President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

I’m glad we have these debates. We learn what people really think.

 

While I’m not necessarily opposed to net neutrality (and am, in fact, more inclined to support it), I don’t see how anyone can be so certain that this will be the downfall of the Internet. This regulation (which arguably exceeded the FCC’s authority to begin with) didn’t even exist until a few years ago, and other regulators will still have authority to police anti-competitive behavior. Why is everyone so certain doom is certain? There’s all sorts of wired and wireless competitors—if consumers care about neutrality that much, maybe there will be marketplace options that will offer it. Was this really a big issue before the regs were enacted?

 

Oh goodness, @YankeeFan, check your inbox for talking points on this one.

A Split From Trump Indicates That Flynn Is Moving to Cooperate With Mueller


WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, notified the president’s legal team in recent days that they could no longer discuss the special counsel’s investigation, according to four people involved in the case, an indication that Mr. Flynn is cooperating with prosecutors or negotiating such a deal.

 

Yet, as usual, we have heard no credible reasoning on the topic from you.

 

It is beyond obvious that the Internet, created through government funding in large part, is a public utility that should be regulated and regulated strictly due to its importance in daily life. Net neutrality polls at like 75 percent approval. The ISPs better watch out, or they could find themselves with a Democratic President who ran on a promise to nationalize them. It's not like Verizon, Comcast, et. al. are popular.

 

Maybe if net neutrality is really so popular than ISPs will, you know, just offer it, because they’re generally in the business of trying to get consumers to purchase their services and there’s plenty of competitors out there. Or maybe not. But I just do not understand how so many people with no economic training whatsoever are oh so sure this will be the end of the Internet. The idea this is a simple issue, or one with only one good side, is preposterous.

And I think consumers are the ones who should be very worried about the government nationalizing the industry.

 

Have you ever dealt with Verizon or Comcast? They've lobbied against net neutrality for over a decade. They want to be part of a rent-extracting oligopoly under government protection from state and local governments, let alone consumers. They will overreach, because that's what corporations do these days, and the reaction is liable to be severe. I don't think nationalization would be any kind of cure all, but these companies are loathed and attacking them will be politically popular.

 

Really, that is just bullshit, propaganda bullshit from corporate whore lobbyists.
Internet providers charge for access based on speed . Slow internet is expensive, moderate internet is really expensive, decent speed is very costly. Speed is costly. The real deal is that companies slow it down to charge more for what should be normal speed. They made you rent equipment that could be purchased cheaply. Want to access Netflix or Amazon on your internet connection, that’ll be an additional $15 a month for streaming

 

LOL ... right.

 

They existed in a word without government-regulated net neutrality until very recently and this parade of horribles didn’t occur. And it’s arguably even less likely to occur now than it was back then because of the extent of additional competitors—even setting aside wired competitors, wireless gets better and better all the time.

Would you really rather deal with a government-run ISP than Verizon? I sure wouldn’t.

 

The net neutrality farce

 

Bob Mueller at the top of my "things to be thankful for" list.