This is a great week for taking a step back for a good look at how Washington works.  It’s also a great demonstration of that wonderful saying, “It’s never over until it’s over.  And it’s never over.”

On the menu are AT&T’s failed takeover of T-Mobile, a bill to set rules for spectrum auctions, a payroll tax bill pending in Congress, a bill to change FCC procedures, and Verizon’s planned collaboration with Comcast and other cable companies.   They all have something in common:  big companies trying to obtain their fair advantage over consumers and competitors.  In these cases, it’s generally in the wireless market.

Here in Washington, a classic way to get a bad policy passed is to attach it to the back of some unrelated “must pass” piece of legislation. Attaching one bad idea to a bill is sneaky.  Attaching two bad ideas is bold.  Attaching three?  Well, that’s what we have with a trio of horrible wireless ideas that some people in Congress are trying to attach to the upcoming Payroll Tax bill.

It is almost as if the proponents of these additions took a few years’ worth of ideas that will make wireless worse, wrapped them up in a bundle, and glued them to the underside of a bill that – if it does not pass – will raise taxes for millions of Americans.  In this case, these conditions would apply to spectrum freed up by the transition to digital TV broadcasting, and would impact some of the most useful spectrum to become available for years.  What are these conditions?

This week the tech world will descend on Las Vegas for the annual Consumer Electronics Show.  While there is nothing subtle about a 152-inch 3D plasma TV there are plenty of subtle forces coming from DC that shape what you see at shows like CES and at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy.  Here are just four examples.

AllVid or Why Can’t Apple, Google, Microsoft, Roku, and Boxee Boxes Get Cable Channels?

Thomas Friedman writes in his column yesterday that none of the Republican candidates has focused much on technological innovation, then proceeds to focus on the matter of “smart cities.” Friedman’s thesis is fairly straightforward: to maintain our competitive edge, we will need to keep pumping up our bandwidth, particularly in cities and towns which historically act as the incubators for The Next Big Thing and all its associated, Highly Useful Little Things. Blair Levin’s Gig U gets favorable mention, and Blair gets quoted a lot on why we want huge bandwidth in urban areas as well as making sure everyone gets access to functional broadband.

From Mountain Area Information Network, A N.C. non-profit, to Congressman Schuler.

“Spectrum” refers to the public airwaves that technologies like radios, broadcast television, and mobile phones rely on to function. These public airwaves are overseen by federal agencies, which are responsible for licensing spectrum and optimizing its use to prevent harmful interference.

Many argue that a spectrum “crisis” is imminent—and while it is true that the use of spectrum-reliant technologies is increasing, there are ways to make more efficient uses of spectrum while simultaneously spurring innovation and benefiting the public.

Public Knowledge’s Position

Opening up spectrum for more unlicensed uses and increasing the efficiency of all spectrum uses will greatly benefit competition in wireless broadband, innovation in technology that relies on short-distance radio communication, and even the needs of first-responders, like firefighters and ambulances, who rely on immediate radio communication to save lives.

Not surprisingly, the ubiquitous combination of incentive auctions/D Block re-allocation/Public Safety Network has made its way into the proposed American Jobs Act. Somewhat surprisingly, the spectrum piece is not simply a reprint of the Hutchison/Rockefeller S.911 Bill or the Democratic House discussion draft. It’s not even a straight cut and paste from Reid’s Debt Ceiling/Deficit Reduction draft (Reid being the one who introduced the President's Bill) that gave the broadcasters conniptions but raised the revenue for debt reduction.