Congresswoman who tried to end net neutrality now chair of committee on telecommunications

Rss@dailykos.com (walter Einenkel) · Saturday, January 07, 2017, 5:19 pm

Tennessee’s crazy insane lady Rep. Marsha Blackburn just got a new responsibility. She’s going to be the chairperson of the congressional telecommunications subcommittee.

Blackburn has consistently tried to unravel FCC attempts to regulate broadband providers. In 2015, she filed legislation titled the "Internet Freedom Act" to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's then-new network neutrality rules that prohibit blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization. The net neutrality rules still remain in effect, but Republicans are expected to attack the rules again under President-elect Donald Trump. Blackburn has claimed that the FCC's net neutrality order is an attempt to "set all the rates" that broadband providers charge for Internet service, even though the FCC hasn't tried to do that and FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said he had no intention of doing so.

Blackburn has also worked to preserve laws in about 20 states that make it difficult for cities and towns to offer their own broadband Internet services. She filed legislation to prevent the FCC from preempting such state laws, saying, "I strongly believe in states' rights." After the FCC went ahead with the proposal anyway, saying it was necessary to improve broadband connectivity in areas with little competition, Blackburn filed another bill to overturn the FCC decision. She wasn't able to get legislation passed, but that FCC decision ended up being overturned in court.

Like Yosemite Sam before her, Rep. Blackburn has been firing wildly in the hopes that she would be given one of the Republicans’ many big jobs trying to dismantle any and all consumer and health safety nets our government has left. Rep. Blackburn has called the millions of people who have used the internet to voice their opinions on elected officials (Republicans), “Cyberbots.” And like most Republican officials, she has no idea and does not care what the American people want. Just two days ago she polled her followers on Twitter only to find out that she really doesn’t want to know what they think. I am sure she will bring that same obtuse attitude into her new position.

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