The litmus test for congressional insanity

Yes I've suspected it for a long time. The telecom act of 1996 was proof for many that congress was completely in the pocket of large corporations. But of course most of us knew little or nothing about that before the bill was passed. Now today this net neutrality issue is being closely followed and I think it will provide some much needed insight into what exactly has gone wrong with our government. The issue is a complete no brainer. The companies that gave us the worst performing broadband services in the industrialized world want even more power and control.

Here is an article that summarizes the issue very nicely: http://blogs.chron.com/bluebayou/2006/06/net_neutrality.html

Network operators are also preparing to invest in a lot of new infrastructure to make the network faster and more reliable; they are looking for ways to recoup that investment as quickly as possible, and shaking a lot of cash out of the Googles and eBays of the world is an obvious approach. It's a bit like realizing that someone is driving trucks loaded up with diamonds on your highway, and deciding that they have to pay more because their cargo is valuable.

Is this not totally transparent? Do you really need a freaking PhD to figure this out? That's the question that keeps running through my head. Apparently congress is still having a difficult time figuring it out. ("What part of this do you NOT understand, Mr. Congressional Hackjob?") Either that or they just don't care. America is slowly being turned into a 3rd world country. One by one, we stand by and watch as our systems degrade. Education. Health care. Internet. Exactly how much can we afford to bleed? I'm beginning to think that is the one question congress is trying to answer!

There is only one correct action to take here. If congress fails to act in the manner appropriate then they will have proved once and for all that they are complete sellouts who would rather see our country be ruled by corporations (unaccountable private tyrannies), rather than by the people.