Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is once again proving that she has no understanding of either the wireless phone industry, the rationale behind contract law, or basic economics. Verizon Wireless announced last week that it was changing its early contract-termination fee for smartphone customers from a flat $175 to a pro-rated $350 that decreases $10 for every month that contract is in effect. Sen. Klobuchar sent complaints to both FCC Chair Julius Genachowski and Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam. From her letter:

I remain…

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Your host Richard Morrison welcomes back returning guest co-hosts Michelle Minton and Jeremy Lott for Episode 54 of the LibertyWeek podcast. We start with ominous hints of new taxes, California state employees making strike threats and the possible antitrust implications of the Microhoo partnership. We continue with a double-dipping pay scandal, the suppression of dissent in Venezuela and some fully transparent Olympic News.

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Today, in addition to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s expected announcement of a major mortgage modification plan through the $700 billion TARP, Barney Frank’s House Financial Services Committee is holding a hearing entitled “Private Sector Cooperation with Mortgage Modification.” However, despite the word “cooperation” in its title, it’s clear from letters Frank and others sent out that the hearing will be confrontational rather than cooperative. Specifically, Frank and some fellow committee members seek to villify investors in mortgage-backed secuties who assert…

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