The “most transparent administration in history” [1] finally released the new FCC rules – two weeks after it had voted on them. Counting the dissent, the new regulations equaled 268,154 words and 400 pages [2]. There were 163 mentions of “transparency” in the new regulations that no voter was allowed to see until after the FCC voted on the rules.
The new rules were strongly opposed by conservatives who wanted to see the documents before the vote. However, in the tradition of Obamacare [3], the promise of transparency was entirely bogus.
Conservatives were concerned that the FCC worked in conjunction with both the Obama administration and liberal groups to allow the government to seize total control of the Internet. The resulting 320-page rules are already being heavily criticized for both limiting freedom and harming commerce.
Hill Republicans criticized FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler [4] for refusing to testify in front of Congress prior to the controversial vote.
Wheeler and other FCC commissioners are now scheduled to testify three times in the next two weeks over the issue of so-called “net neutrality,” according to Broadcasting & Cable. [5]
Prominent liberal foundations had long been funding [6] this issue. The Ford Foundation, which claims to be the second-largest private foundation in the U.S., and Open Society Foundations, founded by far-left billionaire George Soros, have given more than $196 million to pro-net neutrality groups between 2000 and 2013.