Republicans in Congress just voted to reverse a landmark FCC privacy rule that opens the door for ISPs to sell customer data. Lawmakers provided no credible reason for this being in the interest of Americans, except for vague platitudes about “consumer choice” and “free markets,” as if consumers at the mercy of their local internet monopoly are craving to have their web history quietly sold to marketers and any other third party willing to pay.
The only people who seem to want this are the people who are going to make lots of money from it. (Hint: they work for companies like Comcast, Verizon, and AT&T.) Incidentally, these people and their companies routinely give lots of money to members of Congress.
So here is a list of the lawmakers who voted to betray you, and how much money they received from the telecom industry in their most recent election cycle.
Note on the data below: donations include contributions from corporations in the telecom industry and employees of those corporations (individual and non-individual contributions). The largest donors tend to be corporations which contributed funds to the candidate and /or the candidate’s leadership organization (PAC). All figures only reflect donations tallied for the candidate’s most recent election — many have received total sums much larger than the figure reflected over the course of their career in Congress. Figures are from federal election data compiled by the National Institute on Money in State Politics (www.followthemoney.org).
Additionally, it’s important to note that the communications industry is one of the largest lobbying groups in US history; internet providers and the telephone companies before them are notorious for spreading wealth across the aisle. Regardless, one party seems more responsive to the industry’s demands.
US SENATE
| MEMBER | PARTY | STATE | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander, Lamar | Republican | TN | $86,400 |
| Barrasso, John | Republican | WY | $63,000 |
| Blunt, Roy | Republican | MO | $185,550 |
| Boozman, John | Republican | AR | $56,450 |
| Burr, Richard | Republican | NC | $58,500 |
| Capito, Shelley | Republican | WV | $24,675 |
| Cassidy, Bill | Republican | LA | $34,909 |
| Cochran, Thad | Republican | MS | $123,750 |
| Collins, Susan | Republican | ME | $57,550 |
| Corker, Bob | Republican | TN | $43,600 |
| Cornyn, John | Republican | TX | $148,800 |
| Cotton, Tom | Republican | AR | $70,025 |
| Crapo, Mike | Republican | ID | $11,000 |
| Cruz, Ted | Republican | TX | $40,840 |
| Daines, Steve | Republican | MT | $38,700 |
| Enzi, Mike | Republican | WY | $45,100 |
| Ernst, Joni | Republican | IA | $28,200 |
| Fischer, Debra | Republican | NE | $21,850 |
| Flake, Jeff | Republican | AZ | $27,955 |
| Gardner, Cory | Republican | CO | $95,023 |
| Graham, Lindsey | Republican | SC | $74,522 |
| Grassley, Chuck | Republican | IA | $135,125 |
| Hatch, Orrin | Republican | UT | $106,750 |
| Heller, Dean | Republican | NV | $78,950 |
| Hoeven, John | Republican | ND | $25,800 |
| Inhofe, Jim | Republican | OK | $38,000 |
| Johnson, Ron | Republican | WI | $123,652 |
| Kennedy, John | Republican | LA | $1,000 |
| Lankford, James | Republican | OK | $21,000 |
| Lee, Mike | Republican | UT | $60,913 |
| McCain, John | Republican | AZ | $84,125 |
| McConnell, Mitch | Republican | KY | $251,110 |
| Moran, Jerry | Republican | KS | $130,950 |
| Murkowski, Lisa | Republican | AK | $66,250 |
| Perdue, David | Republican | GA | $37,000 |
| Portman, Rob | Republican | OH | $89,350 |
| Risch, Jim | Republican | ID | $27,000 |
| Roberts, Pat | Republican | KS | $100,200 |
| Rounds, Mike | Republican | SD | $40,166 |
| Rubio, Marco | Republican | FL | $75,535 |
| Sasse, Benjamin | Republican | NE | $31,800 |
| Scott, Tim | Republican | SC | $60,200 |
| Shelby, Richard | Republican | AL | $27,000 |
| Strange, Luther | Republican | AL | $0* |
| Sullivan, Daniel | Republican | AK | $10,550 |
| Thune, John | Republican | SD | $215,000 |
| Tillis, Thom | Republican | NC | $41,220 |
| Toomey, Patrick | Republican | PA | $143,456 |
| Wicker, Roger | Republican | MS | $151,800 |
| Young, Todd | Republican | IN | $28,670 |
*Senator Strange was appointed to Congress in February 2017 to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ seat.
US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
| MEMBER | PARTY | STATE | DISTRICT | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham, Ralph | Republican | LA | 5th | $5,750 |
| Aderholt, Robert | Republican | AL | 4th | $26,500 |
| Allen, Rick | Republican | GA | 12th | $9,500 |
| Amodei, Mark | Republican | NV | 2nd | $22,000 |
| Arrington, Jodey | Republican | TX | 19th | $8,450 |
| Babin, Brian | Republican | TX | 36th | $8,000 |
| Bacon, Donald | Republican | NE | 2nd | $7,000 |
| Banks, Jim | Republican | IN | 3rd | $12,100 |
| Barletta, Lou | Republican | PA | 11th | $14,700 |
| Barr, Andy | Republican | KY | 6th | $28,400 |
| Barton, Joe | Republican | TX | 6th | $39,750 |
| Bergman, Jack | Republican | MI | 1st | $21,200 |
| Biggs, Andy | Republican | AZ | 5th | $5,000 |
| Bilirakis, Gus | Republican | FL | 12th | $55,000 |
| Bishop, Mike | Republican | MI | 8th | $40,500 |
| Bishop, Rob | Republican | UT | 1st | $5,500 |
| Black, Diane | Republican | TN | 6th | $27,750 |
| Blackburn, Marsha | Republican | TN | 7th | $84,000 |
| Blum, Rodney | Republican | IA | 1st | $5,500 |
| Bost, Mike | Republican | IL | 12th | $29,750 |
| Brady, Kevin | Republican | TX | 8th | $20,000 |
| Brat, David | Republican | VA | 7th | $6,000 |
| Bridenstine, Jim | Republican | OK | 1st | $1,000 |
| Brooks, Susan | Republican | IN | 5th | $44,300 |
| Buchanan, Vern | Republican | FL | 16th | $18,900 |
| Buck, Ken | Republican | CO | 4th | $15,750 |
| Bucshon, Larry | Republican | IN | 8th | $33,000 |
| Budd, Theodore | Republican | NC | 13th | $10,000 |
| Burgess, Michael | Republican | TX | 26th | $39,500 |
| Byrne, Bradley | Republican | AL | 1st | $17,500 |
| Calvert, Ken | Republican | CA | 42nd | $12,000 |
| Carter, Buddy | Republican | GA | 1st | $12,250 |
| Carter, John | Republican | TX | 31st | $22,500 |
| Chabot, Steven | Republican | OH | 1st | $25,500 |
| Chaffetz, Jason | Republican | UT | 3rd | $38,100 |
| Cheney, Liz | Republican | WY | 1st | $18,400 |
| Cole, Tom | Republican | OK | 4th | $14,000 |
| Collins, Doug | Republican | GA | 9th | $42,850 |
| Collins, Chris | Republican | NY | 27th | $57,500 |
| Comer, James | Republican | KY | 1st | $14,750 |
| Comstock, Barbara | Republican | VA | 10th | $56,457 |
| Conaway, Mike | Republican | TX | 11th | $18,500 |
| Cook, Paul | Republican | CA | 8th | $15,000 |
| Costello, Ryan | Republican | PA | 6th | $38,750 |
| Cramer, Kevin | Republican | ND | 1st | $71,750 |
| Crawford, Eric | Republican | AR | 1st | $9,000 |
| Culberson, John | Republican | TX | 7th | $8,000 |
| Curbelo, Carlos | Republican | FL | 26th | $45,700 |
| Davis, Rodney | Republican | IL | 13th | $49,000 |
| Denham, Jeffrey | Republican | CA | 10th | $47,000 |
| Dent, Charles | Republican | PA | 15th | $25,200 |
| DeSantis, Ron | Republican | FL | 6th | $21,634 |
| DesJarlais, Scott | Republican | TN | 4th | $3,000 |
| Diaz-Balart, Mario | Republican | FL | 25th | $26,500 |
| Donovan, Daniel | Republican | NY | 11th | $16,000 |
| Duncan, Jeff | Republican | SC | 3rd | $12,610 |
| Dunn, Neal | Republican | FL | 2nd | $13,750 |
| Emmer, Thomas | Republican | MN | 6th | $18,500 |
| Farenthold, Blake | Republican | TX | 27th | $19,000 |
| Ferguson, Anderson | Republican | GA | 3rd | $7,000 |
| Fitzpatrick, Brian** | Republican | PA | 8th | $32,600 |
| Fleischmann, Chuck | Republican | TN | 3rd | $18,000 |
| Flores, Bill | Republican | TX | 17th | $40,500 |
| Fortenberry, Jeff | Republican | NE | 1st | $3,500 |
| Foxx, Virginia | Republican | NC | 5th | $13,250 |
| Franks, Trent | Republican | AZ | 8th | $16,500 |
| Frelinghuysen, Rodney | Republican | NJ | 11th | $55,456 |
| Gaetz, Matt | Republican | FL | 1st | $7,000 |
| Gallagher, Mike | Republican | WI | 8th | $16,019 |
| Garrett, Tom* | Republican | VA | 5th | $3,250 |
| Gibbs, Robert | Republican | OH | 7th | $8,000 |
| Gohmert, Louie | Republican | TX | 1st | $8,000 |
| Goodlatte, Bob | Republican | VA | 6th | $73,950 |
| Gosar, Paul | Republican | AZ | 4th | $2,000 |
| Gowdy, Harold | Republican | SC | 4th | $15,750 |
| Granger, Kay | Republican | TX | 12th | $15,000 |
| Graves, John | Republican | GA | 14th | $34,000 |
| Graves, Sam | Republican | MO | 6th | $31,000 |
| Griffith, Tim | Republican | AR | 2nd | $16,915 |
| Griffith, Morgan | Republican | VA | 9th | $36,500 |
| Grothman, Glenn | Republican | WI | 6th | $10,600 |
| Guthrie, Steven | Republican | KY | 2nd | $81,500 |
| Harper, Gregg | Republican | MS | 3rd | $33,800 |
| Harriis, Andy | Republican | MD | 1st | $3,000 |
| Hartzler, Vicki | Republican | MO | 4th | $10,500 |
| Hensarling, Jeb | Republican | TX | 5th | $10,000 |
| Hice, Jody | Republican | GA | 10th | $6,000 |
| Higgins, Clay | Republican | LA | 3rd | $300 |
| Holding, George | Republican | NC | 2nd | $31,100 |
| Hollingsworth, Trey | Republican | IN | 9th | $10,000 |
| Hudson, Richard | Republican | NC | 8th | $45,400 |
| Huizenga, Bill | Republican | MI | 2nd | $7,500 |
| Hultgreen, Randy | Republican | IL | 14th | $10,000 |
| Hunter, Duncan | Republican | CA | 50th | $19,000 |
| Hurd, William | Republican | TX | 23rd | $63,000 |
| Issa, Darrell | Republican | CA | 49th | $66,275 |
| Jenkins, Lynn | Republican | KS | 2nd | $34,750 |
| Jenkins, Evan | Republican | WV | 3rd | $10,000 |
| Johnson, Bill | Republican | OH | 6th | $56,500 |
| Johnson, Sam | Republican | TX | 3rd | $16,700 |
| Jordan, James | Republican | OH | 4th | $24,750 |
| Joyce, David | Republican | OH | 14th | $16,500 |
| Katko, John | Republican | NY | 24th | $32,250 |
| Kelly, Trent | Republican | MS | 1st | $3,300 |
| Kelly, Mike | Republican | PA | 3rd | $34,700 |
| King, Steve | Republican | IA | 4th | $20,500 |
| King, Peter | Republican | NY | 2nd | $9,000 |
| Kinzinger, Adam | Republican | IL | 16th | $75,250 |
| Knight, Steve | Republican | CA | 25th | $32,500 |
| Kustoff, David | Republican | TN | 8th | $16,300 |
| Labrador, Raul | Republican | ID | 1st | $10,000 |
| LaHood, Darin | Republican | IL | 18th | $15,500 |
| LaMalfa, Doug | Republican | CA | 1st | $5,000 |
| Lamborn, Doug | Republican | CO | 5th | $28,400 |
| Lance, Leonard | Republican | NJ | 7th | $43,000 |
| Latta, Bob | Republican | OH | 5th | $91,000 |
| Lewis, Jason | Republican | MN | 2nd | $10,500 |
| LoBiondo, Frank | Republican | NJ | 2nd | $14,500 |
| Long, Billy | Republican | MO | 7th | $57,250 |
| Loudermilk, Barry | Republican | GA | 11th | $8,000 |
| Love, Mia | Republican | UT | 4th | $16,500 |
| Lucas, Frank | Republican | OK | 3rd | $14,500 |
| Luetkemeyer, Blaine | Republican | MO | 3rd | $21,000 |
| MacArthur, Tom | Republican | NJ | 3rd | $19,000 |
| Marchant, Kenny | Republican | TX | 24th | $12,000 |
| Marshall, Roger | Republican | KS | 1st | $20,500 |
| Massie, Thomas | Republican | KY | 4th | $2,750 |
| Mast, Brian | Republican | FL | 18th | $10,500 |
| McCarthy, Kevin | Republican | CA | 23rd | $99,100 |
| McCaul, Michael | Republican | TX | 10th | $37,200 |
| McHenry, Patrick | Republican | NC | 10th | $51,000 |
| McKinley, David | Republican | WV | 1st | $24,500 |
| McSally, Martha | Republican | AZ | 2nd | $40,500 |
| Meadows, Mark | Republican | NC | 11th | $4,000 |
| Meehan, Patrick | Republican | PA | 7th | $64,200 |
| Messer, Luke | Republican | IN | 6th | $18,750 |
| Mitchell, Paul** | Republican | MI | 10th | $10,000 |
| McMorris-Rogers, Cathy** | Republican | WA | 5th | $75,900 |
| Moolenaar, John | Republican | MI | 4th | $12,500 |
| Mooney, Alexander | Republican | WV | 2nd | $6,000 |
| Mullin, Markwayne | Republican | OK | 2nd | $47,250 |
| Murphy, Timothy | Republican | PA | 18th | $26,000 |
| Newhouse, Daniel | Republican | WA | 4th | $10,000 |
| Noem, Kristi | Republican | SD | 1st | $38,200 |
| Nunes, Devin | Republican | CA | 22nd | $37,750 |
| Olson, Pete | Republican | TX | 22nd | $57,500 |
| Palazzo, Steven | Republican | MS | 4th | $11,100 |
| Palmer, Gary | Republican | AL | 6th | $2,000 |
| Paulsen, Erik | Republican | MN | 3rd | $50,500 |
| Pearce, Steve | Republican | NM | 2nd | $20,400 |
| Perry, Scott | Republican | PA | 4th | $17,000 |
| Poe, Ted | Republican | TX | 2nd | $23,000 |
| Poliquin, Bruce | Republican | ME | 2nd | $47,500 |
| Posey, Bill | Republican | FL | 8th | $3,000 |
| Ratcliffe, John | Republican | TX | 4th | $24,500 |
| Reed, Thomas | Republican | NY | 23rd | $31,500 |
| Renacci, Jim | Republican | OH | 16th | $48,000 |
| Rice, Hugh | Republican | SC | 7th | $18,500 |
| Roby, Martha | Republican | AL | 2nd | $33,200 |
| Roe, Phil | Republican | TN | 1st | $500 |
| Rogers, Mike | Republican | AL | 3rd | $25,000 |
| Rogers, Hal | Republican | KY | 5th | $12,500 |
| Rohrabacher, Dana | Republican | CA | 48th | $1,350 |
| Rokita, Todd | Republican | IN | 4th | $20,200 |
| Rooney, Laurence | Republican | FL | 19th | $16,625 |
| Rooney, Tom | Republican | FL | 17th | $19,000 |
| Roskam, Peter | Republican | IL | 6th | $33,600 |
| Ross, Dennis | Republican | FL | 15th | $17,000 |
| Rothfus, Keith | Republican | PA | 12th | $30,900 |
| Rouzer, David | Republican | NC | 7th | $15,000 |
| Royce, Edward | Republican | CA | 39th | $14,000 |
| Russell, Steven | Republican | OK | 5th | $16,450 |
| Rutherford, John | Republican | FL | 4th | $6,000 |
| Scalise, Steve | Republican | LA | 1st | $121,750 |
| Schweikert, David | Republican | AZ | 6th | $4,000 |
| Scott, James | Republican | GA | 8th | $6,000 |
| Sensenbrenner, Jim | Republican | WI | 5th | $30,000 |
| Sessions, Pete | Republican | TX | 32nd | $40,400 |
| Shimkus, John | Republican | IL | 15th | $104,425 |
| Shuster, Bill | Republican | PA | 9th | $35,500 |
| Smith, Jason | Republican | MO | 8th | $47,500 |
| Smith, Adrian | Republican | NE | 3rd | $28,500 |
| Smith, Christopher | Republican | NJ | 4th | $6,000 |
| Smith, Lamar | Republican | TX | 21st | $56,200 |
| Smucker, Lloyd | Republican | PA | 16th | $8,000 |
| Stewart, Chris | Republican | UT | 2nd | $12,500 |
| Stivers, Steve | Republican | OH | 15th | $27,000 |
| Taylor, Scott** | Republican | VA | 2nd | $14,000 |
| Tenney, Claudia | Republican | NY | 22nd | $8,500 |
| Thompson, Glenn | Republican | PA | 5th | $16,500 |
| Thornberry, Mac | Republican | TX | 13th | $32,025 |
| Tiberi, Patrick | Republican | OH | 12th | $53,250 |
| Tipton, Scott | Republican | CO | 3rd | $23,500 |
| Trott, Dave | Republican | MI | 11th | $12,500 |
| Turner, Mike | Republican | OH | 10th | $6,000 |
| Upton, Fred | Republican | MI | 6th | $108,250 |
| Valadao, David | Republican | CA | 21st | $37,400 |
| Wagner, Ann | Republican | MO | 2nd | $45,750 |
| Walberg, Timothy | Republican | MI | 7th | $38,500 |
| Walden, Gregory | Republican | OR | 2nd | $155,100 |
| Walker, Bradley | Republican | NC | 6th | $16,750 |
| Walorski, Jackie | Republican | IN | 2nd | $21,250 |
| Walters, Mimi | Republican | CA | 45th | $47,450 |
| Weber, Randy | Republican | TX | 14th | $4,000 |
| Webster, Daniel | Republican | FL | 11th | $2,500 |
| Wenstrup, Brad | Republican | OH | 2nd | $9,400 |
| Westerman, Bruce | Republican | AR | 4th | $11,000 |
| Williams, Roger | Republican | TX | 25th | $5,500 |
| Wilson, Joe | Republican | SC | 2nd | $11,500 |
| Wittman, Rob | Republican | VA | 1st | $11,050 |
| Womack, Steve | Republican | AR | 3rd | $15,500 |
| Woodall, Rob | Republican | GA | 7th | $9,250 |
| Yoho, Ted | Republican | FL: | 3rd | $4,000 |
| Young, Don | Republican | AK | 1st | $28,650 |
| Young, David | Republican | IA | 3rd | $41,750 |
*Data for this representative obtained from the Virginia Public Access Project.
**Data for this representative obtained from Open Secrets.
http://www.theverge.com/2017/3/29/15100620/congress-fcc-isp-web-browsing-privacy-fire-sale
William Hurd, eh? but of course, he is one of Trump’s dudes…and of course all the Trumpers in my neck of the woods voted for this piece of you know what. Read somewhere there is a “go-fund-me” site that is asking for donations to “fund” invading these @$$hole’s e-mails and websites and whatnot (posted here, thanks Kantucky, at http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/internet-users-raise-funds-buy-lawmakers-browsing-histories-protest/185828). It is an invasion of privacy, but screw that nonsense, I am going to post whatever on whatever website including my blogs and I don’t give a crap how many times NSA etc. “visit” me–the time for fear is over! The time for THEM to fear US is upon us!
Jail me? Been there, done that. Behead me–go ahead (but watch out for mountain lions, okay?) Because the Synagogue of Satan you bastards worship is GOING TO LOSE no matter what you evil minions do!