After an incredibly busy week for Senator Herb Kohl, things have slowed down a little bit this week. Nothing much has been really going on in his committees aside from the new AT&T deal announced yesterday, and it showed because Sen. Kohl had just made a few visits around Wisconsin this week to make a few speeches.
In the St. Ann Center for Intergenerational Care, Kohl spoke to a crowd of elders regarding Wisconsin's popular prescription drug program also known as SeniorCare. The program was established in 2002 by former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson and had been extended twice since then by Sen. Kohl. Kohl asked Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to oppose any requests that might incorporate changes into SeniorCare. For all of us that didn't know, a provision under a Medicaid waiver that has authorized SeniorCare, it states the program are not allowed without federal approval. After his short speech, Kohl opened up the floor for any questions that the audience might have while enjoying the company of his constituents.
More scrutiny has evolved in the Google case. Experts continue to weigh in on the search engine, most of them criticizing Google for their actions. After Google has expanded its services to options such as maps, videos, restaurants, and movie ratings, other companies are worried that Google is promoting its own products rather than giving everyone a fair competition. Google continues to say that they had done nothing wrong, but experts continue to scrutinize the internet giant.
I'm a little curious as to why those corporations haven't also mentioned the phones that are now powered by Google and the services offered on those phones. I think if many of us would take a look on the back of our cellphone, we might be surprised to find a little icon saying "Powered by Google." I for sure am satisfied with my Google powered Droid 2 as it has been a great phone to use. Google's also bringing in money that way, and all the phones powered by Google offer much more Google widgets than just the basic Google search engine.
Finally, to those of you who have yet to hear the phone company AT&T has acquired T-Mobile which rocketed AT&T to more than 130 million users in the United States. The purchase was made for $39 billion and now makes AT&T the fourth largest carrier in the country. This move has now created a monopoly for GSM users in America. AT&T will now be the only GSM carrier in the country which will completely eliminate any competition among phone companies.
As you might have guessed, this move by the two companies has sparked great interest from Congress. In fact, right after the deal was announced, Congress made it's own announcement that they will certainly take a "close look" into the deal. Senator Kohl's statement on the issue sates that, "The explosion of cell phone usage—especially smart phones—makes competition in this market more important than ever as a check on prices, consumer choice, and service, that's why the Antitrust Subcommittee will take a close look at what this loss of competition will mean for people who increasingly rely on wireless phone service to connect to friends, family and the Internet." As more news comes up regarding this topic, I will certainly keep you informed.
Also I wanted to end with Kohl's statement on the war in Libya. In an interview with Channel 18 news in Eau Claire, Herb Kohl came out with this statement: "The conflict in Libya is similar to what is happening around the Middle East. People want a voice in their future and Americans support that notion. We must be careful when taking action and avoid overstretching our armed forces as we go about providing our supportive role."
Have a great weekend everyone! See you next week!
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