Discussion: Senate Expected To Pass Bill Reviving Obama-Era 'Net Neutrality' Rule

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Get ready for the return of metered broadband again.

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Thune: “political theater” = trying to do something that’s fair and right for people rather than for corporations. (and, no … corporations are not people too, my friend)

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But the house has no plans to pass it.

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Before the Internet exploded in the 1990s, corporate’s idea of a network connecting us all was MSN or AOL. Walled gardens where they controlled and metered the network.

They haven’t given up on that vision yet.

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Then hang the vote like a noose around the neck of every Republican running.

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I’ve never totally understood why one chamber passing a bill shouldn’t force a floor vote in the other chamber. This seems reasonable to me, both in practice and in the checks-and-balances philosophy the framers intended.

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Seems like a minimal way to force a majority to at least take a vote up or down on what the other body says is the people’s will. Hell of a good idea.

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Some people understand you may not be in power forever, and that nasty actions now have consequences then.

If only we can get the House to understand that idea.

Without running it through committees and getting input from people that actually know what they are talking about? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that’s probably not a good idea.

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Well, I’m not the one to see all the potential problems. But we can certainly see the ability of the majority to run roughshod over even the most robust minority, and I don’t think that’s at all ideal. It disenfranchises 49 percent of the nation. If we need structural changes to prevent it in the future, in addition to sending the GOP into the wilderness for 40 years, I’d like to see that done in a judicious way. I don’t think they’d do a change like that without hashing it out, for what that’s worth. Hope they wouldn’t anyway. You see McConnell saying nope when Trump says ditch the filibuster. He knows they could be in the minority some day.

As much as you and I would love that, it’s not going to happen. The GOP use fear, propaganda, and ignorance as their primary weapon now. Those tactics will always be effective. They won’t always win national or state elections, but they will always win a good number that way. Ignorance–for many–is easier to take than are facts. For too many, it’s easier to fear something different than it is to approach differences with an open mind. That’s why the GOP will never go away.

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But they may end up a rump party, confined to a particular region, and as you say not much of a factor nationally any more.

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