The Pursuit of Happiness

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Among the many blessings of the Trump Administration is the ending of Net Neutrality. This means Americans – especially those of us in rural areas – can stop worrying that AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) won’t have enough gravy to go with their biscuits. These poor corporations, dontcha know, just aren’t making enough money off us – but now they can.

Effective December 14, the Federal Communications Commission will overturn Obama Administration regulations that prevent ISPs from slowing down your access to the Internet, interfering with what content you view, and creating competitive roadblocks to thwart start-ups and new businesses. That darn black guy in the White House made sure small businesses could compete online with the Amazons and Walmarts of the world, and that home-schooled kids, small-town public libraries, and rural hospitals and doctors could use the Internet as affordably and as fast as folks in big cities. Now though, old Marmalade Brains and his minions at the FCC are ending Net Neutrality to give us a corporation-controlled Internet just like Russia’s and China’s. No worries, right?

What’s confusing is Trump’s argument that ISP giants like Comcast can’t make money under Net Neutrality. Yet aggregate capital investment in publicly traded ISPs has been at least 5% higher since the Obama regulation, and physical network investments by these corporations increased by nearly 48%, the highest single jump since 1999. Not only did they make big money under Net Neutrality, they ramped up operations to make even more. But what the heck – corporations are people too – and they deserve to make a living.

The good news is the estimated $50 more a month T-Mobile or Verizon are projected to charge users by the end of 2018 will be offset by the huge fantastic incredible amazing never before seen increases in wages that corporations will pass along to workers because of breaks they’ll derive under the Republican tax bill under consideration. With the extra money we earn from higher wages, we can pay the fifty bucks, and even for upgraded services to get both Facebook and Google, and maybe Netflix, too.

Trumpiness, a win-win for everyone.