Posted on 01/31/2002 2:19:03 PM PST by SMEDLEYBUTLER
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:49:56 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Politics: The telecom firm gave to both parties as it focused on its undersea cable.
WASHINGTON -- Financially troubled Global Crossing Ltd. catapulted from nowhere four years ago to become one of Washington's biggest political givers, although its lobbying focus was far narrower than most other corporate giants.
Barely a player in 1998, Global Crossing grew to No. 23 on the list of top donors to federal parties and candidates in the 1999-2000 election cycle, according to a study released Wednesday by the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog group.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Why Don't We Talk Anymore? Monday, November 15, 1999
- A front page article in the Saturday Santa Fe New Mexican reported the wife of Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) received $2.5 million in fees as a lobbyist on behalf of the fiber-optic company, Global Crossing. The paper reported that Anne Bingaman's office released a statement in which she stated she, "never met or spoke at any member of Congress or congressional staff on behalf of Global Crossing."
- Remember the amazing assertion last week by Hillary Clinton that she and Bill had never discussed whether he would actually live in the $1.3 manse in suburban New York? This Bingaman couple sets marital communications back to the stone age. This is way, way more than "Lobbyists are from Venus; Senators are from Mars." Jeff Bingaman must be from Andromeda:
"Say, honey? Where'd this $2.5 million come from in our bank account?"
"I can't tell you."
"Oh. Ok. Well, then I'm just going to go on into the office and finish up that legislation directing the FCC to allow a new direct undersea fiber optic cable to Asia. What do you want for dinner?"
"Sushi."
From http://www.phoenix-center.org/library/pwhycable.html:Reprinted From:
Communications Week International
16 August 1999
[* Denotes Original Publication Page Cite Where Available]
Perspective: Why cable could be the next WTO battleground
Larry Spiwak*
I have seen the coming of the next WTO battle for basic telecoms services, and it will be in the form of rights proceedings for undersea cable landings.
The incident that is prompting this whole mess came last month when the FCC - after eight long months - granted the cable landing petition filed by the Japan-U.S. Cable Network (JUS) consortium. What makes this case so remarkable, however, is that it represents a textbook example of regulatory cynicism.
Specifically, in what should have been a routine proceeding, subsea cable builder Global Crossing Ltd. asked the Federal Communications Commission to defer consideration of the JUS petition in order to consider whether undersea cable consortia still served the public interest in a post-WTO world.
Rather than set forth anything substantive, however, Global Crossing hired a bevy of high-priced lobbyists - including Anne Bingaman, the former Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Peter Cowhey, the former Chief of the FCCs International Bureau, and Greg Simon, former domestic policy adviser to Vice President Gore - to argue that the U.S. government should just nakedly divide up the market (that is, assign customers to specific competitors) for trans-Pacific communications, and abrogate both private contracts and ignore international agreements - including the WTO and a subsequent bilateral agreement reached between Japan and the U.S. Trade Representative.
As if this was not bad enough, Global Crossing also argued that the FCC should ignore its residual unilateral regulatory safeguards (such as benchmarks, for example) - unilateral safeguards that were promulgated under the watch of the very high-powered Washington DC lobbyists that Global Crossing hired to argue hypocritically the exact opposite view.
Their "Discussion" page, is difficult to search, and has MANY topics which do not seem to have any CURRENT posts.
Perhaps Hugh read something about Global Crossing on their "Hot News!" page? Or?
Thanks for the ping and info. Global Crossing is an extraordinary story, and I believe it is here that we will find a political scandal. The only problem is that the public will never here about it.You may be right. Your opinion about the OLD media is shared by many, i.e.:The media is turning up the heat to discredit the Bush Admin. The proof is how they are bringing the likes of Albright and Cohen air time as "experts."
From:Fortunately, we (Free Republic, Drudge, FOX-TV, NewsMax, etc.) are the NEW media, and WE care.
Global Crossing Froze 401(k) Assets [WSJ's SmartMoney.com]
Posted on 2/2/02 9:38 AM Pacific by RonDog"Who cares? The media simply is not interested unless something like this can be tied to Bush or some other enemy of the ultra left wing liberal extremists. If you can't tie Bush or Cheney to it in some negative way, no matter how tenuous or remote, it does not rise to the level of interest for inclusion in th NYT or mentioin my Rather or any of the other ultra radical extremist left wingers in the media.
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