4 ms·

Hang on one second, who in the hell is "the government" in this situation? The politicians supporting this bill, mostly republicans, work the phrase "I'm anti-

by jbooth 15y ago

Hang on one second, who in the hell is "the government" in this situation? The politicians supporting this bill, mostly republicans, work the phrase "I'm anti-government" into every single public speech they give. Those are the only supporters on the public payroll, the rest are all corporate entities and lobbyists, as well as the Chamber of Commerce, natch. Those are your pro-government marxist ideologues in this story. I really think the phrase "the government" or even worse, capital-G "Government", should be banned from any discussion of policy, it turns everyone involved into an idiot. Government and industry both have lots of moving parts. Lastly, I agree that our existing constitution should prevent this sort of law. I'm not optimistic about the current "small-government" supreme court agreeing with me.

jwhitlark 15y ago
The sponsors of this bill break down as 16 Democrats to 11 Republicans. How does that work out to "mostly republicans"? It appears that this has support from both parties, and I think casting it as a party issue will weaken opposition.
- jbooth 15y ago
  Ok, it's bipartisan, but the only meaningful opposition has come from democrats, and the entire political spectrum of "anti government" has lined up behind it. I'm just saying breaking everything down to "government" is a ridiculous tagline that obfuscates more than it helps. I mean, even if this is approved, it's basically the government doing extremely cheap contract work for the companies who'd benefit. I have a problem with it being done, period, if the ISPs formed a cartel with the MPAA to do this without the government it'd be just as bad.
  - CWuestefeld 15y ago
    the only meaningful opposition has come from democrats, and the entire political spectrum of "anti government" has lined up behind it Which Libertarian think-tank was it that was supporting the bill? Really, jbooth, your partisanship isn't helping anything.
    - jbooth 15y ago
      Some of the think tanks on all sides are alright, but most legislators on both sides ignore the principled argument as soon as the established industry weighs in. That's the problem. I said it was a bipartisan failure in my last comment.
- scarmig 15y ago
  From another article: "Thankfully, political leaders concerned about liberty, innovation and due process have stood up in opposition to this proposal. Senator Ron Wyden, a moderate Democrat from Oregon, has courageously put a hold on the Senate bill because of his concerns about the bill’s infringement of free speech and stifling of innovation. “This is a question of whether the content sector can use the government as club to go after the innovation sector and everything it represents,” said Wyden at a recent Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco. “This is a cluster bomb where you should be going in with a laser, and the collateral damage to innovation and freedom is huge.” Additionally, Tea Party leaders like Michelle Bachman have said it is inconsistent with Tea Party values. Consumer groups, legal scholars, venture capitalists, leading entrepreneurs, Internet scientists and YouTube users have all joined in opposition." Basically, it's less a Left versus Right issue and more an insider versus outsider one. (Though I will point out that the only person who has apparently put much effort into stopping it is a Democrat...)
maxxxxx 15y ago
Please don't make this into another democrat vs republican issue. They may be using different language but both parties are essentially the same when it comes to the things they actually do.

by jbooth 15y ago

jwhitlark 15y ago

The sponsors of this bill break down as 16 Democrats to 11 Republicans. How does that work out to "mostly republicans"? It appears that this has support from both parties, and I think casting it as a party issue will weaken opposition.

jbooth 15y ago
Ok, it's bipartisan, but the only meaningful opposition has come from democrats, and the entire political spectrum of "anti government" has lined up behind it. I'm just saying breaking everything down to "government" is a ridiculous tagline that obfuscates more than it helps. I mean, even if this is approved, it's basically the government doing extremely cheap contract work for the companies who'd benefit. I have a problem with it being done, period, if the ISPs formed a cartel with the MPAA to do this without the government it'd be just as bad.
- CWuestefeld 15y ago
  the only meaningful opposition has come from democrats, and the entire political spectrum of "anti government" has lined up behind it Which Libertarian think-tank was it that was supporting the bill? Really, jbooth, your partisanship isn't helping anything.
  - jbooth 15y ago
    Some of the think tanks on all sides are alright, but most legislators on both sides ignore the principled argument as soon as the established industry weighs in. That's the problem. I said it was a bipartisan failure in my last comment.
scarmig 15y ago
From another article: "Thankfully, political leaders concerned about liberty, innovation and due process have stood up in opposition to this proposal. Senator Ron Wyden, a moderate Democrat from Oregon, has courageously put a hold on the Senate bill because of his concerns about the bill’s infringement of free speech and stifling of innovation. “This is a question of whether the content sector can use the government as club to go after the innovation sector and everything it represents,” said Wyden at a recent Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco. “This is a cluster bomb where you should be going in with a laser, and the collateral damage to innovation and freedom is huge.” Additionally, Tea Party leaders like Michelle Bachman have said it is inconsistent with Tea Party values. Consumer groups, legal scholars, venture capitalists, leading entrepreneurs, Internet scientists and YouTube users have all joined in opposition." Basically, it's less a Left versus Right issue and more an insider versus outsider one. (Though I will point out that the only person who has apparently put much effort into stopping it is a Democrat...)

maxxxxx 15y ago

Please don't make this into another democrat vs republican issue. They may be using different language but both parties are essentially the same when it comes to the things they actually do.