Ted Stevens
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Ted Stevens, a.k.a. "Techno Ted" [1] is a former Republican U.S. Senator from Alaska and is the former Chair of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.
Ted Stevens is something less than the hard bitten son of the Alaska frontier. He was actually born in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 11, 1923, received a BS in Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles and an LLB from Harvard University law School. Prior to university he served as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Air Corps in China from 1943-1946. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate way back in 1968.
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A Depressed Oil Pol
During the early part of his Senate career, Stevens had an ever so slightly left-of-center voting record. Since gaining a leadership position in 1977 however he has been goose-stepping to the right. Oil drilling is Ted Stevens' policy obsession. He wants to see the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge despoiled for America's energy consumption fenzy. In March 2005, Stevens even whined about the difficulty of passing legislation allowing Big Oil to get at the hydrocarbon bonanza, saying "I'm seriously depressed, unfortunately, clinically depressed. And I've been told that [it's] because I've been at this too long." Poor baby. Source: Bill Schneider. "Stevens Leads Fight for Oil Drilling." CNN. March 18, 2005.
"A Series of Tubes"
In a debate over Net Neutrality, on June 28, 2006, Sen. Stevens declared: "I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?...the Internet is not something you just dump something on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes!" The Daily Show, among other programs, took the quote as evidence that Stevens didn't know how the intenet worked, despite being one of the top people in charge of regulating it. Wired Article Ted is now often refered to on the net as "Ted Series of Tubes Stevens".
Telecomunications "Reform" Failure
Stevens singularly failed to pass his telecommunications bill that would reduced the Internet to the same sad state of inequality Big Media has imposed everywhere else in American mass communications. His legislation would have made cable companies richer by allowing them to compete in the video services market and impose discriminatory pricing against Internet companies for increased delivery speeds and service quality. Forbes.com Article
Corruption
- Stevens was indicted on seven counts of making false statements on July 29, 2008. (Source: AK-Sen: Ted Stevens indicted)
Family
- His son, Ben Stevens is the President of Alaska's State Senate. He and several other lawmakers have been investigated by the FBI in relation to the oil firm Veco. (Source: Federal Agents Raid Legislative Offices)
2008 Defeat
Stevens was nominated by the Republican Party yet again in 2008. His campaign was tarnished by his corruption trial, and on Election Day, he was narrowly defeated by popular Anchorage mayor Mark Begich.
External Links
- Official Senate Page
- Stevens Anxious about holding Second Bush Administration accountable for Misuse of Intelligence on Iraq
- Voting Record
- Campaign Contributions
- Reyes, B.J. and Borreca, Richard. ON THE MONEY TRAIL: Alaska senator’s shaky future may be Hawaii’s loss Honolulu Advertiser, July 11, 2007.
- Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch): Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, September 2007.