“In the last six years, Senator Conrad Burns’ campaign has taken $59k from TV/Music/Movie PACs, including $2k from the RIAA and Disney. He’s also the 4th-highest recipient of entertainment industry money in Congress. So we started wondering if Burns’ campaign has a new policy against accepting contributions from political action committees when they returned our iPod with this note: ‘Thank you, but we cannot accept this gift,'” Jake reports for iPac.
“Why not? IPac’s contribution is legal. It was submitted with all of the required paperwork,” Jake reports. “And it was paid for by ordinary Americans who care about balanced copyright and technology policy. We’re sending his campaign a letter to clarify their policy on accepting contributions from PACs, and we’ll let you know what they say. We hope their answer is that they’re swearing off *all* PAC contributions, including the tens of thousands of dollars that they take from the entertainment industry! It could also be that Senator Burns has sworn off all new technology. His campaign spokesperson had this to say to the Missoula Independent:
The iPod donation, says Klindt, “is the first time we have received something technological” as a donation, adding that “it’s just not a donation that we want” and confirming that while Burns does not presently own an iPod, “if he wants an iPod, he’ll buy one.”
Full article here.
On April 11th, iPac shipped the first 12 iPods to Senatorial campaign committees as part of its “Your Senator Needs an iPod” campaign. The campaign is designed to bring attention to the growing issue of information policy (patents, copyrights, and trademarks). Key members of both political parties were given iPods for campaign activities illustrating how innovative digital devices can be used along with a rich array of cultural items provided by the public domain and initiatives like Creative Commons. Please see related article below for more information.
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Related article:
Buy your Senator an Apple iPod today – February 01, 2006
Come on take the iPod…it is ze wafer thin.
I may move to Montana so I can vote for this guy – anyone willing to admit they don’t want and are not interested in an iPod is a great American!
They probably shouldn’t have loaded it with Air America podcasts. Kidding! Oh lord, now I’ve done it. Release the thread hounds!
Good For You, that is a very naive stance if you think that is the reason he didn’t accept the iPod.
Oh, no! Here we go again.
To Ray: nice MOL reference!
MR. CREOSOTE:
“Look. I couldn’t eat another thing. I’m absolutely stuffed. Bugger off.”
Time Magazine, April 14, 2006:
America’s Worst Senators: Conrad Burns
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1183991,00.html
Sen. Burns should have dept the iPod. He will need it in prison. He is in way over his head in Abramoff money and is the target of a Justice Department investigation and probably a grand jury.
Maybe they only want cold hard cash!!
MW “gave” – now that’s spooky!
Okay, why the iPod hate? I own an iPod but I have nothing against people who have no interest in owning one. Honestly, if I didn’t live in a major metropolitan area I probably wouldn’t own one. However, since I spend alot of time walking everywhere or on the L then it’s nice to have one to pass the time.
rasin’ frasin’ good fer nuthin’ neocon, treehuggin’ no account Pinko/Fascist, god-fearing athiests…
hmmm… I ran out of fightin’ words. I thought I had more.
in any case, take the ipod, they’re nice.
if he wants an iPod, the RIAA will buy him one!
He justs want money not iPods
“$59k from TV/Music/Movie PACs, including $2k from the RIAA and Disney. He’s also the 4th-highest recipient of entertainment industry money in Congress.”
The problem for Burns is that, unlike money, the iPod cannot be laundered.
Just covering his butt. He can’t accept this “gift” and then turn around and accept gifts from the vary folks iPac is trying to fight. He’s not (very) dumb.
He’s going to go with the money and not insult his cash-cow TV/Music/RIAA contributors. It would be extremely naive to think he returned this iPod for any other reason. He’s a politician for crying out loud.
Conrad’s one of the most uniquely unqualified elected officials ever. His political background before being elected to the senate consisted of a term or two of complete inaction on a county commission; prior to that, he was a part-time TV reporter, doing the farm and ranch news (a job that consists mostly of reading the prices of cows and wheat off a teleprompter in a good-ol’-boy voice).
So, when he got to Washington, he ended up in charge of things like a telecommunications committee, because of his “vast experience” in telecommunications. After all, he’d been on the local TV news for 3 minutes a day, 5 days a week (but only during the noon news, not the morning or evening broadcasts).
He proved so good at doing whatever he was paid to do and believing whatever he was paid to believe that he’s been re-elected twice and is running for his fourth term, with the biggest campaign fund in Montana history.
Of course, that means he’s above and beyond accepting something like an iPod. To even buy enough of his attention to get him to accept the bribe… er, I mean “contribution,” you’ll need four figures, and probably five.
He’s just a pompous snob that has his nose so far in the air if he got caught in the rain he’d drown.
Either that or people from Montana are really out of touch with the world.
I guess its a little of both.
Montana is a great place to visit-it truly is a beautiful state. It also is extremely Republican. I’ll leave it at that.
if they want him to take it, and he accepted 59k from the opposition, they should include a check for 60k with the ipod, he’s switch sides in a heartbeat. He’s a politician yes?
give that money hungry b*** some dollars and he will do ANY thing…. any thing.
Hey Andrew, careful with grouping too much.
Burns is a total dolt. He is on his last term in
the Senate. Montanans have finally realized
what an absolute idiot he is.
And please, all of you that only want to visit,
because it so beautiful here, come on by,
spend your money, if you don’t like it here,
please move on. We have enough people
moving here as it is.
Politicians only accept cash gifts, no exceptions.