Wednesday, February 25, 2015

‘Net Neutrality’ Is a Problem, Not a Solution

◼ The oldest trick in the collectivist playbook is to create a problem through government regulations, let it stew for a while, and then propose even bigger government as the only possible solution to the “crisis” it planted, nourished, and harvested. - John Hayward/Breitbart @Doc_o

We watched government tinkering in health care make it more expensive and complicated, year after year… until the time was ripe to stuff the biggest, sloppiest, most poorly-thought-out Big Government power grab of the modern era down our throats. Are we really going to fall for that again with the FCC’s new Net Neutrality regulations?

Net Neutrality is a problem, not a solution, and it won’t take long before we’re told that even more extensive and intrusive government control of Internet service is necessary to address all the “unintended consequences” it produces. The big difference between the government takeovers of health care and the Internet is that the latter will happen much faster, because everything happens faster on the Internet.

Mark Cuban, a longtime critic of the Net Neutrality push, went on Glenn Beck’s TV show Tuesday to talk about those “unintended consequences,” which one suspects are going to come as a surprise to the suckers who think the Obama Administration is heroically trying to make their telecom bills lower by fiat, rather than huckstering them into with a massive con job...

The mainstream media is risibly attempting to portray Net Neutrality as a David-vs.-Goliath victory of the Little Guy over evil mega-corporations with a regulatory slingshot. It’s more like David inviting Godzilla into the ring to take out Goliath, without much thought for what Godzilla’s going to do afterward.

They’re about to find out that Godzilla’s appetite for power will be whetted, not sated, by the meal they’re offering. Activist government uses its power to create crises that can be exploited to accumulate more power. It’s the most reliable process in the world, but smart people keep fooling themselves into being surprised by it. KEEP READING



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Does Obama Have Authority to Unilaterally Give Illegals Social Security Numbers? Sen. Heller: ‘I Don’t Have An Answer’

◼ On Capitol Hill, CNSNews.com asked Heller: “A federal court has said giving Social Security Numbers to illegal aliens is not prosecutorial discretion. Does the president have the power to unilaterally give Social Security Numbers to illegal aliens?” - Cybercast News Service
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Democrats Fear an Ambush on the Senate Floor

◼ Democrats are worried about an ambush. With less than three days left before the Homeland Security Department shutdown, Senate Democrats have accepted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell´s offer. But they´re exceedingly wary of how vulnerable such a move will make them. - National Journal
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FCC CHAIR REFUSES TO APPEAR BEFORE CONGRESS AHEAD OF INTERNET TAKEOVER

◼ “So long as the chairman continues to insist on secrecy, we will continue calling for more transparency and accountability at the commission,” Chaffetz and Upton said in a statement. “Chairman Wheeler and the FCC are not above Congress.” - National Review



◼ LEFT GROUPS NOW FEAR: GOV'T NET GRAB GOING TOO FAR! - Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Unfortunately, if a recent report from Reuters is correct, the general conduct rule will be anything but clear. The FCC will evaluate “harm” based on consideration of seven factors: impact on competition; impact on innovation; impact on free expression; impact on broadband deployment and investments; whether the actions in question are specific to some applications and not others; whether they comply with industry best standards and practices; and whether they take place without the awareness of the end-user, the Internet subscriber.
◼ Plan Could Lead to UN Takeover of Internet
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune of South Dakota argued that by claiming more authority over Internet access for net neutrality, the Federal Communications Commission will undermine the ability of the U.S. to push back against international plots to control the Internet and censor content.
◼ SOROS CASH BEHIND PUSH - Paul Bedard/Washington Examiner
“The Ford Foundation, which claims to be the second-largest private foundation in the U.S., and Open Society Foundations, founded by far-left billionaire George Soros, have given more than $196 million to pro-net neutrality groups between 2000 and 2013,” said the report, authored by Media Research Center’s Joseph Rossell, and provided to Secrets.

“These left-wing groups not only impacted the public debate and funded top liberal think tanks from the Center for American Progress to Free Press. They also have direct ties to the White House and regulatory agencies. At least five individuals from these groups have ascended to key positions at the White House and FCC,” said the report which included funding details to pro-net neutrality advocates.
◼ Commisioner: 'Independence of agency has been compromised' - Reason Magazine
◼ Lawless? - The Hill
From all indications, the FCC contemplates that the new rules will be sufficiently burdensome and costly — and sufficiently ambiguous — that affected parties will be invited to seek exemptions from the new mandates through "waiver" requests or other administrative mechanisms.

But this likely flood of waiver requests should raise serious questions concerning the lawfulness of the agency's mode of operating. As Philip Hamburger discusses in his book, Is Administrative Law Unlawful?, one of our Founders' objectives was to control, if not eliminate, what in England was known as the "dispensing" power. Simply put, the dispensing power — which is much discussed in English constitutional history — was a form of exercise of royal prerogative under which the king could excuse himself or his favored subjects from complying with particular laws enacted by Parliament. As Hamburger explains, today's administrative agencies, in essence, have resurrected the dispensing power by the way they so often use waivers to grant favored treatment.





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Another Federal Judge Strikes Down An Obama Executive Action On Immigration

◼ A federal judge appointed by President Obama issued a preliminary injunction last week ending a key 2014 immigration executive action that helped end a wave of illegal immigration from Central Americans countries last summer. - Conn Carroll/Townhall
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Many Americans still struggling in dismal Obama economy

◼ Anyone who’s followed the polls over the course of the Obama administration knows that the economy and jobs have been among our strongest concerns. - Human Events

The Gallup Poll reinforces this in its latest survey, asking people what they think are the biggest problems facing our country. “Economic problems” was, not surprisingly, their top concern — mentioned by nearly 40 percent, followed by unemployment/jobs generally, the budget deficits and the federal debt, in that order.

Despite the network news telling us the Obama economy is doing great and the job market is just getting better and better, the real story on that score isn’t good.
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