more on Bush Administration Punishes some who donated to Kerry

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Nokia's reply:


Nokia responds:
³We do not view sending experts to international meetings on telecom issues
to be a partisan matter. We would welcome clarification from the White
House.²


------ Forwarded Message
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 07:18:36 -0400
To: Ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: Bush Administration Punishes some who donated to Kerry


------ Forwarded Message
From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 00:47:37 -0400
To: JMG <johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com>
Cc: Dave <dave () farber net>
Subject: Bush Administration Punishes some who donated to Kerry

http://tinyurl.com/9zvzk

Any Kerry Supporters On The Line?
The Bush Administration punishes some Democrat backers
By VIVECA NOVAK AND JOHN DICKERSON

Sunday, Apr. 24, 2005
The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission meets three times a year
in various cities across the Americas to discuss such dry but important
issues as telecommunications standards and spectrum regulations. But for
this week's meeting in Guatemala City, politics has barged onto the
agenda. At least four of the two dozen or so U.S. delegates selected for
the meeting, sources tell TIME, have been bumped by the White House
because they supported John Kerry's 2004 campaign.

The State Department has traditionally put together a list of industry
representatives for these meetings, and anyone in the U.S. telecom
industry who had the requisite expertise and wanted to go was generally
given a slot, say past participants. Only after the start of Bush's
second term did a political litmus test emerge, industry sources say.

The White House admits as much: "We wanted people who would represent
the Administration positively, and--call us nutty--it seemed like those
who wanted to kick this Administration out of town last November would
have some difficulty doing that," says White House spokesman Trent
Duffy. Those barred from the trip include employees of Qualcomm and
Nokia, two of the largest telecom firms operating in the U.S., as well
as Ibiquity, a digital-radio-technology company in Columbia, Md. One
nixed participant, who has been to many of these telecom meetings and
who wants to remain anonymous, gave just $250 to the Democratic Party.
Says Nokia vice president Bill Plummer: "We do not view sending experts
to international meetings on telecom issues to be a partisan matter. We
would welcome clarification from the White House."

> From the May. 02, 2005 issue of TIME magazine



------ End of Forwarded Message

------ End of Forwarded Message


-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
  http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/