Net Neutrality Act repealed

[Sunstroke]

Wow.

My reaction exactly.

[masterfins]

And, for what it's worth, they ABSOLUTELY will charge you more.  That's why they lobbied so hard for it.  These telecom companies aren't pushing super hard to kill NN just so they can do what they were already doing.

Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding...Johnny we have a winner, tell him what he's won!

[BuccaneerBrad]

You're not answering the question, it seems.   Your best position is that they might not screw us.  There is a law that doesn't let them screw us.  Why would you be against that?

And, for what it's worth, they ABSOLUTELY will charge you more.  That's why they lobbied so hard for it.  These telecom companies aren't pushing super hard to kill NN just so they can do what they were already doing.

How do you know that they were lobbying for ANYTHING.  I think this is Trump having his own agenda and a massive ax to grind with Obama, so he's undoing everything Obama did.

[Cathal]

How do you know that they were lobbying for ANYTHING.  I think this is Trump having his own agenda and a massive ax to grind with Obama, so he's undoing everything Obama did.

There might be something to that, certainly. Trump will just undo everything Obama just because. But it most certainly has to do with the telecom companies wanting this deregulation. After all, it'll just do nothing but help them screw over the people.

[CF DolFan]

^ Why are you defending this?

They removed a protection that allows them to screw you.   Why are you content with this?  Hoping they won't screw you?  What possible political motivation do you have to be OK with this?  Is it because you support Trump?

I mean...there's no possible way to think this is a good idea. 

Like I said ... the whining seems to be pretty silly to me. It's as close to "the sky is falling" as anything I have ever seen. People were up in arms about the tax cut with literally millions crying it only benefits rich people and yet even the most liberal companies like Disney and Starbucks are giving bonuses/raises as well as the most conservative like Wells Fargo who have raised their minimum to $15. The best the criers can say is $1000 bonus isn't a big deal.  It's really just people bitching just to bitch.

[Sunstroke]

Like I said ... the whining seems to be pretty silly to me. It's as close to "the sky is falling" as anything I have ever seen. People were up in arms about the tax cut with literally millions crying it only benefits rich people and yet even the most liberal companies like Disney and Starbucks are giving bonuses/raises as well as the most conservative like Wells Fargo who have raised their minimum to $15. The best the criers can say is $1000 bonus isn't a big deal.  It's really just people bitching just to bitch.

Naivete is adorable...in young children. In adults, it's just dangerous.

[Spider-Dan]

Like I said ... the whining seems to be pretty silly to me. It's as close to "the sky is falling" as anything I have ever seen.

I still don't understand what you believe the actual benefit of repealing net neutrality is.  So far, it seems like the main argument for it is, "It pisses off liberals and it probably won't do much harm."

People were up in arms about the tax cut with literally millions crying it only benefits rich people and yet even the most liberal companies like Disney and Starbucks are giving bonuses/raises as well as the most conservative like Wells Fargo who have raised their minimum to $15. The best the criers can say is $1000 bonus isn't a big deal.

I can do better than that:

The tax cut is projected to increase Wells Fargo’s profits by $3.7 billion. Raising the pay of its 25,000 workers who make $13.50 an hour (the lowest wage Wells Fargo pays) up to $15 an hour will cost $78 million... or slightly more than 2 percent of the projected tax cut windfall.  I leave it to the reader to guess where the other 98 percent is going.

This is the point where one might mention the $1.5 trillion hole the tax cut blasts in the deficit, but as we all know, the deficit only matters when a Democrat is in the White House.  And these employees who are receiving $2 raises and $1000 bonuses (that are tiny fractions of the corporate windfalls from the Trump tax cut) will be sufficiently distracted when the GOP declares that the national debt is dangerously high and we need to raise SS/Medicare retirement age to 70.

[Dave Gray]

I still don't understand what you believe the actual benefit of repealing net neutrality is.  So far, it seems like the main argument for it is, "It pisses off liberals and it probably won't do much harm."

This is what I can't seem to get answered.  Nobody supports the repeal.  The best that can be said for it is that it might not be disastrous.

mod edit: fixed broken quote tag

[CF DolFan]

This is what I can't seem to get answered.  Nobody supports the repeal.  The best that can be said for it is that it might not be disastrous.

mod edit: fixed broken quote tag

I'm against government restriction in business. I think free market should dictate whether a company succeeds. If companies get together and start screwing us over then it paves the way for a Dave Gray to come along and do it cheaper and better. In general the government is corrupt ... and I mean that for both sides...  so the less they are involved the better things seem to work out. There are no shortage of tapes showing many politicians saying the same things and then changing it to the opposing view only because the other side is now in favor for it. It's hard for me to take anything serious from either side when they say it's doom and gloom.  Obama wasn't as bad as the right made him out to be and neither is Trump. The reality of both is far from what we hear from the vocal minority.

[Spider-Dan]

CF, are you in favor of laws that prevent corporations from colluding?  What about anti-monopoly laws?  Both are, strictly speaking, anti-capitalistic and restrictions on the free market.

Net neutrality is similar.  We, the people, have essentially granted companies like AT&T and Comcast a monopoly on running telephone and cable wires to our homes, for the simple reason that logistically we can't have 30 different companies digging up the ground and laying wire every other day.  In exchange for that granted monopoly, we expect them not to use that position of advantage to drive their competition out of business, or to give their own products a leg up over their competitors'.  This is the intent at the heart of anti-monopoly laws.

[CF DolFan]

CF, are you in favor of laws that prevent corporations from colluding?  What about anti-monopoly laws?  Both are, strictly speaking, anti-capitalistic and restrictions on the free market.

Net neutrality is similar.  We, the people, have essentially granted companies like AT&T and Comcast a monopoly on running telephone and cable wires to our homes, for the simple reason that logistically we can't have 30 different companies digging up the ground and laying wire every other day.  In exchange for that granted monopoly, we expect them not to use that position of advantage to drive their competition out of business, or to give their own products a leg up over their competitors'.  This is the intent at the heart of anti-monopoly laws.

Not really sure how I feel. It seems pretty gray to me. I mean  ... how can Disney own so much if there is such a thing?