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| Conyers Blasts Illinois Democrats as a National Embarrassment |
| 2003-05-20 |
| Edited for Brevity In a stinging rebuke, the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House committee that oversees telecommunications issues has condemned as "a national embarrassment to Democrats" a new Illinois law pushed by party members that gives a competitive edge to SBC in the local phone market. For context, the president of SBC is Bill Daley. Yes, THAT Bill Daley who tried to steal the Florida election. Looks like he's working that ole' magic up in his homestate now with the assistance, no doubt, of his brother, Mayor Daley. "The Democratic Party is supposed to stand for consumers, for small businesses and for a level playing field," said U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. No, Conyers, you ought to know better. It stands for shakedowns and reparations and other such nonsense. "But in smoke-filled backrooms, with waft of lobby dollars thick in the air, key Democrats seemed to throw these traditional principles overboard, and with them millions of consumers who are now going to be paying higher telephone bills." Also known in Democratic circles as "the good old days". Boss Tweed would be proud. Conyers, who warned that the new law could haunt the party in future Illinois elections, has long complained about what he contends are efforts by SBC and other so-called Baby Bell phone providers [BellSouth, Qwest and Verizon] to hamper competition in local markets. This is definitely an issue that a Republican can run on in the open Senate seat. This was strong-armed political lobbying at its worst. |
| Posted by:ColoradoConservative |
| #9 All the break-up of MaBell did was create a bunch of mini-monopolies.In Rural America(where I live)I have a Grand Total choice of one(count them),one phone company and ISP.The service sucks and there is not a damn thing I can due about it. Fredom of Speech/Free market,LH. |
| Posted by: Raptor 2003-05-21 08:03:55 |
| #8 I think mhw is correct. The Baby Bells certainly have spread their wealth to Congressman Dingell but evidently stopped short of a Conyers shakedown. Maybe his stridency on reparations have made him a pariah. |
| Posted by: ColoradoConservative 2003-05-20 14:37:15 |
| #7 whats this have to with the price of kalishnikovs in Peshawar? Who says that the WOT, WMDs, and the Middle East is the sole focus of this blog? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-05-20 13:56:47 |
| #6 "...the price of kalishnikovs in Peshawar?" $37.50 per for the standard model. You want the nifty Speznatz S-model, it's a bit steeper... |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-05-20 12:52:49 |
| #5 Conyers is basically a wannabee. He is ticked that he isn't getting the campaign contributions from the regional bells. I think he is also ticked that he is to old to commit adultry with the really good looking babes. |
| Posted by: mhw 2003-05-20 12:46:41 |
| #4 Give Conyers some credit here. He is an expert on "national embarrassments". He sees one in the mirror every morning. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-05-20 11:26:54 |
| #3 Conyers, who warned that the new law could haunt the party in future A curious phrase, almost sounds as if there were ghostly votes sometime in the past. |
| Posted by: Douglas De Bono 2003-05-20 10:59:53 |
| #2 I read in the Tribune where the Teamsters are already pushing for the current Comptroller as the Democratic candidate and trying to discourage any other contenders. It looks like Daley's machine is alive and well in the Second City. |
| Posted by: MusicMan 2003-05-20 10:50:56 |
| #1 whats this have to with the price of kalishnikovs in Peshawar? |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2003-05-20 10:20:16 |