There’s a dangerous trend which has been rearing its head more frequently and more blatantly. The corporations who have purchased Congress and the White House are planning to eventually eliminate all government-funded services which “compete” with them.
The most blatant example is Wall Street’s attempt to dismantle, er, I mean “privatize” Social Security.
Less publicized was Rick Santorum (R-PA) bending over for one of his favorite johns, AccuWeather (located in Pennsylvania). Santorum introduced a bill this past April that would prohibit the National Weather Service from providing free forecasts which “compete” with AccuWeather and other private weather services.
Now we have HR 2726 which would prohibit local governments from providing internet access. City governments, schools and community organizations are providing low-cost internet access to countless low-income and rural customers who would not be reached by the cable and broadband conglomerates.
Similar laws have been defeated in several states, so the telecommunications industry is now pushing this at the federal level. Yup, those “States’ Rights” conservatives are at it again.
This bill would prevent local governments from providing “any telecommunications service, information service or cable service” anyplace where a corporation offers a similar service. Eliminating all competition — that’s a pretty strange definition of “free enterprise.”
The Internet provides access to thousands of news sources — of all political viewpoints. The mainstream “media” has become little more than a mindless tabloid — a good source of celebrity gossip and corporate / government press releases but not much else. It’s increasingly necessary to go online if you want real news or a wide range of opinions. The way to maintain a level playing field is to keep Internet access as widespread as possible.
We need to stop these corporate attempts to monopolize public services and utilities. It’s a dangerous trend that needs to be nipped in the bud. Kill it before it multiplies.
What’s next? Will FedEx and UPS try to eliminate “competition” from the Post Office? Those pesky libraries are providing unfair competition for Barnes & Noble. Get rid of them!
Please send an e-mail to protect your internet access and oppose this corporate thievery.
Thanks to Editrix from Mediaocrity for writing about this proposed law (last week).
cross-posted at Who Hijacked Our Country
