Upset with the FCC's decision to reclassify broadband as a regulated telecommunications service, Congressional Republicans are demanding to know the extent to which the White House influenced the agency's net neutrality rules. Several congressional Republicans have accused the White House of derailing the normal "pay to play" Washington protocols and improperly influencing the FCC net-neutrality rule-making process by publically calling on the agency to reclassify broadband as a regulated public utility in November.
Wheeler appeared to change his position and embrace that idea after the president urged the independent agency to do so, critics have said. There appeared to be no mention of the almost 1.5 million public comments made before Sept. 15, 2014 and whether they may have unfairly influenced Wheeler and two other FCC Commissioners, Mignon Clyburn (left) and Jessica Rosenworcel. (https://gigaom.com/...)
Despite the substantial lobbying and financial contributions (i.e. bribes) from industry supporters of an internet "fast lane," last week, Wheeler proposed strict new federal oversight of online traffic to ensure Internet providers don't give preference to video and other content from some websites over others.
The five most active organizations on the issue since 2005—Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and the National Music Publishers Association—are all opposed to neutrality. Verizon and AT&T are heads and shoulders above everyone else, each with an estimated 119 reports mentioning net neutrality. http://www.dailydot.com/...
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Of the five organizations with vested interests in this issue that spent the most money in 2012 (the last year for which we have complete data), four oppose neutrality. All five, though, spent impressive sums.
The four top organizations opposed to net-neutrality were the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), AT&T, Verizon and Comcast, who spent a combined total of over $66 million through 2012. The lone supporter of net-neutrality in the top five, Google, spend $18.2 million in the same period. (dailydot)
Wheeler's plan is much tougher than what he initially outlined early last year and closely follows the approach President Obama publicly called for in November, and so of course the Republicans smell a conspiratorial odor wafting across the Mall from the White House BBQ.
On Monday, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) asked FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a letter to explain his decision and produce documents related to communications and meetings involving the White House and agency officials concerning the issue.
Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told Wheeler he was concerned that there was “apparent pressure exerted on you and your agency by the White House.” http://www.latimes.com/...
Johnson's letter was similar to one sent on Friday by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Chaffetz said in a letter dated Friday that he was investigating reports indicating “views expressed by the White House potentially had an improper influence” on development of Wheeler's proposal.
He and Johnson cited a Wall Street Journal article last week that reported that two White House aides led an effort in secret ” to build support from outside groups for tough net-neutrality regulations. The article did not indicate that the aides, Obama or other White House officials directly pressured Wheeler to take the more aggressive approach. It is hard to imagine exactly what they meant by "secretive," as Obama made his opinions well known in his widely reported public statement urging the FCC to implement stronger net-neutrality rules in November 2014. And his email blasts to supporters were anything but a secret.
While "Johnson and Chaffetz asked for “all documents and communications” between the FCC and the White House regarding the net-neutrality rules," it seems somewhat myopic not to want to review un-redacted copies of the nearly 1.5 million public comments.
In his snarky log for Huffington Post, David Fagin writes satirically,
Washington D.C. -- Speaker of the House John Boehner announced today that his office will be launching an unprecedented probe into why bribes and kickbacks were not enough to secure a victory in the years-long, hotly contested, Net Neutrality issue.
Speaker Boehner stated, "Today's decision by the FCC allowing the Internet to remain free, unregulated, and out of the reach of greedy corporate lackeys, is a stain on the face of everything rich and powerful Americans hold dear. We will spare no expense of tax payer dollars to get to the bottom of this. Being fair is simply not fair. What is money good for if not to buy power and influence?"
The two Republican members of the Federal Communications Commission, Michael O'Rielly and Ajut Pai, both have past connections to big money interests opposed to the rules. On the other hand, so does the FCC chairman, whose proposal is on the table. Pai, used to be a lawyer for Verizon, a company that has been on the front lines fighting FCC net neutrality guidelines in the past.
Verizon is a major money player in Washington. In the 2014 campaign cycle, the company contributed $3.3 million to congressional candidates, and last year, Verizon spent $13.3 million lobbying the federal government (including the FCC) on a variety of issues.
Before being appointed to his FCC post in 2013, O’Reilly worked in the office of Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas). And before that, he worked for former Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), and former Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.).
Each of the elected officials O’Reilly worked for count broadband cable companies among their top 20 donors. Cornyn’s No. 1 donor is AT&T, and lobbyists from the company gave to the senator as well. His No. 19 was Comcast, a company whose lobbyists also donated money to either his campaign committee or his leadership PAC. Kyl also received money from AT&T and AT&T lobbyists.
Sununu had AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon — and their lobbyists — in his top donor tier when he was in public office. All of those companies are against regulating the Internet as a utility, and Sununu has joined the chorus from the outside. Since leaving the Senate, Sununu joined the board of directors of Time Warner Cable and sits as an honorary co-chairman of the nonprofit Broadband for America, which advocates on behalf of broadband Internet interests.
But money and past ties don’t always rule the day. Democratic FCC Chairman Wheeler spent much of his career heading the National Cable and Telecommunications Association and the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, both of which oppose his current proposal. Wheeler’s position, though, has evolved — he was previously in favor of an approach more to the Internet service providers’ liking. http://www.opensecrets.org/...
The only Democrat on the commission previously employed as a Capitol Hill staffer is Jessica Rosenworcel who worked for Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), who at the time chaired the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. AT&T and Verizon were both top Rockefeller donors, but despite their money he came out in support of net neutrality measures.
So the pattern is pretty clear. Republicans played ball, but it looks like the Democrats did not. Something is very wrong in this country when major corporations pay good money and have well connected politicians and committee members in place to do their bidding, and somehow it all turns sour on them. Internet neutrality is not what ISP's paid for, and they are expecting the Congress to do something about it, Dammit! More investigations please. By the way, what ever happened to Benghazi and the IRS scandals?