Jim DeMint promises to fight the FCC on net neutrality
Showing a complete disregard for a federal court ruling (a ruling which stated that the FCC did not have the authority to regulate the internet) the FCC passed new “net neutrality” regulations yesterday.
In doing so the FCC ignored the court ruling as well as members of the Congress on both sides of the aisle who warned the FCC not to implement these new regulations. The FCC decided that passing Barack Obama’s agenda through dictate was more important than following the constitution or listening to the court ruling and the will of the Congress.
The chairman of the FCC, Michael Copps, even questioned this move but still decided to vote in favor of the new regulations. Evidently he thought that Barack Obama’s agenda was more important than a silly little ruling by a federal court; and evidently he thought that passing Barack Obama’s agenda was more important than listening to the Congress which has at its disposal the tools necessary to allow the FCC to operate in the first place–the power of the purse–or he never would have voted for these regulations. The arrogance that people like Michael Copp are displaying in pursuing regulations which they know of are questionable legality beforehand is astounding.
If Senator Jim DeMint can be used as an indication, the new FCC net neutrality rules will never see the light of day; he is vowing to fight the FCC on this issue:
The Obama Administration has ignored evidence that this federal takeover will hang a millstone of regulatory and legal uncertainty around the neck of a vibrant sector of our economy.
“Proceeding on its own liberal whims rather than facts, this FCC has chosen to grant itself broad authority to limit how businesses can bring the internet to consumers in faster and more innovative ways.
“Americans loudly demanded a more limited federal government this November, but the Obama Administration has dedicated itself to expanding centralized government planning. Today, unelected bureaucrats rammed through an internet takeover, even after Congress and courts warned them not to.
“To keep the internet economy thriving, this decision must be reversed. Regulatory reform will be a top priority for Republicans in the next Congress, and I intend to prevent the FCC or any government agency from unilaterally burdening our recovering economy with baseless regulation.
“In order to provide the stability businesses need to grow, I will work with my fellow senators to see passage of my FCC Act, which would ensure that the FCC can only use its rulemaking powers where there is clear evidence of a harmful market failure, as well as the REINS Act, which would add the accountability of a Congressional vote before any government agency’s proposed major regulations may be finalized”
He is vowing to pass the FCC Act, which will ensure that the FCC can only use its power if there is actually evidence that a problem exists, and as far as we can tell net neutrality is an attempt to fix a problem that isn’t there. Net neutrality is just an attempt by the FCC to get their foot in the door of internet regulation; once this foot is in the door they will eventually expand this power and begin to regulate the internet more forcefully in an attempt to stifle free speech as was done under the fairness doctrine in radio years ago. It is of the utmost import that this overreach by the FCC be stopped in its infancy before it has a chance to manifest into something much more serious and devious than these original net neutrality regulations.
Maybe I am being naive here, but I think there is a good chance that the Congress will get behind Senator DeMint here and I think they will because there is one thing that all of the politicians in Washington love more than anything else–their power. If the Congress perceives this power grab for what it actually is–an affront to their constitutionally guaranteed authority and power–I feel strongly that the Congress will step in and stop the FCC from implementing these powers which do not legally belong to this government agency in the first place.
Regardless of what your position is on the issue of net neutrality–pro or con–what is most important here is the process by which these laws are passed. The FCC has ignored a court ruling which stated that they do not have this authority and we can not stand to have an unelected government agency begin legislating by dictate the will of the president because the president failed to pass an agenda item through the process set out in the constitution. This is about much more than net neutrality, it is about the constitution and the limits it placed on the federal government. This is about a government agency using power it does not have to expand the role of the federal government is spite of the limits imposed on the federal government in the constitution.
If the FCC is allowed to ignore a court ruling and implement regulations without the consent of the governed it will set a precedent that is very dangerous indeed. If we allow this to happen there will be no stopping the federal government from doing whatever the hell they want to.
America's Watchtower 
I think the day of defunding the FCC is soon coming. Take there LIMITED powers and delegate it to another agency, and totally demolish and disband this socialistic agency.
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Now that sounds like a dream come true!
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Another Soros project. They have finally gone home, The long American nightmare of these past weeks has ended.
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Now we just have to wait and see how the new Congress works.
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The FCC has a history of over-stepping its authority. Unfortunately, the office is not going away but the political appointees who run it have too much power which can be easily abused.
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Hopefully we will be able to regn in this agency because you are right, we are stuck with it.
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You are right to question the process by which this is happening. In light of that, I find it very troublesome that the FCC will not release the new rules until sometime in January, even though they have already approved them. Whatever happened to an open and honest government?
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I heard that the FCC wasn’t releasing what these new rules are. That is a great question Larry!
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Isn’t it against the law to defy a federal court ruling?
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You certainly would think so, wouldn’t you?
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Your last paragraph is a great statement. We need to rein this activity in before the bureaucracy renders the Congress irrelevant.
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This needs to be stopped or there will be no need for the Congress, this is really getting serious now!
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I don’t see how they can actually implement anything. The courts have spoken and they haven’t appealed. Unless jackboots and reeducation camps are part of the unreleased plan I don’t see how they get away with this.
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DOn’t give them any ideas!
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I thought this was about Net Neutrality? Isn’t insisting that internet traffic being treated equally a good thing? I don’t understand what the outrage is here. Help me get it.
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The outrage here is because nobody believes this is about equallity. Most Americans in a recent poll stated that this was politically driven in an attempt to shut down opposing viewpoints on the internet. Most people feel like this is just the FCC establishing a foothold on the internet before stifling free speech on the internet. But even if this is all about equality there is the fact that the FCC is ignoring a court which stated they do not have the authority to do this. If the FCC is allowed to ignore the law than there is no limit to the possibility of what the government can impose on the American people–and that is the most scary aspect of this.
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