You’d think Chuck Schumer, the Democratic New York senator actually from New York, would have been so busy trying to pin down Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito on issues near and dear to liberals that he couldn’t possibly have had the time to tackle the mushrooming, non-partisan scandal over Internet sales of cell-phone records.
But he did.
But then Schumer has tended to gravitate toward wireless issues in recent years. In fact, he might be regarded as a leading critic of the wireless industry. He’s not afraid of getting in industry’s face.
A few years ago, Schumer relentlessly nudged and needled cell-phone carriers and policy-makers in hopes of shaming service providers into allowing subscribers to keep phone numbers. It worked. More recently, Schumer has used the same demonstrable tactics in hopes of improving communications interoperability among first responders. Schumer was against giving then-Nextel Communications Inc. spectrum in the 1.9 GHz spectrum band as part of a deal to remedy interference to 800 MHz public-safety radio systems.
Forget all that. Welcome industry’s newest poster child: Chuck Schumer, wireless pitchman extraordinaire.
Schumer is on the war path over the theft and sale of cell-phone records. So are other federal and state officials coast to coast. But Schumer’s the guy you really want if the idea is to make a federal case out of cell-phone-record-gate, if you really want national legislation to stop the scourge on this great nation of 200 million mobile-phone subscribers. Cell-phone giants and prominent lawmakers believe Schumer’s the man.
Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA Inc. back Schumer’s bipartisan bill to criminalize the stealing and selling of cell phone records-like those of retired Gen. Wes Clark. Clark’s getting a heap of media attention as a result of having his cell-phone records lifted. What a great start for a 2008 presidential run, though I don’t know how Americans feel about politicians as victims.
Supporting Schumer are Sen. Arlen Spector (R-Pa.), the Judiciary Committee chairman who helped shepherd the Alito nomination onward and upward, Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and others. Nelson, like Schumer, opposed the Alito nomination. No problem. Cell-phone-record theft has become the great unifier in a town otherwise awash in nasty food fights and finger-pointing over Alito, eavesdropping, defense readiness and just about anything else you can think of.
But now they’re rallying around Chuck.
But wait, there’s more.
Schumer is irked about the 3-percent federal excise tax on cell-phone service in his home state. And that’s just fine and dandy with the mobile-phone industry, which has tried in vain for years to get the ancient telecom levy eliminated nationwide.
While Schumer’s not entirely “on message” with the wireless industry, it probably can better tolerate his kvetching these days.
