Ted Cruz got totally destroyed on Facebook last week – and by conservatives nonetheless – for a ridiculous post he made regarding net neutrality and the end of civilization as we know or – or some such nonsense.
In keeping with that stomping, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) took to the airwaves on Sunday to destroy Ted Cruz and his assertion in a Washington Post op-ed that net neutrality was “Obamacare for the internet.”
Cruz claimed in that op-ed that:
“In short, net neutrality is Obamacare for the Internet. It would put the government in charge of determining Internet pricing, terms of service and what types of products and services can be delivered, leading to fewer choices, fewer opportunities and higher prices.
“Some in the online community have embraced this call, thinking that cheaper prices would result. But when has that worked? Government-regulated utilities invariably destroy innovation and freedom. Which is more innovative, the U.S. Postal Service or Facebook and Twitter? Which is better for consumers, city taxi commissions or Uber and Lyft?”
Franken, explained the fallacy of Cruz and his thinking to host Candy Crowley during a Sunday segment of CNN’s State of the Union.
As ThinkProgress reports, Franken explained to Crowley that “net neutrality has been the way things have been since the beginning of the Internet and that creating a ‘fast lane’ for certain content, whose providers pay extra for it, would be ‘a terrible, terrible, terrible idea.’”
Franken noted that Google had created a video system years ago called “Google Video,” but three entrepreneurs in a pizzeria had devised a better video delivery system called “YouTube.” Because YouTube and Google Video had equal access to Internet bandwidth, he observed, the better product became more popular and Google ultimately paid $1.65 billion dollars to acquire YouTube.
Asked by Crowley about Cruz’s op-ed piece, ted Cruz gets schooled by Al Franken on the reality of net neutrality versus Obamacare:
CROWLEY: [Cruz wrote] “Net neutrality is Obamacare for the Internet. It would put the government in charge of determining Internet prices, terms of service and what types of products and services can be delivered, leading to fewer choices, fewer opportunities and higher prices. Government-regulated utilities invariably destroy innovation and freedom.” Your reaction?
FRANKEN: He has it completely wrong. He just doesn’t understand what this issue is. We’ve had net neutrality the entire history of the Internet, so when he says this is the Obamacare… Obamacare was a government program that fixed something, that changed things. This is about reclassifying something, so it stays the same. This would keep things exactly the same. And the pricing happens by the value of something.
You can watch the discussion, below:
- Source Links – August 29, 2020
- About Pat Warde: Eulogy Tribute by Eleanor Hughes – April 1, 2019
- Editorial Note – January 15, 2019
You must be logged in to post a comment Login