Dear Conservative,
There is no doubt that corruption is rampant throughout Congress. Special interest groups and lobbyists buy votes by donating money to politicians' campaigns and in return, they get favorable legislation pushed through Congress. Every day, your voice is being drowned out by the lobbyists with bottomless checking accounts who are willing to stop at nothing to get their way.
This is why we at Conservative Daily fight so hard to help you to amplify your voice and ensure that you are heard throughout Capitol Hill!
But what happens when this corruption stretches across the aisle and both political parties begin to conspire against the American people?
For weeks, I have been writing about the dangers of the U.S. losing net neutrality. Net neutrality is the idea that cable and telephone companies need to treat all Internet content and users equally and that they cannot arbitrarily block a user’s access to legal web content.
Without net neutrality rules, cable and telephone companies (Internet service providers) can charge users more to access certain content and strike deals with large companies to have their websites more accessible than their competitors’ sites.
The U.S. District Court has struck down the FCC's net neutrality regulation and the Obama administration has ceased fighting the ruling. We have been overwhelming Congress with literally thousands of faxes, pressuring them to restore the FCC's net neutrality rules, however the Internet Preservation Act has gone nowhere because it lacks the support from both parties' leaders.
That is because their votes have already been bought by the big Internet service providers!
Tell Congress to restore net neutrality and stop the cable companies from extorting its customers!
Before the FCC decides how it will regulate the Internet, it has opened up the floor for public comment on suggestions for how to protect and promote the open internet.
Imaging trying to reach FoxNews .com only to be redirected to MSNBC. Seems far-fetched? Comcast owns MSNBC. It would be in their financial interest to funnel Internet users away from the competition and towards their own new websites.
The FCC's proposal is to reclassify the internet as a public utility. This would give the Federal Communications Commission the authority to ensure that Internet speed is not arbitrarily adjusted by telecom companies. Not surprisingly, a bipartisan group of Congressmen have come out and opposed the notion of a free and open Internet. They want liberal cable companies like Comcast to be able to control what you are allowed to access on the Internet!
The FCC’s proposal doesn't go far enough. Without net neutrality, internet providers will be able to make special deals with content providers, allowing those that pay-up to reach Internet users faster and more efficiently, but leaving little websites and startups in the dust.
Where is Congress on this? Shouldn't our elected officials want to ensure that the Internet is open to all users and businesses, not just those who pay extra to keep their content accessible?
Yes, this is what Congress SHOULD want, but they don't. Why? Because the cable industry has already bought their votes!
Following the FCC's proposal, three groups of Congressmen submitted letters to the Federal Communications Commission explaining why cable companies should be unregulated and free to extort businesses and customers however they please.
Letter #1 was signed by Rep. Fred Upton and three other Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee and warns that net neutrality will stifle economic growth and kill jobs. Letter #2 was signed by Reps. John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and the rest of the RINOs in the GOP leadership. And Letter #3 was signed by a group of twenty Democrats.
What do all of these signatories have in common? They all took above-average financial contributions from the cable industry! They aren't looking out for you... Their votes have already been bought and paid for!
Tell Congress to restore net neutrality and stop the cable companies from extorting its customers!
Representatives John Boehner and Eric Cantor, together, took in $156,250 last year in financial contributions from cable interests. These are the leaders who decide what legislation comes up for a vote in the House. They aren't looking out for you... They are looking out for their bank accounts!
Nancy Pelosi holds more stock in Comcast than any other congressman and all-together, Comcast is the 25th-most held stock in all of Congress. These crooks in Congress aren't voting for your interests... They are voting to protect their income!
All-in-all, 28 Democrats and Republicans have commented publicly on the proposed net neutrality rule change. As a whole, these Congressmen received more than twice as much money from cable companies as the average member of congress. Representative Greg Walden (R-Ore) has received $109,250 from cable companies in the past year ALONE!
Net neutrality isn't a sexy topic. It isn’t going to get people rallying in the streets. But it is absolutely essential to have an internet that supports the free flow of information and allows for innovation, rather than just protecting the status-quo. A lot of people look at the issue and, at first glance, agree that the Internet shouldn't be regulated or controlled by government. These are valuable points; however surrendering government control of the Internet is simply trading a public master for a private one. The only difference between government and private companies controlling the internet is that the latter stands to make hundreds of billions of dollars on it.
Unless Congress intervenes and restores net neutrality, Internet service providers will be able to pick and choose what Internet content you are allowed to access. They will be able to charge websites for preferential treatment to ensure that their content is accessible. And they will even be allowed to erect Internet toll booths to collect money whenever you try to access one of their competitors' websites.
Yet, as you see, Congress has already been bought. The cable companies have spent millions buying votes to protect their business models. This isn’t government controlling the internet. This is ensuring that multi-billion dollar, for-profit private companies DON’T control the internet! Now, more than ever, we must let our voices be heard and demand that Congress work on behalf of the people, not special interest!
Even though the United States invented the Internet, we are ranked 31st in global Internet speed, right behind Slovakia. If cable companies are allowed to restrict access to content and arbitrarily speed up and slow down traffic, you can rest assured that we will stay at the bottom of the barrel!
Tell Congress to restore net neutrality and stop the cable companies from extorting its customers!
Sincerely,
Joe Otto
Conservative Daily
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