[Vision2020] McCain: More of the Same Special Treatment for Special People with Connections

[No Weatherman]

Ms. Lund,

I have made the executive decision to stop reading your articles
because they seem less informed than you.

However, if you want to frame an argument instead of asking loaded
questions I will reverse my executive decision.


On 10/16/08, Saundra Lund <sslund_2007 at verizon.net> wrote:
> Is anyone else as tired as I am about the GOP's insistence in thinking the
>  American people are stupid?!?!
>
>  Verizon and AT&T Provided Cell Towers for McCain Ranch
>  Senator's Wife Did Not Receive Favors, Campaign Says
>
>  By James V. Grimaldi
>  Washington Post Staff Writer
>  Thursday, October 16, 2008; Page A06
>
>  Early in 2007, just as her husband launched his presidential bid, Cindy
>  McCain sought to resolve an old problem -- the lack of cellphone coverage on
>  her remote 15-acre ranch near Sedona, Ariz., nestled deep in a tree-lined
>  canyon called Hidden Valley.
>
>  Over the past year, she offered land for a permanent cell tower, and Verizon
>  Wireless embarked on an expensive public process to meet her needs, hiring
>  contractors and seeking county land-use permits.
>
>  Verizon ultimately abandoned its effort to install a permanent tower in
>  August. Company spokesman Jeffrey Nelson said the project would be "an
>  inappropriate way" to build its network. "It doesn't make business sense for
>  us to do that," he added.
>
>  Instead, Verizon delivered a portable tower known as a "cell site on wheels"
>  -- free of charge -- to the McCain property in June, after the Secret
>  Service began inquiring about improving coverage in the area. Such devices
>  are used for providing temporary capacity where coverage is lacking or has
>  been knocked out, in circumstances ranging from the Super Bowl to
>  hurricanes.
>
>  In July, AT&T followed suit, wheeling in a portable tower for free to match
>  Verizon's offer. "This is an unusual situation," AT&T spokeswoman Claudia B.
>  Jones said. "You can't have a presidential nominee in an area where there is
>  not cell coverage."
>
>  *****Ethics lawyers said Cindy McCain's dealings with the wireless companies
>  stand out because her husband, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), is a senior
>  member of the Senate commerce committee, which oversees the Federal
>  Communications Commission and the telecommunications industry. He has been a
>  leading advocate for industry-backed legislation, fighting regulations and
>  taxes on telecommunication services.
>
>  McCain and his campaign have close ties to Verizon and AT&T. Five campaign
>  officials, including manager Rick Davis, have worked as lobbyists for
>  Verizon. Former McCain staff member Robert Fisher is an in-house lobbyist
>  for Verizon and is volunteering for the campaign. Fisher, Verizon chief
>  executive Ivan G. Seidenberg and company lobbyists have raised more than
>  $1.3 million for McCain's presidential effort, and Verizon employees are
>  among the top 20 corporate donors over McCain's political career, giving his
>  campaigns more than $155,000.
>
>  McCain's Senate chief of staff Mark Buse, senior strategist Charles R. Black
>  Jr. and several other campaign staff members have registered as AT&T
>  lobbyists in the past. AT&T Executive Vice President Timothy McKone and AT&T
>  lobbyists have raised more than $2.3 million for McCain. AT&T employees have
>  donated more than $325,000 to the Republican's campaigns, putting the
>  company in the No. 3 spot for career donations to McCain, according to the
>  nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.*****
>
>  "It raises the aura of special consideration for somebody because he is a
>  member of the Senate," said Stanley Brand, a former House counsel for
>  Democrats and an ethics lawyer who represents politicians in both parties.
>
>  McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers said that the senator is not a
>  regulator and that Cindy McCain received no favors from Verizon or AT&T.
>
>  "Mrs. McCain's staff went through the Web site as any member of the general
>  public would -- no string-pulling, no phone calls, no involvement of Senate
>  staff," Rogers said. "Just because she is married to a senator doesn't mean
>  she forfeits her right to ask for cell service as any other Verizon customer
>  can."
>
>  Verizon spokesman Nelson said: "I am not going to talk about individual
>  customers and their requests."
>
>  The company navigated a lengthy county regulatory process that hit a snag on
>  environmental concerns. The request ultimately prevailed when a contractor
>  for the company invoked the Secret Service after John McCain secured the
>  Republican nomination.
>
>  After checking with Verizon and the McCain campaign, Secret Service
>  spokesman Eric Zahren said an e-mail sent in May by the service's technology
>  manager could be perceived as a request for temporary coverage under the
>  service's contract with Verizon.
>
>  "This was something that was being addressed before we were out there,"
>  Zahren said. The agency could have made do with existing cell coverage in
>  the area, he said, because it uses multiple layers of communication,
>  including a secure land radio network. Zahren said the contractor was not
>  authorized to invoke the Secret Service in dealings with the county.
>
>  Documents that The Washington Post obtained from Arizona's Yavapai County
>  under state public records law show how Verizon hired contractors to put a
>  tower on the property. At that point, many counted McCain out of the race.
>
>  On Sept. 18, 2007, a contractor in Mesa, Ariz., working for Verizon surveyed
>  the McCain property. Another contractor drafted blueprints that called for
>  moving a utility shed and installing a 40-foot tower with two antennas and a
>  microwave dish, surrounded by a six-foot wooden fence.
>
>  Construction costs would be $22,000, records show. Industry specialists said
>  the figure probably covers only the tower and fence because the antennas,
>  dish and power source would run the cost into the six figures. On Dec. 4,
>  Cindy McCain signed a letter authorizing Verizon Wireless to act on her
>  behalf to seek county land-use permits.
>
>  Coverage maps that a Verizon contractor submitted to the county show that
>  the tower would fill gaps in unpopulated parts of Coconino National Forest
>  and on about 20 parcels of land, including a handful of residences, and two
>  small businesses open by appointment only.
>
>  "It is fairly sparsely populated in that pocket along Oak Creek," said Kathy
>  Houchin, the Yavapai County permitting manager.
>
>  Three telecommunications specialists The Post consulted said the proposed
>  site covers so few users that it would be unlikely to generate enough
>  traffic to justify the investment. Robb Alarcon, an industry specialist who
>  helps plan tower placement, said the proposed location appears to be a
>  "strategic build," free-of-charge coverage to high-priority customers. A
>  former Verizon executive vice president, who spoke on the condition of
>  anonymity because he worked for the company, agreed with Alarcon, saying,
>  "It was a VIP kind of thing."
>
>  Verizon spokesman Nelson declined to comment when asked whether this had
>  been considered a "strategic build."
>
>  Cindy McCain signed a contract with Verizon on May 6, granting free use of
>  her property for a year in exchange for "the benefits of enhanced wireless
>  communications arising from operation of the Facility."
>
>  Over Memorial Day, McCain hosted potential vice presidential running mates
>  at the ranch, but the area still lacked coverage. Richard Klenner, then the
>  wireless communications chief of the Secret Service, which had recently
>  started providing protection, sent an e-mail to Verizon.
>
>  "Is there any way of speeding up the process?" he asked, adding that he
>  wanted Verizon to "explore every possible means of providing an alternative
>  cellular or data communications source in the referenced area and provide
>  any short-term implementation of any type as a solution in the interim."
>
>  Staff researcher Madonna Lebling contributed to this report.
>
>
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