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July 2016

E-mails show Debbie Wasserman Schultz pressured ‘Morning Joe’ — to no avail

On May 18, "Morning Joe" co-host Mika Brzezinski said Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz "should step down" because she had favored Hillary Clinton over Sen Bernie Sanders (I-VT) throughout the primary. One week later, Brzezinski doubled down, saying, "My contention all along has been that [Wasserman Schultz] has been in the tank for Hillary from the get-go, and it's been quite obvious." The repetition seemed like no big deal at the time, but now hacked DNC e-mails show that in between Wasserman Schultz and her staff flipped out, pressuring MSNBC to make Brzezinski and partner Joe Scarborough tone down their criticism. Clearly, it didn't work.

The WikiLeaks' release of DNC e-mails offers a window into Democrats' relations with the press. In some cases, the view of the media isn't terribly flattering. "This is the LAST straw," Wasserman Schultz wrote to her communications director, Luis Miranda, on the morning that Brzezinski called for her resignation. "Please call Phil a [sic] Griffin. This is outrageous. She needs to apologize."

Thanks to Wilson (NC), Tiny Rural Pinetops Is A Gigabit City

“We just love it!” That was the response of Pinetops (NC) Acting Town Manager, Brenda Harrell, in response to being asked what it is like for her rural residents to now have access to Gigabit Internet speeds. In April, Wilson (NC)’s community-owned fiber network reached out, passed every home and turned on its fiber to the home service in neighboring rural Pinetops. Pinetops is located about a 20 minute drive due east from Greenlight’s operations center, but more importantly, it is in another county entirely.

Back in February 2015, the Federal Communications Commission preempted a North Carolina state law, known as H129, that prohibited Wilson from serving any residents outside of Wilson County. That preemption was the green light Wilson needed to reach out to its rural neighbors and complete a project that was stopped when H129 became law. Wilson serves six neighboring counties with its municipal electric services, including Pinetops which is located in Edgecombe County.

FCC's Wheeler Said to Stay into 2017 if Clinton Wins Election

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler intends to stay in his job until the middle of 2017 if presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wins the White House, apparently. Chairman Wheeler has avoided any public pronouncements about when he might leave the agency. Apparently, Chairman Wheeler has told telecommunications industry insiders privately about his plans for 2017.

Staying until mid-2017 gives Chairman Wheeler a better shot at wrapping up several big-ticket agency initiatives, sealing his legacy as an activist chairman. Chairman Wheeler is hoping to finish several controversial agency proposals before he leaves the chairmanship, including rules impacting the business broadband market, broadband privacy related to his network neutrality rules and a complex auction to shift spectrum licenses from television broadcasters into the hands of mobile carriers hungry for more airwaves. A mid-2017 time frame could also be just what a Clinton administration would prefer, apparently. Chairman Wheeler technically could serve out his full five-year commission term, which doesn't end until Nov. 3, 2018. That is not likely; according to conventional wisdom inside the Beltway, a Clinton loyalist is expected to take the helm of an agency that has grown from relative obscurity to playing a prominent policy role in the Obama Administration.

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