MyDD :: The Corporate War Against Enterprise

The Corporate War Against Enterprise

by Chris Bowers, Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 02:40:13 PM EST

The consistent interventions on the part of state and federal governments to provide large corporations with whatever they want is a consistent check against creativity, new competition and innovation. Rarely is this more apparent than it is in Pennsylvania right now.

Mayor John Street of Philadelphia recently proposed providing the entire city with free, or at least extremely cheap, wireless service. As a resident of Philadelphia, I think this is a great idea, not only because it would provide me with free wireless service, but also because it is exactly the sort of thing a city needs to do in order to help attract the new creative class. Like much of the northeast, Philadelphia hemorrhaged nearly its entire manufacturing base decades before it happened to the entire country, and those industries are not coming back. Tolerance and creativity are two of the keys in rebuilding local enterprise.

Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania state legislature values propping up aristocratic, corporate oligarchies instead of the possibilities of creativity, innovation and new enterprise:

The reality today is that we live in an era where large corporations work hand-in-hand with lobbyists and compliant legislators to stifle any technology that returns control of our media system to the public.

The latest evidence lies hidden within a Bill en route to the desk of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. House Bill 30 -- an industry-drafted and inspired sprawl of corporate concessions -- has tucked within its more than 70 pages an amendment that effectively kills efforts in Philadelphia to provide citywide wireless access at little or no charge.

The bill cleared both Pennsylvania's House and Senate on Friday. A signature from Governor Rendell would scuttle "Philadelphia Wireless" -- an ambitious plan to build a Wi-Fi network to serve the city's working-class communities -- before the project could begin.

The problem, according to the Bill's principal sponsor, Verizon Communications, Inc., is that community-supported wireless poses a "significant threat" to the multi-billion dollar company's near monopoly hold on wireless access across the city. Why allow for local competition and innovation in Philadelphia when you can shut it down via well-funded connections in the capitol?

Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street's spokeswoman Barbara Grant told MediaChannel that the bill was "terrible for cities around the country, because if the telecommunications companies can stop it here in Pennsylvania, they'll probably be able to stop it anywhere."

In 1998, when he was mayor of Philadelphia, Ed Rendell signed a domestic partnership law intended to bridge the inequality gap in marriage rights between homosexual and heterosexual couples. In addition to the moral component of this legislation, it could also have served to help out the local economy. With tolerance comes creativity. With creativity comes enterprise. Unfortunately, conservatives have managed to mount legal challenges to the 1998 city partnership decision, and there has been an injunction against the law for several years now. After stifling that method of helping to rebuild local enterprise in the interests of intolerance, conservatives are now interested is stifling another in the interests of corporations. Hopefully, Rendell won't stand for this, and will protect the public interests of Philadelphia.

Through initiative and innovation, entrepreneurship is a liberal value. Through intolerance and aristocracy, entrepreneurship is not a conservative value.

Tags: Money (all tags)

Permalink :: 15 Comments :: Post a Comment

Well done! (none / 0)

More please!

by Bean on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 02:43:10 PM EST

Privatize the profits -- socialize the risk. n/t (none / 0)

by Davis X Machina on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 03:30:33 PM EST

legislature killed Comcast's tax break (none / 0)

Weird that they give with one hand and take away with another. Maybe the tax break was too obvious, but scuttling the free wifi is something that few will notice.

You can see why Verizon would be afraid: free wifi with some very simple equipment/software=free telephone. Verizon can't have that.

And the free porn? Well, that's another story...

by lutton on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 03:46:23 PM EST

Re: legislature killed Comcast's tax break (none / 0)

Comcast is closely aligned with Rendell; where are Verizon's loyalties?

by lutton on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 03:47:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

We need to lobby (none / 0)

Sounds like we (or at least those who live in Penn.) should by lobbying Gov. Rendell for a veto. Have an email link or fax number?

If you're always playing the fear card, it's a pretty good sign you're not playing with a full deck!

by Mathwiz on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 03:51:59 PM EST

wireless (none / 0)

I'm betting that the wireless thing will happen in smaller, more progressive communities first, and then spread to cities like Philly.

by global yokel on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 03:58:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: We need to lobby (none / 0)

From Philly for Change:

Contact Gov. Rendell right now at 717-787-2500 and let him know you are opposed to House Bill 30. Here's a sample of what you can say:

"Please say no to House Bill 30. We cannot let corporate lobbyists write their monopolies into law. Initiatives like Philadelphia's wireless plan are incredibly important because Internet access must be equally available to all citizens. Thank you for your time."

by jskaroff on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 04:22:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The irony is.... (none / 0)

that Professor Richard Florida works at Carnegie Mellon University in the fair city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Heinz School of Public Policy and Management, yet the state of Pennsylvania appears ready to go against everything he has been researching on how to stimulate economic development and revitalize urban centers. Without getting into the details of Florida's research, suffice it to say that his thesis is that without a strong creative class, cities will just find it nearly impossible to spur the type of economic growth experienced during the industrialization of America. With heavy industry moving offshore, innovation is the new business of America, and this is linked to initiatives like Philly WiFi. Florida visited the central NY area last year to deliver a key note presentation to our Metropolitan Development Agency, and he has found repeatedly in cities like Cincinnati, San Antonio, Austin... the list goes on... that tolerance and the development of the creative class are the engines of revitalization. What a shame that you have such a resource in the state of PA as Prof. Florida, and the state legislature can't get out of their own way to realize that they might be scuttling a wonderful opportunity based on his findings. Additionally, from my own research, radical innovation is not fostered by the big corporations... while they may commercialize the products and services because they have the distribution systems, they are often bastions of inertia when it comes to creativity. The small entrepreneurs (or teams of entrepreneurs) and universities have always been the halls of real creativity. Just one more reason to provide inexpensive access to a great resource to spark creativity in Philly.

by Innov8 on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 04:08:42 PM EST

excellent (none / 0)

I really think this line of position has merit for the party, for a host of reasons I'm beginning to argue in my other posts.

We need to attack and break the stangelhold that large anti-comptitive corporations have on our lawmaking.

I say this as an innovator, a small businesman, an employer and a bona fide ho-mo-sexual!

by Pachacutec on Tue Nov 23, 2004 at 05:30:51 PM EST

Think about the other side (none / 0)

I speak as the wife of a Verizon Wireless employee when I say that you need companies like to provide jobs. Verizon Wireless is the ONLY profitable part of Verizon Communications, namely because the landline company is unionized. Verizon and Verizon Wireless are vitually separate companies. Where as Verizon employees enjoy many discounts on both landline and wireless services, the Verizon Wireless employees do not get the same discounts on landline services. I know unions are good in some businesses but in this case the profitable wireless part of the business is subsidizing the landline which has so much cost because of the union contract. People who work for Verizon get promoted because of seniority, not productivity or creativity which is exactly the bad reasons for unions. Verizon Wireless hires starting sales representatives that make about $50,000 a year with base + commission. It is very easy to hit your sales goals. A starting customer service person makes about $25,000 including benefits and you need no college degree for a customer service position. The health benefits are very cheap and excellent. For a family of four, we pay $800 A YEAR for medical insurance. They are very generous with mothers and fathers on leave for having a child or adoption. They will let you cluster your vacation and sick time when you have a baby. You have to remember that these are jobs which CANNOT be outsourced because they are service jobs. Verizon Wireless is also very generous to the community. I am a hard core dem but Verizon Wireless is a pretty good living today with all of the manufacturing jobs gone and other high tech jobs following. Giving free service away would probably result in a job layoff of at least 500 people in the immediate Philly area (the number is probably higher than that). It also sucks that the tax code stipulates that my husband's commission check gets taxed at 44% so Uncle Sam has tens of thousands our money for an interest free loan for most of the year. Also don't forget that Cingular is now the larger wireless network provider at 46 million subscribers and I know they are big in Philly as well.

by catholicdemocratmd on Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 04:13:19 PM EST

Re: Think about the other side (none / 0)

Getting promoted is very easy as well at Verizon Wireless. It is very hard to get fired and hardly anyone quits. I know Verizon Wireless just hired hundreds of new employees, maybe thousands, with the opening of mini-stores inside Circuit City stores.

by catholicdemocratmd on Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 04:16:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Think about the other side (none / 0)

I meant Verizon Wireless just hired those hundreds, possibly thousands new employees just in the Philly area. Nationwide, it is probably tens or hundreds of thousands.