It's always helpful to have a good sense of what motivations could be behind the actions of members of Congress. It's even more helpful when those members are hell-bent on doing something that not just a majority of voters is opposed to, but is nearly universally opposed. That's the case with net neutrality. The public has spoken, and net neutrality is possibly even more popular than Social Security. One poll found that
83 percent of "very conservative" people support it.
So what could be behind Republicans' legislative efforts to gut it? I'll give you three guesses, but you only need one. Campaign contributions.
- The top four internet service providers, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon Communications, contributed $156,300 to Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) during the 2014 election cycle.
- The four companies contributed $99,500 to Rep. Upton.
- The four companies contributed $56,800 to Rep. Walden.
- The top contributor, Comcast, contributed $69,650 to the two chairmen during the 2014 election cycle.
In fact, Comcast was the
number one donor to Upton in the 2013-14 cycle. Verizon was number four. Comcast was Walden's
number three donor.
That's just about all you need to know about where these guys place their loyalty.
Please, help us protect all that we’ve built with this amazing campaign. Call your members of Congress today urging them to "Let the FCC do its job" to create net neutrality rules and protect an open internet.
Can't call? Sign and send a petition to your member of Congress: Don't kill net neutrality.