FCC's Ajit Pai: Your Broadband Bill 'Is Going to Go Up'

[Ubiquitous]

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler's claim that there was no secret order from
the Obama administration to pass "net neutrality" rules is at odds with
what the White House and Democrats have said, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai
tells Newsmax TV.

"The president said … on WhiteHouse.gov, this is my plan and I'm asking
the FCC to implement it. On the day the FCC took the vote on Feb. 26,
the Democratic National Committee put out a tweet saying, Hooray! The
FCC has approved President Obama's plan," Pai, a Republican, said on
"The Steve Malzberg Show" Tuesday.

"Now, you cannot square those two statements from those two entities
with the notion that the FCC was acting independently. The position
I've taken is that this was a break from our traditional position as an
independent agency.

"Even if the president's opinion was one among many, nonetheless, it's
hard to argue that his opinion was equal. Certainly, some opinions in
this process were more equal than others."

Republicans have accused Wheeler, a Democrat who was appointed to the
FCC by Obama, of caving in to the White House on the issue, which will
place government regulation on the Internet and slap new taxes on it.

But at a House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing
Tuesday, Wheeler insisted: "I would like to be clear: There were no
secret instructions from the White House. I did not, as CEO of an
independent agency, feel obligated to follow the president's
recommendation."

Pai said Wheeler is in a difficult position.

"Because unfortunately, the White House's announcement was so
unprecedented there was sort of an uncharted water here," he said.

"I have some sympathy for the chairman's position having proposed
something in May, having tried out an alternative in the summer, just
to get blindsided in November by the president and ultimately having to
buckle.

"It doesn't speak well for the agency when we have these political
considerations that are placed on us."

The FCC's 3-2 vote last month to adopt the new regulations will affect
how Americans use and do business on the Internet. And new taxes are
expected.

"They're going to be a number of different effects over the coming
months and years … Most immediately what is going to happen is that the
FCC has now explicitly opened the door to an increase in the tax that
is going to be placed on broadband," Pai said.

"I would imagine in the next month or two we're going to see for the
first time taxes placed on broadband bills. Your bill is going to go
up. In the longer term, some of the more incidental effects are going
to be a reduction to the amount of competition.

"Some of the smaller Internet service providers are going to find it
more difficult to stay in business."

GOP lawmakers are crafting legislation in a bid to overturn net
neutrality — using the threat of a court challenge to enlist Democratic
support.


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So to recap:
Iraq is imploding
Measels is spreading
Russia is expanding
The US is being invaded
Vets are dying
IRS is lying
And Obama is fundraising & golfing
http://www.jonmcnaughton.com/obama-foreign-policy/