Politics

Politics

There are 1,058 posts filed in Politics (this is page 85 of 106).

Time Warner Cable Protection Act not dead yet

I spent my lunch hour at today’s House Public Utilities Committee listening to debate about H.1252, the “Time Warner Cable Protection Act.” The meeting was full of spectators, including a group that proponent Americans For Prosperity apparently borrowed from a nearby protest. In spite of the crowd, this meeting had more civility than the previous meetings.

The chair said right from the start that there had been many citizens weighing in on this bill, so clearly they knew it was controversial. Immediately the bill’s sponsor, Ty Harrell, submitted a PCS (a potential committee substitute) directing this bill be sent to the Revenue Laws Study Committee. This would seem to defang it, and a lot of talk ensued about how everyone just wanted to make broadband available to anyone who wants it.
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Public Utilities Committee meeting tomorrow

Tomorrow is the N.C. House Public Utilities Committee meeting where H.1252 is scheduled to be heard. I hope to attend the meeting but it depends on whether I can schedule my work around it.

I spent my lunch break calling the members of the committee to urge them to oppose the bill. Many of the legislative assistants expressed marked awareness of the bill. Apparently they’ve been getting lots of calls, though for which side I don’t know. At least one said the assistant’s boss was reconsidering support for the bill, which is a good sign.

I hope our representatives know what a bad bill this is for our communities and vote accordingly, but we’ll have to see. It may come down to the wire.

Also, there’s a Facebook group where you can lend your voice in opposition. The more avenues for expression, the better!

Google, Intel, and other heavyweights oppose H1252

Google and Intel announced today their opposition to H1252, the so-called “Level Playing Field Act.”. In a letter to legislators, the companies joined Alcatel-Lucent, Intel, Telecommunications Industry Association, the Fiber to the Home Council, Educause, the Utilities Telecom Council, Atlantic Engineering and the American Public Power Association in saying:

We, the undersigned private-sector companies and trade associations urge you to oppose HB1252, the so-called “Level Playing Field Act.” HB1252 is “level” only in the sense that it will harm both the public and private sectors. It will thwart public broadband initiatives, stifle economic growth, prevent the creation or retention of thousands of jobs, and diminish quality of life in North Carolina . In particular, it will hurt the private sector by undermining public-private partnerships, hamstringing our ability to sell our goods and services, interfering with workforce development, and stifling creativity and innovation. …
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Culture of privilege

cary_allred-ncgaI was returning home from a meeting or something an evening a week ago when I spotted a driver having trouble keeping his vehicle in his lane. A few times the vehicle wasn’t keeping speed with traffic and hugged the lane lines. This vehicle had state senate tags. I opted not to call it in, though in hindsight I probably should have.

If I fell for the aura of authority, it seems I’m not alone. Rep. Cary Allred (R-Burlington) was recently cited for driving 102 miles an hour on I-40. Yet rather than haul him off to jail like the trooper would’ve done with the rest of us peons, Trooper N.A. Mitchell let him go with a warning. Now Allred is complaining about getting a ticket days later, saying he’s been “unfairly singled out.”

Yeah, you were unfairly singled out, you moron. You should be cooling your heels in jail right now and catching the bus to the legislative sessions from there on out.

This culture of privilege is what drives me nuts about state politics. If you think our state representatives think they’re “regular folk,” you’d be mistaken.

On a totally unrelated note, have you noticed the resemblance of Cary Allred to the Ha! Ha! guy on FARK?

Time Warner Cable CEO raked in $14 millon last year

According to an Associated Press analysis, Time Warner Cable CEO Glenn Britt received over $14 million in compensation last year in salary, stock, bonuses, and benefits. And this was down 8 percent from last year.

…. Britt received a salary of $1 million last year, unchanged from 2007, and a performance-based bonus of $6.4 million, down from $7.8 million a year earlier, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

He received other compensation worth over $82,500, which included more than $25,000 in life insurance premiums, a car allowance and a company savings plan match.

Britt also received nearly 104,000 restricted stock units worth $2.86 million on the date they were granted. He received 374,610 stock options as well with an exercise price of $27.51, worth $4 million when they were granted on March 3, 2008. However, the options are currently worth less given that Time Warner Cable shares closed at $27.37 Monday, slightly below the exercise price.

It’s interesting to note that Wilson built their own triple-play (voice, video, data) fiber network that will serve them for the next twenty years all for the cost of just two years of Glenn Britt’s compensation.

This is a company that needs protection from municipal broadband systems. Yeah, right.

Raising the broadband bar in NC

There’s been plenty afoot in the N.C. General Assembly this session regarding broadband internet, as those couple of you who read my blog are well aware. Now there’s an effort by the telecom industry to define “broadband service” in North Carolina. House Bill 283 would define any Internet service with speeds faster than 1.5 Mbps down and 384 kbps up.

So let me ask you … how many of you would consider that “broadband?” How many of you would die a slow death using the Internet at those speeds? A measly 1.5 Mbps/384kbs might have been considered “broadband” 15 years ago but it certainly doesn’t pass for that today, now that countries like Japan have jaw-dropping 160 Mbps cable modem service. Arguably these slow speeds weren’t considered “broadband” 15 years ago, either!
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Raleigh opposes H1252/S1004

Yesterday afternoon, Raleigh City Council passed a resolution opposing H1252/S1004, the so-called “Level Playing Field Act.” This opposition was mentioned prominently in today’s committee meeting, where I definitely think it swayed opinions.

Here’s the text of the opposition resolution:

A RESOLUTION TO EXPRESS THE CONCERN OF THE CITY OF RALEIGH ABOUT CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF RECENTLY INTRODUCED LEGISLATION REGULATING GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF BROADBAND SERVICE AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE.

Whereas, Senate Bill 1004 and House Bill 1252, companion bills entitled The Level Playing Field Act, have been introduced in the 2009 Regular Session of the North Carolina General Assembly; and

Whereas, it is possible that the bills do not provide the level playing field implied in their titles for local governments versus private providers; and
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Mr. Turner goes to Raleigh

The anti-municipal Internet bill written by Time Warner Cable and pushed by Ty Harrell has really pissed me off. We fought this battle two years ago but like the undead it keeps returning.

I’ve been spending my Copious Free Time participating any way I can in getting this defeated. The past two Wednesdays, I’ve spent my lunch break in the N.C. House Science and Technology Committee room, watching as Harrell and others pass this train-wreck legislation as quickly as possible. As last week’s meeting, six out of seven speakers opposed the bill, with the debate running so late the committee could not take a vote. The only speaker in favor was Time Warner Cable’s Brad Phillips, whose company effectively wrote the bill.
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