S. 150, as examined by the Governor’s Association, the National League of Cities, the Conference of Mayors, the Inter-State Tax Coalition, The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors and the National Association of Regulatory Officers and Commissioners and the Alliance for Community Media…among others…has determined that S. 150 is so broad it could even affect state and local municipal govs ability to collect property taxes! Carol Grunberg, Wyden (OR) author of the language has been very stubborn about just adding clarifying language…well what’s so wrong with that? If the bill says all that she and Dan say it does, what’s wrong with a bit more clarfication? NADA.

Gee, does Carol have a promising career in telecom?
Or is Wyden getting enough from his telecom friends? Shame on a public interest Dem if that is the case.

Anyhoo…states and local governments will immediately get a $9 Billion cut…and you and I, as property tax payers will make up the dif. So much for the end of corporate welfare as we know it. Hey! Comcast needs the bucks!

Here, ultimately is the point…do you get cable modem through a cable line? Yeah. Do you get video through a cable line? Yeah. Will you someday get telephony through your cable line? Yeah. The cable cord that runs up your street, runs down your driveway (maybe even to your neighbors house like mine does?), through your backyard?

Then how is it that “cable modem” is not a “cable service?” Even though ALL the cable ops swore it was to the FCC in 1999 and 2000?

So should they pay the local municipality “fair rent” on that profit? Well I say so!! A man puts up a hot-dog stand on my front yard, I might want a “fair rent,” a “franchise” which includes percentage of his profit.

Cable modem is cable service. In the same way it looks like a duck, it squaks like a duck, it walks like a duck and it IS a duck!

Go to our website at http://www.alliancecm.org and use our Legislative Action Center to send a letter to your Senator…tell him/her “NO!” on S. 150.. No on Corporate Welfare for Telecom and Cable!

Bunnie Riedel
Executive Director
Alliance for Community Media