Verizon is paying the ÄúnominalÄù fee of $3 million to sponsor the Republican convention in NYC. (AT&T is kicking in the dollars as is CitiCrook!) It seems that convention sponsorships are a legal loophole that allows both parties to collect large donations … as per our comment board! But this is a real nugget from Bloomberg News
The U.S. Telecom Association, which represents Verizon and other phone companies, is running television, radio and newspaper advertisements asking Congress to revise the telecommunications act, which set competition rules for long-distance and local phone service. Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said at a May 12 Senate Commerce Committee hearing that the 8-year-old law was outdated because it was written before high-speed Internet connections and wireless phones ushered in a new era of telephone competition. Seidenberg is on the list of finance vice-chairmen for the New York Convention. Verizon spent $7.6 million lobbying in Washington last year.