Why I Hate Politicians

This is from the AP. Makes perfect sense to me (not), satellite providers are exempt from the franchise tax primarily because they were founded after cable companies and only secondarily because they don't rely on the public infrastructure?

Cable industry wants tax on satellite subscribers

Consumers who receive satellite television service in Massachusetts would face a 5 percent tax under the terms of a proposed House bill, a move the cable TV industry is pushing because satellite providers such as DirecTV are competing with them for subscribers. The proposal, filed by Representative John Quinn, a Dartmouth Democrat, would levy the tax on both cable and satellite TV users, but wording in the bill -- written by the cable industry -- would then nullify the charge for cable subscribers because they already pay up to 5 percent in so-called franchise fees. Cities and towns have traditionally charged cable companies the fees to compensate a community for stringing wires and digging up roads to provide their service. Satellite companies have been spared the fees both because they came into existence after the fees were created and because their service does not rely on public infrastructure. (AP)

I hope John Quinn's constituents vote him out.