Yet another FCC power grab

Once again, Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is assuming powers that aren’t his. In this case, he wants to levy new taxes on internet connections.

There is just one small problem. He doesn’t have the legal authority to do this. Of course, the laws of the land, the U.S. Constitution, and the court decisions going against him and the FCC in recent years means nothing to this little thug. In an article Brendan Sasso of The Hill:

The Federal Communications Commission is eyeing a proposal to tax broadband Internet service.

The move would funnel money to the Connect America Fund, a subsidy the agency created last year to expand Internet access.

Excuse me, but as I recall from my Civics classes, tax bills are initiated in the House of Representatives. If it is approved there, it is sent to the Senate. If approved there, it goes to the President of the United States for his signature or Veto. I don’t see anything about a regulatory agency being able to write their own tax laws.

The FCC issued a request for comments on the proposal in April. Dozens of companies and trade associations have weighed in, but the issue has largely flown under the public’s radar.

No surprise here. The last thing these statist totalitarians want is the serfs or the congress being aware they were trying for another illegal power grab.

“If members of Congress understood that the FCC is contemplating a broadband tax, they’d sit up and take notice,” said Derek Turner, research director for Free Press, a consumer advocacy group that opposes the tax.

That would imply that the Speaker of the House was actually interested in smacking these out of control agencies down. His history is not one of confrontation unless he’s forced into it. I won’t even bother with that corrupt dirt bag Harry Reid.

Numerous companies, including AT&T, Sprint and even Google have expressed support for the idea.

Of course they do. They know who can shut them down. Of course, there is the issue of the Constitution actually allowing the existence of the FCC in the first place. Do you think they actually might consider their customers? You’re joking, right? Of course not! Who do you think will be the beneficiary of all this money? Why it would be the Telecom companies of course!

Consumers already pay a fee on their landline and cellular phone bills to support the FCC’s Universal Service Fund. The fund was created to ensure that everyone in the country has access to telephone service, even if they live in remote areas.

Last year, the FCC overhauled a $4.5 billion portion of the Universal Service Fund and converted it into a broadband Internet subsidy, called the Connect America Fund. The new fund aims to subsidize the construction of high-speed Internet networks to the estimated 19 million Americans who currently lack access.

This subsidy made sense 70 years ago when there was no infrastructure in place. These days it really doesn’t. It’s cheaper to put in a Cell tower than it is to run telephone lines. As to broadband access, I’m all for it. Lets face facts though. In some areas, it’s just to expensive to run and maintain wires. There are still areas that can’t get electricity. Of course, they could run Fiber and cabling along the power lines. (Shielding would be required, but that is a technical issue), but the power companies don’t want to and will charge huge fees to the Telecom companies. Still, that issue could be worked out. Then there is satellite Broadband. It isn’t as fast as Cable or fiber connections, but it will do for remote regions and would be cheaper to provide.

When the FCC released its proposal, Genachowski issued a statement saying the current contribution system is outdated and full of loopholes.

“Today we propose three goals for contribution reform: efficiency, fairness, and sustainability,” Genachowski said. “And we underscore that any reforms to the contribution system must safeguard core Commission objectives, including the promotion of broadband innovation, investment, and adoption.”

Did it ever occur to Genachowski to go to Congress and ask them for legislation to fix what he perceives as problems? Of course not. As far as he and others in the various regulatory agencies are concerned, they are beholding to no one. Nesides, he knows the answer would be “NO!”

Genachowski and his cronies have been trying to regulate the Internet since they were put in place by the Obama regime. They never had that authority in the first place and have been repeatedly slapped down by the courts. Almost since day one of his tenure, Genachowski and other Progressive totalitarians, both in the Agency and on Capitol Hill have tried to take control of the Internet and shut down anyone they disagree with ((Could ‘Fairness Doctrine’ Be Used to Police the Internet?)).

Other things Genachowski has done was force internet regulation using the so called “Net Neutrality” issue to take control. Irregardless of where you stand on Net Neutrality, (One problem is actually defining what it means), Genachowski and the FCC did not and do not have the authority to impose it. His idea was to make Broadband the same as the Telephone companies. Again, the courts stepped in and slapped him down.

As I mentioned before, the Telecoms as well as Google think Taxing internet access is just peachy.

In its filing, Google argued that the evidence “strongly supports expanding the [Universal Service Fund] contribution base to include broadband Internet access services.”

According to Google, taxing broadband service is preferable to taxing the kinds of online services it offers, like email or Google Voice.

“Saddling these offerings with new, direct USF contribution obligations is likely to restrict innovative options for all communications consumers and cause immediate and lasting harm to the users, pioneers, and innovators of Internet-based services,” Google argued.

As I mentioned earlier, Google stands to get a ton of MY money from the FCC to light up more of the Fiber they have been buying. On the flip side taxing the various services we all enjoy and use would be a killer for the internet.

But Turner argued that imposing a fee on broadband access, even if it is only a dollar or two, would discourage many people from buying the service—the exact opposite outcome of what the FCC is trying to achieve.

“For folks who are thinking about adopting broadband, who have much lower incomes or don’t value broadband as much—that extra dollar on the margins will cause millions of people… to not adopt,” Turner said.

He’s correct of course. Right now I use Comcast because I don’t have a choice. I also have to pay for Basic Cable even though I use DirecTV and now Netflix via the internet. I’m also paying for my mother’s cable TV and my income is NOT going up. I am one of those who can’t give up Broadband do to the nature of my work and addiction. Going back to dial-up would kill me. (Most sites these days are no longer optimized for Dial-up access. This would render the internet dead for a number of people)

However, there is one teensy weensy fly in Genachowski’s ointment. It’s called the Internet Tax Freedom Act.

The FCC could run into legal problems with the Internet Tax Freedom Act, a 1998 law that bans the government from taxing Internet access. But the FCC has long argued that Universal Service is a fee that the providers choose to pass on to consumers and not a tax.

And a horse is a camel designed by a committee. Pull the other one. It has a bell on it. That law was passed specifically to keep these out of control agencies from utterly destroying the internet.

Turner said it is unlikely that the FCC will make any controversial moves before November’s election.

“I don’t anticipate that the chairman would move to adopt a drastic overhaul ahead of the election,” he said.

No, Genachowski and his horde of villains will wait 24 hours after the polls close before trying this. In the minds of these morons, If Obama wins, they can pretty much do as the please. If he loses, then they need to get this in place as fast as possible and presenting a fait accompli to the Romney administration and the next Congress. Considering how the courts have failed us, (Thank you Chief Statist Roberts), and the express train heading at the economy right now, Genachowski might pull it off….for a few months.

People in this nation have had it with overreaching regulatory agencies, and not just “The People.” Businesses, state and local governments have also reached the breaking point. Personally, I think the FCC outlived any usefulness long ago and should be either restructured into a smaller agency with far fewer powers or better yet, closed down and abolished all together. When you meet with your candidates, be sure to ask them about the latest power grab by Genachowski and the FCC. They might not even be aware of it.

Remember in November!

Thatisall

~The Angry Webmaster~

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