internet

edward j markey

This is only my opinion, and not the representation of Saintel Daily, LLC.

Last week, the FCC officially published their net neutrality rollback plans, which were voted on back in December.  A few days afterward, the FCC got hit with a ton of lawsuits.  But now, the next stage of this battle has begun.  Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) has introduced his Congressional Review Act “resolution of disapproval” which is hopefully going to undo the FCC vote.  The interesting part about this, in my opinion, is contained in tweet.  Markey tweeted that this vote was going to happen, but he also says “And when we take this vote on the Senate floor, every one of my colleagues will have to answer one simple question: Whose side are you on? #OneMoreVote”.

Why is this so interesting?  Well, because it’s politics.  We seem to live in a society where the mentality is “us vs. them”.  I am not trying to give away my political leanings or personal opinions, but the “them” certainly seems to be the Republicans or right-leaning political supporters.  That is why Markey calling “them” out is very interesting.  Further, he’s also suggesting that his own people might be considering voting against this bill, and he’s calling them out as well.  I mean, he means business.  This is the part of politics that I find incredibly intriguing.  I can only imagine what kind of Frank Underwood-style of whipping was going on behind the scenes to make sure all the Democrats and enough Republicans vote for this in order to send a strong message.

net-neutrality

Senator Markey has been working on this since the FCC voted to roll back the net neutrality protections that originally came into effect in 2015.  Since mid-January, the appeal has had the support of all 49 Democrats as well as one Republican – Susan Collins of Main.  But the bill needs one more vote to break a potential tiebreaker.  If it’s split 50/50, then the Vice President gets to vote, and we all know where Mike Pence is going to land on that one.  The bad news is this.  Even if the vote passes through the Senate, it will have to pass through the House of Representatives, and then survive a veto from the president.  Which could be a lot of effort for nothing.

Let me talk about the veto for a moment.  While I understand it’s importance, I think that the president should only be able to use it in a limited capacity.  Maybe he’s only allowed to use it 3 times a year?  Or maybe he’s only allowed to use it for matters related to national defense?  I don’t really know what the answer is, and both of those are silly ways to categorize the veto, but something has to give doesn’t it?  I say this because he and the Republican party are unilaterally making decisions that are extremely detrimental to the country.  If Donald Trump ever does leave office, it’s going to take years of work to undo all the garbage decisions that he’s made.  Regardless, this will help raise awareness about what the FCC is planning to do.  That could lead to pressure the House of Representatives, which means that net neutrality might become a major election issue this fall.