The FCC Opens Up A Small Piece of The Airwaves

Under the pressure of an intense lobbying effort by content providers, namely Google, the FCC voted today to require the winning bidder on a newly available slice of sky to permit “open access”. This should allow for other companies to offer services and content without having to go through one or another major cellphone company. With this renewed competition, innovative companies like Google can, in fact, offer their services in a wireless format right alongside them.

Though the FCC could and should have gone farther and allowed “wholesale” access like they once did with land-based telephone networks- this is a great first step to break the stranglehold these 2-3 companies hold over both the consumer electronics and software industries. This should be a first step toward a revolutionary change, particularly in the ways we use the internet.

Morning News

• YES! Read this column.  And read this diary at RK.
• Watch what happens here tomorrow. This will determine a lot about the future of the internet, telecom, and technology in general. Go Google!
• Great profile of Elizabeth Edwards in the Washington Post.
• I had a blast at the White Stripes concert this weekend despite the fact that Jack White struggled with some audio foul-ups. Thanks Dan!
• In case you missed this over the weekend:Looks like the federal funding for the Dulles rail project won’t happen anyway. So what exactly was that rush about Gerry?
• Won’t be long now.

Afternoon Clips

• Hahahahaha, the pay-off is in the very last line, and it has a local flavor to it.
• YAY! The Circus is in town!
• Stock market tumbling. And as of this post the Dow is down again today by more than .5%.
• Maybe Larry Sabato should read Article IV of the Constitution, and maybe he should realize that Jefferson wasn’t part of the constitutional debate at all. They made it hard to amend the document for a reason.

Phew

My neighborhood was at risk of getting seriously screwed up if the Army hadn’t at least partially come to their senses.

Down from about 22,000 new neighbors to about 12,000. We still need Metro to Belvoir and Lorton…

Edwards On Top

Iowa Poll – 7/23-7/25
Previous poll results from May are in parentheses.

John Edwards – 27% (26)
Clinton – 22% (28)
Obama – 16% (22)
Undecided – 16% (10)
Richardson – 11% (7)

Meanwhile, Undecided has secured an even stronger lead on the Republican side…

Undecided – 22% (22)
Romney – 16% (16)
Thompson – 14% (9)
Giuliani – 13% (17)
McCain – 10% (18)

Via the Des Moines Register

This is What I’m Talking About

This is an example of why I support John Edwards for President.

Edwards will help regular families save and get ahead by:

• Creating a Get Ahead Credit, which will expand the Savers Credit to match savings up to $500 a year, providing as much as an additional dollar for every dollar of savings.
• Boosting low-income families’ savings with work bonds, which will supplement the Earned Income Tax Credit to match the savings of low-income workers up to $500 per year.
• Exempting from taxes each family’s first $250 in interest, capital gains, and dividends.
• Allowing families to deposit part or all of their child tax credit into a tax-free savings account.
• Expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to pay up to 50 percent of child care expenses up to $5,000 and make it partially refundable to benefit low-income working families.
• Tripling the EITC for 4 million adults without children and cutting the marriage penalty for 3 million families.

Time after time, while others have talked a good game, on the issues that really matter to people that are struggling, Edwards has pushed forth concrete proposals. Keep making me proud Johnny Reid!

Thompson The Entitled Hollywood Star

I resisted the urge to malign Fred Thompson’s self-indulgent roll-out because of my political admiration of how well executed it has been, but every day that passes where he does not make his campaign “official” enhances an already-developing negative image of him.

This is a guy who always wants the easy way and expects the star treatment. From what I can tell, he’s not announcing apparently for two reasons: 1) because he doesn’t want to be bothered with talking to real people. Once he announces he no longer has any excuse for shunning real retail politics for web videos and fundraisers. Remember this juicy excerpt:

Thompson also is interested in using the Internet and a limited number of large rally-type events as a way of avoiding the traditional, full-time, retail-style campaigning in Iowa, New Hampshire and other early contest states used by all the other hopefuls. Thompson wants to run “a low-impact presidential campaign,” reported the newspaper. “You show up, you’re accessible, but you don’t have to go to every county seat several times,” said one Thompson adviser. “He doesn’t have to go diner to diner and church to church,” said another adviser. Those comments seem to peg Thompson’s attitude pretty accurately. “Going on the road for months at a time … I wouldn’t do that. I don’t think it has to be done that way. I know people will expect that of everyone — to run frenetically around for years — and I don’t do frenetic very well,” Thompson told FOX News. Via MC, the #1 Thompson worshipper.

Gross! You want me to shake hands with hundreds of unwashed commoners?

And 2) he wants to maximize the money for himself and his Hollywood friends. Word is that because of the FCC’s equal time rules, re-runs featuring Thompson can’t run once he’s officially announced. The current NBC schedule has re-runs going till September 1st. That’s money that Thompson, the pampered star and former lobbyist, just can’t say no to.  So of course, the rumored announcement date is September 4.

Yes, the Republicans are once again in the position of choosing between two entitled snob-types: Mitt Romney, blue-blood, uber-wealthy, son of a Governor & Fred Thompson, Hollywood elite and millionaire lobbyist. Ah, to be Republican.

Haircut

John Edwards the Elitist?

With all the talk about $400 haircuts do you think they’ll even notice that John Edwards is the only major Democratic presidential candidate that has never sent his kids to private school?

Front Royal Chickens Out

After almost initiating a constitutional battle over the “abuser fees” – the town of Front Royal decided last night to postpone a vote on their controversial measure to refuse enforcement of the fees in town limits. The next opportunity for a vote will be August 13th. No doubt they’re hopeful they can sweep the whole matter under the rug by then. Damn, just when I thought we’d see something interesting too.