GOP uses budget bill in attempt to kill net neutrality

The House GOP war against the Obama administration now consists of net neutrality rules proposed by the FCC. Net neutrality rules are supported by the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress. The rules are intended to keep access to Internet services of the highest quality equal for all Americans. To undermine the new rules, the GOP-controlled House added a rider to a key spending bill that would deprive the FCC of funds needed to enforce net neutrality. This may help the millions of people who take out paydayloans every month just to pay their internet bill.

Net neutrality and connections with the federal spending budget

In an attempt to keep the FCC from implementing new net neutrality rules, the Republican-controlled House approved an amendment to a budget bill needed to fund the federal government to the end of the 2011 fiscal year in June. The amendment to defund FCC net neutrality is one of the few means Republicans have to satisfy their constituents at corporations like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon who control most U.S. Internet access. The legislation process might not go so well though for the net neutrality amendment. It will be really hard for President Obama to veto the amendment if it’s part of the spending budget bill the government needs for funds.

Concerns over net neutrality shown in politics

The net neutrality put out by the FCC is supported by Obama. The Senate Democrats support it as well. The rules passed the Democratic House in December, however U.S. Senate Republicans stalled the measure in anticipation of the GOP gaining control of the House in the new year. Democrats don’t want to talk about the net neutrality defunding amendment. It is something they are refusing to bring up. On March 4, the government funding bill that is currently there will disappear. It is vital that a new spending bill be created. Otherwise, the government may have to stop anything.

Facts about net neutrality

New net neutrality rules are being considered because a few major corporations control Internet access for most Americans. Some people suspect these corporations of colluding with each other to keep rates high and the quality of service low. The FCC hopes to encourage more competition in the Internet service provider sector by preventing major Internet service providers from charging sites for faster access and throttling Internet connections for content providers and consumers who do not pay extra.

Articles cited

Wall Street Journal

online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110217-718244.html

Politico

politico.com/news/stories/0211/49754.html

Daily Tech

dailytech.com/US+House+Votes+to+Allow+Cable+Providers+to+Throttle+Internet/article20947.htm