Republicans won big in the 2014 midterms by opposing whatever President Barack Obama supported. So, when Obama came out in support of net neutrality earlier this month, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) stuck with the formula, as he could not let the opportunity to score political points pass him by.
Three days after Obama asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to adopt stricter rules to prevent Internet “fast lanes,” Cruz wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post in which he labeled net neutrality as “Obamacare for the Internet.” Sen. Cruz argued that increased regulation would stifle innovation and hurt competition.
Cruz’s comparison is worrisome for a number of reasons, the first of which is the fact that it is unfounded. Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) said it best. In response to Cruz’s statements, Franken pointed out the differences between Obamacare and the proposed FCC regulations. He stated that the Affordable Care Act was designed to change the landscape of health insurance in the United States in order to give the uninsured access to health insurance. In contrast, the net neutrality regulations that Obama is advocating for are designed to keep the Internet the way it always has been.
What is most worrying about Cruz’s comments is that they are designed to politicize an issue that should not be political. All Americans, Republican or Democrat, would be affected if Internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon were allowed to impose their two-tiered speed plan. By framing the issue as taking a stand against Obama, Cruz is distracting Americans from the fact that corporations are the only ones that will benefit from a regulated Internet. An Internet “fast lane” would create a situation that would favor large, established corporations who could afford to pay the added costs, leaving small startups unable to compete.
Worse still, the truth of Cruz’s argument is irrelevant as the true goal behind his statements was to associate net neutrality with Obamacare. Relating net neutrality to a politically divisive issue such as Obamacare is certainly a politically savvy move. It is likely to convince some people to oppose net neutrality solely based on their dislike of the president. People who dislike the Affordable Care Act will hear Cruz’s catchy phrase and make their decision without doing any research of their own. No matter how hard anyone disputes Cruz’s claims, the phrase “Obamacare for the Internet” is likely to stick in voters’ minds.
The American people must see beyond Cruz’s feeble attempt to politicize the issue of net neutrality and realize that it is in their interest to prevent Internet service providers from gaining any more leverage over consumers.