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Congress is still accountable
Monday, July 03, 2006
In the wake of recent legislative moves to stifle the voip internet phone industry and privatize the internet, it's easy to feel that constituents have no real input on what comes out of Congress.
We have the net neutrality knock-downs in both the House of Representatives and the Senate Commerce Committee. The FCC's blindsiding of the voip community with an unbelievable tax. And then there are statements like these made by Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens, in explanation of why he voted against net neutrality:
"I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why? Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially."
Well heck, that might not be such a bad turnaround time if you're talking about the entire internet winding up in your inbox. Does he even know how to check his own e-mail? Does he dictate e-mail to a secretary? Or perhaps to a plumber? I think that's a distinct possibility, since he seems to be convinced the internet is a vast network of tubes, akin to the vacuum tube systems used by banks to take your money in drive-through teller stations. Yes. Open the hatch, pull out the capsule, insert your printed e-mail, and watch it automagically fly off into the great unknown.
Is this who we want making decisions about the internet? I think not. Congress might think they can get away with anything, but while there's still a free internet out there, you can easily find out what your elected representative has really been up to on Capitol Hill.
