You haven't? You haven't contacted Sen. Rockefeller to tell him to drop the Telco Immunity legislation? Don't worry about it - he's on the case!
Two U.S. senators are sharply criticizing the Bush Administration's telecom policies, blaming the White House for a decision by AT&T...
Sens. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.)... this week harshly criticized the Administration... The senators' rebuke of the Administration's actions on telecom may be the opening salvo in what could become a heavy barrage against the President's position on this and other telecom-related issues.
Rockefeller was equally pointed in his attack on the Administration... "West Virginians can no longer afford this Administration's telecommunications policies."
That's quite a surprising development, isn't it? Oh... wait. There's more...
OK, I admit it. I used a bit of blogistic license in that blockquote. Let's leave that detail for later and examine some of the more meaty issues that Sen. Rockefeller needs to account for.
Privacy Digest - 10/23/07
Telecom executives from companies seeking escape from privacy lawsuits accusing them of illegally collaborating with secret domestic spying programs wrote thousands in checks to the re-election campaign of Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), THREAT LEVEL reported last Thursday. But in a Tuesday New York Times story, the lawmaker's spokeswoman denies that the telco cash affected Rockefeller's decision last week to include retroactive immunity for those companies in a bill passed by a Rockefeller-led committee.
AT&T and Verizon executives who had donated only a pittance to Rockefeller over the past 6 years donated more than $40,000 to Rockefeller in 2007, even as they were having private meetings with him to plead for his help in escaping from federal court.
In 2003, Rockefeller, one of the eight Congressional officials to be briefed on the government's secret targeting of American citizens for secret warrantless surveillance, hand-wrote a letter to Vice President Dick Cheney expressing concern about the legality of the program.
But last week, Rockefeller was able to see a handful of documents about the program after telling the White House he was amenable to the retroactive immunity provisions. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Friday that the documents would only be made available to Congressional committees that would commit in advance to immunity.
Handwritten letter to Dick Cheney expressing concern about the legality... turns to commit in advance to immunity? That's quite the turnaround, Sen. Rockefeller. Quite the turnaround, indeed.
NYT - 10/23/07
Executives at the two biggest phone companies contributed more than $42,000 in political donations to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV this year while seeking his support for legal immunity for businesses participating in National Security Agency eavesdropping.
The surge in contributions came from a Who’s Who of executives at the companies, AT&T and Verizon, starting with the chief executives and including at least 50 executives and lawyers at the two utilities, according to campaign finance reports.
The money came primarily from a fund-raiser that Verizon held for Mr. Rockefeller in March in New York and another that AT&T sponsored for him in May in San Antonio.
Verizon and AT&T holding fund raisers for Sen. Rockefeller? But Sen. Rockefeller was concerned about the legality of the warrantless (read: illegal) surveillance program! Then again, he did later commit to immunity. What could possibly have changed his mind?
From Sen. Rockefeller's Senate website:
Wheeling, W.Va. – Senator Jay Rockefeller today joined with AT&T officials, a representative from Governor Joe Manchin’s office, the Ohio County Commissioners and the Ohio County Development Authority to announce that AT&T plans to build a new customer service center at the Highlands that will employ 200 people.
Senator Rockefeller has been pressing AT&T to bring jobs back to West Virginia for more than four years. In February of this year, he met with AT&T officials to discuss the possibility of this customer service center, and urged them to bring the highest-skilled jobs to the state. Rockefeller also commended local officials today, who he has been working with to lure these types of jobs to the area. It was earlier this month that AT&T made the decision to locate a center in Ohio County.
Remember the quote at the top of the diary, wherein Sen. Rockefeller was criticizing the Bush administration for its stance on AT&T's policies? It's actually from a 2004 article about Rockefeller's criticism of AT&T for closing a call center in West Virginia. And, sure, we hate to see anyone lose jobs because of downsizing, outsourcing or corporate profit shenanigans. But remember Sen. Rockefeller's sudden change of heart.
Bottom line: Sen. Jay Rockefeller sold his soul, and your privacy, for 200 jobs.
If you're curious about the Telecom Industry's sudden interest in Sen. Rockefeller's vote, take a few minutes to review some of these articles:
Wired breaks down the Telecom contributions to Rockefeller - 10/18/07 - Nice graphs, if you're a visually oriented patriot
Glenzilla digs deep - 1/24/08.
I give Sen. Rockefeller a love tap at my site
Kossack 'bichn' reminds us that Telco Immunity is still working its way thru the system
This isn't conspiracy theory, kids - this is a no brainer! Sen. Jay Rockefeller is on his back and piddling himself for AT&T and Verizon. Your fundamental right to privacy (I assume none of you are terrorists) has been left twisting in the wind so that Sen. Rockefeller can bulk up his campaign account and re-open a call center.
Believe me, I have no issue with the fine folks of West Virginia, and I'm glad to see any company step in and provide good jobs when they're desperately needed. But I wonder how many people might have second thoughts, knowing that their Senator is selling out the rest of America and rat-fucking the Constitution for a few thousand dollars.
If you've read this far, thanks! I hope you'll take a few minutes to contact Sen. Rockefeller and say "No fucking way, Jose!" If you're an AT&T or Verizon customer, you might want to let him know you're paying his new BFF's service to express your opinion.
Rip -
Contact Sen. Rockefeller:
405 Capitol Street
Suite 508
Charleston, WV 25301-1749
(304) 347-5372
(304) 347-5371 Fax
531 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6472
(202) 224-7665 Main Fax