Relative silence following call for national broadband policy by ...

a rule of thumb, one should be wary of anyone in Washington invoking President Kennedy’s call to land a man on the moon,” James Gattuso said. He said there was “certainly reason to be bullish on broadband, I am too,” but faulted Lieberman for avoiding explicit positions in his lengthy report. “On most issues,” Gattuso wrote in piece distributed by Competitive Enterprise Institute, “Lieberman performs an awe-inspiring politician’s dance, discussing the topic, grimly intoning how important it is, then moving on without stating a position.” Gattuso cited Lieberman’s discussion of need for competition, in which he outlined debate at FCC and said policymakers couldn’t avoid debate on competition. “It then goes on to avoid the debate over competition, not even hinting at a position,” Gattuso said. He noted Lieberman was likely 2004 Presidential candidate, but as for his criticism of White House’s lack of position on broadband, Gattuso said: “Fair enough -- the White House has been conspicuous by its silence on broadband regulation.” He said Lieberman, who isn’t on either Commerce or Judiciary committees and until now has been relatively silent on broadband, “is but the latest player in an increasingly crowded Senate broadband debate.”