The Second Most Famous Franklin

Sure, yesterday was a great day. I’m all pumped up. But why hasn’t anyone said a word about the big inaugural flub. No, I don’t mean Chief Justice John Roberts screwing up his 35-word assignment (on purpose, anyone?). I’m talking about Aretha. I was all set to let the waterworks flow when she came out to sing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” But ouch! Praise be her legacy, but she butchered that one. Now Beyonce singing “At Last” at one of the Presidential Balls was another story. Holy Moses.

Anyway, now that the pomp and circumstance is over and Barack gets down to the business of lowering his approval rating by doing what’s right and presidential — which is seldom popular — it’s open season on politics once again. So today we set our sights on the Democrats, who potentially sneaked net-neutrality rules into the $825 billion Bailout II.

The latest bill, part of what is being called the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,’’ describes itself as a bill “making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and state and local fiscal stabilization, for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2009, and for other purposes.”

Just as I was with Aretha right up to the point she started singing, I was totally with this bill right up to the point it said “and for other purposes.”

The purposes that concern me are requirements by the Department of Commerce — which doles out cash in the form of grants and incentives to, among other things, build out broadband in underserved areas — that those who accept incentives for broadband buildout adhere to the Federal Communications Commission's broadband policy statement from 2005, which is a vague document referring to open and available networks and, as far as I know, is not yet a binding document. These issues are central to the Net Neutrality debate and should not get tangled up in the economic crisis.

While I agree that not another dollar should be doled out by the government as incentive without a great deal more oversight than the first batch of bailout cash, I don’t think that oversight should come in the form of advancing policy and certainly not as a tool for circumventing the process for vetting, debating and determining policy. The money should not be used to advance any agenda beyond stimulating the economy. The Net Neutrality debate is too important for its resolution to be slid under the door in a brown envelope full of cash and made into law by default.

We should show the debate a little R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

E-mail me at heyBOSS@vpico.com or click on the comment button below and tell the world what you think.