4 Steps From Free Markets to ‘Free’ Money
As of 2014, the Obama administration has introduced about 3,000 new EPA regulations. That amounts to more than 25,000 pages and 25 million words. The ‘Affordable Healthcare Act’ of 2010 had more than 2,400 pages to begin with but a recent count of rules and regulations to implement and operate the (UN) Affordable Care Act totals 170,000 pages. Thousands of new federal workers will interpret the rules so details can be explained to other government employees who can explicate provisions to the press who will then write glowing reports.
There is little hope that the average US citizen has a basic understanding of what most government agencies are charged with doing. Many of the government agency workers probably don’t know what they are supposed to be doing either. Federal tax codes get more complicated each day. Government agencies like EPA, IRS, FCC and HHS keep probing to find systems that are working well so the government can improve on them. The IRS, for example is mentoring the healthcare law through the auspices of thousands of new agents many of whom will probably be bi-lingual, bi-racial, multi-tasking, ambidextrous statistical scholars with dual citizenship.
A new field of control is now on the anvil to be forged into a government bureaucracy. The Internet, the reported child-by-proxy of Al Gore is coming under government surveillance using the moniker of ‘Net Neutrality.’ That’s right, folks, the government in its search to find another area lacking proper bureaucratic bungling is coming under the umbrella of a paternalistic government. The FCC, using common carrier rules from 1934 (hand-crank telephone party lines) has expropriated the smooth-running Internet that we all know and use and love. The 1996 bipartisan Telecommunications Act determined that the Internet should be “a vibrant and competitive free market unfettered by federal or state regulation.”
That determination by the bipartisan Telecommunications Act was a tipoff for government conspirators. They realized that anything that was working well in the private sector would operate much better under government subservience. Other reasons for government to get involved is that new hiring will take place to interpret and enforce the strict rules and regulations and taking control of the Internet (the Obamanet) offers new unlimited opportunities for taxation and user fees to dissipate.
On Thursday, February 26, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed rigid ‘net neutrality’ regulations related to Internet traffic. Hailed by some as a landmark decision for the future of the Internet, others like Ajit Pai says it is a gift to trial lawyers who will have the opportunity to file class-action lawsuits against Internet Service Providers (ISP’s). Regulation of the Internet, Pai states, is simply “a solution in search of a problem.” One of Pai’s most critical complaints is that FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler refused to release the 332 page net neutrality document until after the vote by commission members. The vote was 3-2 with the two Republican members (Pai and O’Rielly) voting nay. One of the Democratic commissioners, Mignon Clyburn is daughter of House Member Jim Clyburn (D-SC). Phil Kerpen, author of, “Democracy Denied” feels that Net Neutrality could lead to government content control.
The incubation of ‘Net Neutrality’ regulation may have been seeded by David Karp, CEO of Tumbir, the Yahoo social media service who sat next to the President at a summer fund raiser in New York. Recently Mr. Karp appeared on CNBC to speak about the benefits of net neutrality. When questioned about the new regulations, Mr. Karp responded by saying that he didn’t entirely understand the Internet service market adding that it was outside his area of expertise; the pinnacle of pretext, the depth of default.
Surely over the next 23 months, Mr. Obama and his minions can leave their acerbic fingerprints on even more organizations and functions that are perceived to need government dominion. During the last few days of most presidential reigns, Presidents often issue pardons for dozens or even hundreds of inmates that they feel should be mingling out in society. My guess is that President Obama, using Presidential prerogative, will also change our name from the United States of America to Obamamerica or Obamanation. The campaign rallying cry of hope and change will have reached its nadir.
Dick Baynton
