Another Loss for Net Neutrality
As expected, the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted against net neutrality yesterday when they defeated the Markey Amendment (PDF) that would've strengthened the net neutral provisions of the Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act (which everybody's just been referring to as the telecom bill). As expected, Bobby Rush voted no. Another Chicago Congressperson, Jan Schakowsky, voted in favor.
Despite the loss, Matt Stoller is optimistic at MyDD. The vote was 34-22, which is a big step up from the previous subcommittee defeat of 23-8. The pro-telecom majority has slipped from 74% to just 61%. That's still enough to defeat net neutrality provisions, of course, but the momentum is on our side. Here's Stoller:
I watched the markup and the voting, and there was noticeable defensiveness among Congressmen on the wrong side of this. They are wrong, they know it, and they are ashamed. Now they know people are watching. So we didn't win this vote, but this close margin was nonetheless a smack to the jaw of the insiders, and a clear victory for the people. Now the battle moves out of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and onto more favorable terrain.
The vote in the full House is still a ways off. And there's still the Senate to deal with. When people realize what this bill can do, they'll want no part of it (unless they're part of the telecom industry). This is a winnable war.
posted by Doug @ 8:24 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
i hope they're right, but doesn't it seem like liberal bloggers (muyself included) are too quick to try and claim moral victories when in fact we, you know, lost? I see Matt's point and hope he's right. but like in elections, you don't gain alot by narrowly losing legislative votes---we'll hope for a more receptive Senate.
I think you're right, Don, that it only hurts us to highlight a silver lining when the sky is filled with clouds. In this case, though, I have to lean more toward Matt. This was an expected loss, but the way the numbers fell suggests that an ultimate win might be within reach. We should focus on continuing to fight rather than giving up a loss. But you're right, though, we shouldn't spin this to such an extent that we can perceive it as winning when, in fact, we're still losing.
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