Some who were in attendance at the 2011 Correspondent’s Ball have suggested it was that event which convinced Donald Trump revenge was the only remedy to the humiliation Present Obama dumped on him. On that chilly night in April Obama’s team of writers had him buzzing better than the late Richard Pryor or even the late Redd Foxx as he had the entire room in laughter while chastising Trump over his ill-advised birther crusade.
As Trump was forced to sit in his chair all the while seething, you could see his mind was plotting the next move. During the 2016 presidential campaign he swore to his supporters that if elected he would take on an aggressive strategy of attempting to rescind any order approved by Barack Obama. Interestingly, even as his supporters wildly cheered his proclamations, they were not aware or didn’t pay attention that some of those orders actually benefitted them!
Nevertheless, Trump was determined and hell-bent on getting even. Fast forward to the holiday season of 2017 and we see first hand how Trump is obsessed with getting even with Obama, as he can’t find enough orders to rescind while suggesting they ALL were terrible.
The latest charade is the Net Neutrality issue. It doesn’t matter that in 2015 the Federal Communications Committee approved a guideline committing to equal access to the internet. With a majority in hand the Committee led by Ajit Pai felt obliged to help Trump in his quest to remove yet another Obama order. In the guise of increasing competition or the notion that any regulation is bad for consumers, on Thursday, December 14th the Committee voted along party lines to remove net neutrality guidelines.
The beneficiaries are the large communications companies such as A.T.& T, Verizon, Sprint and others known as internet service providers (ISP’s). The result of the vote means they now can manipulate internet speed which will affect traffic and in many cases, send a signal to consumers to be prepared for a price hike.
As simple as Net Neutrality is, it just sounds complicated. No doubt there is always room for improvement and yes, those consumers who use more than others should be expected to pay more. Surely, you can’t blame the ISP’s for having the desire to charge you for services which you use. The rub is consumers already have the option of improving internet speed by the tiered pricing structures ISP’s have.
At the same time the entire focus of net neutrality was to make the internet accessible for all, not to use it as a commodity to penalize those who simply lack the resources to obtain. Internet pricing has moved just like cable television. What seemed like a bargain at $29 per month has morphed to over $100, $200 and more. Companies offer a variety of rebuttals to justify the price increases, so as long as your budget allows you to pay, you simply keep moving. The ire for those protesting the commission’s vote is the core question; what happens to those who are priced out?
While the commission did indeed vote to rescind Obama’s 2015 guideline, it appears the last word on this issue has not been spoken. Just after the vote, public outcry reached a fever pitch as people from across the nation, even those who claim support for Trump have started their plea for Congress to overturn the commission’s ruling.
For those such as Trump, the issue does not appear to be what is in the best interest of the public as evidenced by public opinion. The issue for them is to use elements of our government as tools for revenge.
Thomas Reports 