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House subcommittee votes to block FCC’s net neutrality rules

They may face an uphill battle given the numbers in the Senate (not to mention a Democratic President), but it doesn’t look like the House Republicans will be softening their opposition to the FCC’s new net neutrality rules anytime soon. Following a full vote on an amendment to a spending bill in the House of Representatives last month (which just died in the Senate yesterday), the House Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology has now passed a new measure that, if it ultimately adopted, would completely overturn the FCC’s new rules. The measure now heads to the Energy and Commerce Committee but, as before, it’s unlikely that anything will change in the Senate even it ultimately passes in the full House — that certainly won’t stop opponents of the rules from trying, though. House subcommittee votes to block FCC’s net neutrality rules originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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Bankers Whine Over New Cap On Unlimited Debit Card Fees

enlarge Poor, poor bankers! You know, fellas, we do remember how to use cash. It’s bad enough that we let you guys charge us for the automatic cash machines that first allowed you to lay off thousands of bank tellers when you first came up with the idea. But now you want to just keep upping the charges for using the debit cards you gave us — again, yet another device that let you cut labor costs? You bankers really have no shame: WASHINGTON — It seemed a good idea last year, when the financial crisis had turned banks into Public Enemy No. 1 and lawmakers were looking for ways to reward consumers still bitter about billion-dollar bailouts and executive bonuses. Without much warning or debate, the Senate passed an amendment directing the Federal Reserve to reduce the hidden “swipe fees” that banks collect from retailers each time a customer makes a purchase with a debit card. Merchants, who had complained that the $20.5 billion in annual fees were biting into their profits, were elated. Banks were stunned. Their lobbyists tried to reverse the move, but when the overhaul of the nation’s financial regulation was passed by Congress last July, the debit card cut survived. Now, as the Fed faces a deadline in April to write the rules for the lower fees, banks and debit card companies are engaged in an all-out assault on Capitol Hill, enlisting a growing cadre of lawmakers and lobbyists to push for changes, delay or outright repeal. Banks contend the proposed cut in fees — to 12 cents per transaction from an average of 44 cents — will leave many of them unable to afford to issue debit cards to customers or will force them to raise other consumer banking charges to cover the costs . They also claim retailers will reap unfair profits. A coalition of banks and card companies have plastered subway cars and Internet sites with ads warning, “Bureaucrats want to take away your debit card!” “I am appalled that our members will shoulder tremendous financial burden and still be on the hook for fraud loss while large retailers receive a giant windfall at the hands of the government ,” John P. Buckley Jr., the president of Gerber Federal Credit Union of Fremont, Mich., told a House of Representatives subcommittee last week.

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D.C. PBS Station Insists Its ‘Call Congress’ Ad Doesn’t Take Sides — As It Warns of ‘Devastating Effect’ on Kiddie Shows

The Washington Times took up the issue today of how PBS and NPR stations exploit their own airwaves to lobby against Republican budget-cut proposals. Reporter Seth McLaughlin and Stephen Dinan reported that spokesmen for PBS superstations WGBH in Boston and WETA in Washington “said their appeals never told their audiences which way to lobby Congress, but only to call and let their feelings be known.” A look at WETA’s ad (which we recorded after the February 22 Frontline) shows this is simply and obviously untrue. The announcer clearly insists the House Republicans are putting kiddie programs at risk and cuts “will have a devastating effect on WETA and the television programs you and your family rely on.” Do they really expect people to agree this isn’t an advocacy ad? Do they think someone would say “I'm so glad they've inspired me to call and say “I hate WordGirl and Sid the Science Kid. Please defund those little jerks.'” Here’s the whole script: (video, audio and transcript after the jump) (MP3 audio) ANNOUNCER: As you may know the House of Representatives has passed a bill to eliminate all federal funding of public broadcasting. They want to completely eliminate the federal funding that supports educational and commercial-free children's programs. [Over images of children’s TV characters comes the exploitative graphic: “Eliminate special children’s funding." ] Shows like Sesame Street, WordGirl, and Sid the Science Kid are at risk. These cuts will have a devastating effect on WETA and the television and radio programs you and your family rely on – like Masterpiece. Mystery! NOVA. And the PBS NewsHour. Do your elected officials know how you feel about funding for public broadcasting?Call your representatives in Congress today and let them know where you stand. And for more information visit our Web site at WETA.org. The 2009 CPB Annual Report shows WETA’s combined radio and television efforts received over $7.5 million from CPB. There was no line item for “special children's funding.” All the aforementioned shows are made by profitable private entities: Sesame Street by Sesame Workshop, WordGirl by Scholastic, and Sid the Science Kid by the Jim Henson Company. McLaughlin and Dinan added that some stations are more blatant in arguing against budget cuts on their taxpayer-funded airwaves: WQED in Pittsburgh urges on its website to “Stop the Senate From Cutting Funding for Public Broadcasting and WQED!” The station's also airing a TV ad featuring historic footage from a 1969 hearing in which Fred [Mister] Rogers testified for Lyndon Johnson's original $20 million grant for the new CPB. Rogers died in 2003. [Hat tip to MRC's Geoffrey Dickens for finding the ad.]

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Brent Bozell Calls on Congress to Pull Plug on NPR’s Propaganda Machine

In light of new revelations about NPR's top brass bashing conservatives in a hidden-camera investigation, NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell and NewsBusters senior editor Tim Graham issued the following statements calling on Congress to wake up and stop using tax dollars to fund National Public Radio. Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center (MRC): NPR hates Middle America, plain and simple. This week’s utterances from NPR officials underline that these taxpayer-funded bureaucrats loathe most of the taxpayers who feather their comfortable nest. Their contempt for “scary” Middle Americans belies their ridiculous claims of concern for rural stations and their absurd declaration that somehow NPR is the epitome of fairness and balance.

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Ed Schultz’s Incredibly Short Memory: ‘Wisconsin’s a Political Standoff We Haven’t Seen in Decades if Ever’

Remember during the peak of Bush Derangement Syndrome in the previous decade when it seemed that liberal media members had forgotten all of our nation's history prior to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003? On Monday's “The Ed Show,” the host went into a tirade about Wisconsin governor Scott Walker with seemingly no recollection of last year's healthcare battle (transcript and commentary follow with video pending): ED SCHULTZ: Scott Walker’s dogmatic approach is never going to change. I think we know that. His ego’s too big. But the key now for the Democrats is to hold tight, don’t give in, and swing these vulnerable Republican senators right into the no column. So what we have here is a premiere, political standoff that we haven’t seen in this country in decades if ever. We have a governor who is going against all of the polls and the wishes of the people, against the popular (?) in that state, and he is willing to throw and watch his fellow Republicans get thrown under the bus by their constituents so he can push his ideology. Now is that what the last election was all about? This is so delicious it requires almost a sentence by sentence analysis. Let's start with the first three: Scott Walker’s dogmatic approach is never going to change. I think we know that. His ego’s too big. Who does that sound like? Think hard. I'll give you a hint: his middle name is Hussein . Correctomundo. If you substitute Barack Obama for Scott Walker, those first three sentences would perfectly describe the current White House resident's approach his first two years in office, especially during the healthcare debate. Next: “But the key now for the Democrats is to hold tight, don’t give in, and swing these vulnerable Republican senators right into the no column.” Wasn't the key for Republicans last year to hold tight, don't give in, and try to swing vulnerable Democrats right into the no column? Pretty much exactly like last year's healthcare battle, right? Yet, Schultz actually said, “So what we have here is a premiere, political standoff that we haven’t seen in this country in decades if ever.” D'oh! The final version of ObamaCare passed the House on March 21, 2010. Less than a year later, one of MSNBC's prime time commentators appears to have forgotten the battle that ensued prior to that point, and the dogmatic approach taken by the President of the United States and his fellow Democrats to ram this legislation down the throats of a protesting nation. But there's more: “We have a governor who is going against all of the polls and the wishes of the people, against the popular (?) in that state, and he is willing to throw and watch his fellow Republicans get thrown under the bus by their constituents so he can push his ideology.” In 2010, we had a President that went against the polls and the wishes of the people, and he was willing to watch his fellow Democrats get thrown under the bus by their constituents so he can push his ideology. “Now is that what the last election was all about?” Yes. That is what the last election was about, for Obama and the Democrats suffered the largest midterm loss of any Party in decades as a result of their behavior during a far greater and consequential political standoff than what is currently going on in Wisconsin. But Schultz apparently has forgotten all of it. And he's got his own national television show five days a week. Makes you weep for the future, doesn't it?

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Presenting the same-sex marriage debate in Maryland's state legislature as one about “marriage equality,” openly gay MSNBC host Thomas Roberts discussed the matter with Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart, who is also openly gay. The segment, entitled “Cold Feet In Maryland?” aired today at 11:17 a.m. EST. “Supporters of Marriage Equality Wavering on Bill” the lower-thirds caption read as Capehart described how supporters of same-sex marriage are a few votes shy of passing the bill in Maryland's House of Delegates. A similar bill has already passed the Democrat-dominated Maryland Senate and Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has pledged his signature should the bill reach his desk. Capehart singled out as “most galling” the “turnabout” of one freshman Del. Sam Arora (D-Montgomery County) because he was a co-sponsor of the legislation and campaigned successfully on the issue in 2010, but has now said that he will vote for final passage on the House floor but hopes the law will go to voters in November 2012 as a ballot referendum. In effect, Capehart is annoyed that the wavering Democrat hopes Maryland voters have the final say at the polls on redefining marriage to include same-sex unions. Capehart noted that some polls show most Marylanders favor same-sex marriage but worried that that would not necessarily play out in the privacy of the voting booth on Election Day.

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Kerry denies Libyan no-fly zone would be ‘military intervention’

Click here to view this media Not everyone thinks that bombing Libyan targets in the process of creating a no-fly zone would amount to an attack on the country. Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry (D-MA) Sunday disagreed with the Obama administration’s view that bombing military targets to set up a no-fly zone would mean “military intervention.” “The last thing we want to think about is any kind of military intervention,” Kerry told CBS’ Bob Schieffer. “And I don’t consider the no-fly zone stepping over that line.” “We don’t want [US] troops on the ground. [The rebels] don’t want [US] troops on the ground. That would be counterproductive,” he added. US Defense Secretary Bob Gates said last week that setting a no-fly zone would mean attacking Libya . “Let’s call a spade a spade,” Gates said at a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing. “A no-fly zone begins with an attack on Libya to destroy the air defenses.” “It’s a big operation in a big country,” he added. Schieffer pressed Kerry on the no-fly zone implementation, noting Gates’ warning. “[Gates] says basically that’s going to war, because he says if you’re going to have a no-fly zone, you’ve got to go in there and bomb their anti-aircraft installations there, that you’re going to be bombing the country,” the CBS host said. “That’s actually not the only option for what one could do,” Kerry replied. “One could crater the airports and the runways and leave them incapable of using them for a period of time.”

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D-Link outs hybrid powerline / wired / wireless router, does Atheros proud

Many moons ago, Atheros had a dream , of a future where a single device could simultaneously extend Ethernet, WiFi and powerline connectivity to any part of your home. Well, gents, the future is now, as D-Link has taken the idea (and presumably a presumably paid a hefty licensing fee) to bring just such a device to market. The $130 D-Link DHP-1320 does 802.11n WiFi at up to 300Mbps, sends up to 200Mbps through your house’s electrical system and sports three 10/100 LAN jacks as well. Oh, and never you mind that Netgear did something similar a couple months ago. PR after the break. Continue reading D-Link outs hybrid powerline / wired / wireless router, does Atheros proud D-Link outs hybrid powerline / wired / wireless router, does Atheros proud originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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Maddow: Small Government Conservatives in "The Equality State" Live Up to Their Name

Click here to view this media As Rachel noted, the actual small government, pro keep the government the hell out of your personal lives conservatives in Wyoming did something that would make most liberals proud. They rejected a bill that would have prevented same-sex marriages from being recognized that originated outside of their state.

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McCain claims iPad, iPhone are made in US

Click here to view this media Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) believes Americans should buy products made in the US, but he seems a bit confused about what those products might be. In an interview with ABC’s Christiane Amanpour Sunday, the senior senator from Arizona incorrectly declared that Apple’s iconic iPhone and iPad products were made in the US. ABC News dedicated several segments of their World News broadcast last week to furnishing a home only with products that were made in the US. In the end, the house was left without key electronic products like televisions and computers. McCain told Amanpour that the ABC News team should have simply purchased products from Apple. “I would also point out that if you emptied that house, if you had left a computer there or an iPad or an iPhone, those are built in the United States of America,” he said. In fact, both Apple products are designed in the US but manufactured in China. United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard corrected McCain in a later segment. “The iPad and iPhone are made in China,” he said. “They’re not made in America.”

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