seen in the way we communicate and how we live our lives.'"

2 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. This can't possibly be an accurate report. by Seumas · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm sorry, but I don't believe this whatsoever. I distinctly remember our president campaigning on an end to the revolving door of industry lobbyists and executives to head political positions and vice versa.

    A little googling later . . . : https://www.opensecrets.org/obama/rev.php

    Oh. Well, then. . .

  2. Another lobbyist? by Biosci777 · · Score: 5, Informative
    This president promised he would boot the lobbyists; that they would not have access to his administration. The FCC appointment is only the latest evidence that that promise is broken. Conor McGrath wrote in the Journal of Public Affairs in September that Obama employs 119 (make that 120 now) former lobbyists.

    Wow. If I fall off the wagon and break my promise, I'm like any other human. But when I do it over and over again with no sign of regret or shame, that's different. That's a matter of character, and you would be right to be slow to trust me in other areas.