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Comcast Donates Heavily To Defeat Mayor Who Is Bringing Gigabit Fiber To Seattle
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Andrea Peterson reports in the Washington Post that one of Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's big policy initiatives has been expanding the quality and quantity of high-speed Internet access throughout the city. However incumbent providers, particularly Comcast, have invested heavily in defeating McGinn in the mayoral election. While Comcast denies there is any connection between McGinn's broadband policies and their donations, the company has given thousands of dollars to PACs that have, in turn, given heavily to anti-McGinn groups. One of McGinn's core promises in the 2009 campaign was to 'develop a city-wide broadband system.' The mayor considered creating a citywide broadband system as a public utility, like water or electricity. But aides say that would have been too expensive, so the mayor settled on public-private partnerships using city-owned dark fiber. This dark fiber was laid down starting in 1995, and the mayor's office now says there are some 535 miles of it, only a fraction of which is being used. In June, the partnership, called Gigabit Squared, announced pricing for its Seattle service: $45 dollars a month for 100 Mbps service or $80 a month for 1 Gbps service plus a one-time installation cost of $350 that will be waived for customers signing a one-year contract. For comparison, Comcast, one of the primary Internet providers in the area, offers 105 Mbps service in the area for $114.99 a month, according to their website. If Comcast is indeed attempting to sway the election, it would fall in line with a larger pattern of telecom interests lobbying against municipal efforts to create their own municipal broadband systems or leveraging city-owner fiber resources to create more competition for incumbent providers. Peterson writes, '...if Comcast's donations help Murray defeat McGinn, it will send a powerful message to mayors in other American cities considering initiatives to increase broadband competition.'"
It would be nice if they'd offer 10Mbps to $10.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
...Lobbying needs to be illegal. Period.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has it's limits" - Albert Einstein
I would say once enough of the middle class are unable to continue throwing billions of dollars at the corporate entities and that bubble does finally pop, mass starvation will hit. I would believe that is when the revolution and major changes will take place. It is not a question of If but when (is that the question anymore?).
people will continue to parrot the line that the reason the U.S. has expensive and slow internet service is because the country is too big.
"It's too big!"
Nonsense. If it's too big, how in the world did you get those water, sewer and phone lines?
Watch how many people will say the same thing again and again in comments below.
"It's too big!"
Votes, not money, decide the answer; but you can campaign untruthfully with no ramifications. At that point money = votes.
Corporations don't live or breathe, people do. And the people who run those corporations and profit from them have the exact same weight in the ballot box as anyone else. Anyone who is used to getting their way every day because they have money finds this equality to be horribly unfair.
Here's the thing: if Comcast made a product that was so fabulous that nobody would even want a government run version we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
This is just the way capitalism works in the US. Corporations buy politicians (and get rid of politicians who don't go along with their program).
The free market is wonderful.
USA is number 1 !!!!
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Isn't this what Google wanted? I've always been under the impression that Google didn't necessarily want to become a large ISP, but instead wanted to spark competition.
"To prevent this day from getting any worse, I'll just read ERROR as GOOD THING" 1GJU8xLuDKDxEs4KLf8fAGyptoDsqvEsBT
According to the numbers in the article a Comcat executive contributed $700 and the company contributed $10,000 to PACs. Sorry buit I doubt that $10,700 will buy an election.
Look at all contribution to People for Ed Murray. The total contribution are $122,800 making Comcast's contribution 8.7%.
Why should anyone donate to have a government servant put in place? It's pretty ridiculous. There should be no donations allowed. And there should be voting on issues, rather than people. Being a politician should just be a job, not a popularity contest.
which is totally what she said
Already in the US, we pay more per Mb/s than pretty much any other 1st world country. This isn't due to the size, as some would have you believe, but rather due to the lack of oversight, regulation and, most importantly, competition. There are no laws preventing the formation of what basically become monopolies from companies such as Comcast, where they can charge what they want and basically print their own money. I sincerely hope that they are not successful in basically paying to avoid having real competition. I know I, personally, would love to have "real" Internet speeds provided to me at world-comparable rates, no matter if they came from State, county, city or private sources. Just bring it on!
I would say once enough of the middle class are unable to continue throwing billions of dollars at the corporate entities and that bubble does finally pop, mass starvation will hit.
I would believe that is when the revolution and major changes will take place. It is not a question of If but when (is that the question anymore?).
This is why I'm glad I own a remote farm and know how to work it.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I feel that DVRs are vital to a healthy democracy. Being able to skip all political ads, I feel, has made me a more informed (or, rather, less misinformed) voter this year.
Why wouldn't they oppose a government program to put them out of business? Would car dealerships be upset if the city government opened up a lot and undercut their sales with taxpayer money? Is the government entering a market really competition when they can have all the tools of government to help them succeed?
Because it's not going to put them out of business -- it just means that they can't keep gouging their customers for mediocre service. Government exists to serve the public interest, which public broadband clearly does. If a national quasi-monopoly wants to try and offer better/cheaper service, then they're welcome to try.
What they have no right to do, however, is interfere with the political process. They do not get a vote, because they are not people, and I've never seen any viable argument for allowing corporations (or anyone else) to buy votes.
I don't care what any of these companies do as long as they aren't my only choice.
...in the US is called "lobbying".
Quite sad, actually.
Local politicians really are in it for their communities.
FWIW, just because one mayor isn't a total douche about broadband does not mean that all local politicians are "in it for their communities."
Hell, it doesn't even mean that any of that same mayor's other policies are sound.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Why are businesses allowed to donate vast sums of money?
Because the people who set the rules are politicians. Politicians who get vast sums of money from businesses and don't want to see those vast sums go away. So they might make some token rules to make it seem like they're getting rid of the vast sums, but they won't REALLY get rid of the vast sums.
It's the same reason why the "politician pushes a lobbying firms agenda->retires->gets a cushy job in said lobbying firm->lobbies his former "co-workers" (other politicians) for said lobbying form" cycle won't be broken either. What politician would vote against getting a cushy job in exchange for having to do less work while in Congress? (Less work being "just shut your brain off and push this bill using these talking points.")
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Is there huge public backlash against Citizens United? Are people marching in the streets against corporate "lobbying"? Are people dumping Comcast because they disagree with their business practices? Will people come out in droves to denounce McGinn's opponent for benefiting from sweet corporate cash? Are the corporations who will do _anything_ to make a profit getting the message that the public disagrees with their business practices?
No.
Stories like this make me upset, because its the same as story about one soldier dying in a war where millions of soldiers are killed. This is one tiny example of how business works in America. Every day in every federal, state, county, and city goverment shit like this happens. Lets have a discussion about that.
Could you supply GPS coordinates and a harvest date?
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
What kind of remotes do you grow? And can you teach my grandmother? She can never figure out how to work her remote.
If Comcast's donations help Murray defeat McGinn, it will send a powerful message to mayors in other American cities considering initiatives to increase broadband competition.
This article was written by someone who didn't do their homework.
There are a lot of reasons McGinn is probably going to be voted out. I doubt anyone's even going to connect his defeat with his lip-service regarding city-wide fiber.
McGinn has consistently pissed off both the business community in Seattle and large chunks of its citizenry. It all started before he was mayor - a lot of people were leery he was too much of an ideologue. As candidates do, he claimed he'd be pragmatic - promising he wouldn't let his personal opposition to the Highway 99 tunnel affect his mayoral decisions regarding the voter-approved project. Of course he got into office and immediately did everything he could to derail the project (but failed miserably - in addition to being an ideologue, the dude is not an effective leader). Anyway, it's gone downhill from there...
#DeleteChrome
I have a remote farm too. We refer to it as the coffee table.
Not yet, but I guess Switzerland must be.
which is totally what she said
McGinn is mayor of Seattle, but not well-liked. First, he's a bully. He does the kinds of things you all condemn Comcast for doing. He uses his power to close down businesses he doesn't like. He closes roads so he can make them for bicycles. He opposed the tunnel that is going to clean up Seattle's waterfront. Meanwhile crime is up so much that it is unsafe to walk the streets. His response: Businesses should be gun-free zones. He's the opposite of the "Progressive" he thinks he is and ANYTHING that can stop McGinn is a good thing, including Comcast. Why is it okay for McGinn to do the things you condemn Comcast for doing? Living in a city like Seattle is not all about sitting home safe alone in your basement with oodles of bandwidth; it's about being able to walk to the corner grocery without being harassed by a "homeless victim" who wants you to turn out your pockets for him.
How about a moderation of -1 pedantic.
Back in the Stone Age, projects that were "too expensive" were paid for with bonds, which were repaid by the revenues generated by the project. Apparently now that's socialism, and we can't have that. Or nice things. Or decent broadband.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
What kind of remotes do you grow? And can you teach my grandmother? She can never figure out how to work her remote.
Those universal ones that work with every TV in the world except the one you own.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
In New Hampshire, legislators' salary is only $100 per year so the politicians need jobs or independent wealth.
You're joking right? Most farms are actually barely making profit, the ones that do are largely owned by corporations and even then aren't nearly as profitable as you would like to think. Especially when you have companies like Monsanto bending them over a barrel over seed prices and lawsuits. The cost to produce crops has been steadily rising (Johnson, 2012) (USDA ERS)
Not sure about your HOA but there is a federal law superseding local and land covenants with regards to satellite dishes.
But I think municipal Internet would be a great thing.
Big media did the same thing with the Australian government recently. Now instead of fiber to the home, we get fiber to the node and a crappy copper connection to the house which is controlled by a monopoly company with no incentive to fix it, and not a good record of caring one iota about their customers.
Perhaps someone who can come up with some rational reason WHY it isn't a good idea?
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
It's not for Comcast to judge whether it is a good or a bad idea. It is for the people of Seattle to decide.
If no-one but the broadband companies has an interest in not seeing it happen, then it's probably a good idea. After all, why should the rest of us make decisions based on what's best for broadband companies? The viability of their business model is not the concern of the general public; if someone else can provide the same service better and cheaper, too bad for them.