Political Quotes

“I would just like to say, just to correct the record, I was not a big supporter of this 6 percent from the beginning. And I can point the finger at others. I was not the instigator of this. However, it is part of the bill. And, in fact, a study was put out that, according to the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies, indicates that competition and the rise in the number of cable providers will cause total cable industry revenues to go up such that the 5 percent franchise fee, along with the 1 percent increase for the PEG channels, will see revenues increase by as much as 30 percent. Now, I might note, where does that 30 percent come from? It comes from us, the consumers. It is passed along. So the cities are going to actually increase revenue. They are going to still maintain the control of the right-of-way, as they should. I don't know where the CBO came up with this study. I know that I am told that they conferred with our staff. They obviously didn't listen very well. I look forward to cosponsoring the legislation along with Chairman Barton. I think that this does need to be addressed. CBO, I think, in addition, made another major mistake on the transition to digital bill that the President signed into law earlier this year when they calculated that the sale of the spectrum, the analog spectrum, would bring in only $10 billion when, in fact, we saw some private studies that it might be as much as $20 billion. So, again, Mr.…”