Senate Votes to Save Net Neutrality, but Fate Seems Sealed
*By Alisha Haridasani*
In a last-ditch effort to preserve unfettered access to online content, the Senate voted Wednesday to override the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to scrap net neutrality rules.
All of the Democrats and three Republican Senators voted in favor of the resolution, which was proposed by Senator Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts.
"Republicans will rue the day they voted against middle class families, they will rue the day when they voted against the young people who are so familiar with the internet and you can be sure that we Democrats will remind the people of this vote over and over again," said Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, who has his eye on the midterm elections in November.
The resolution heads to the House, where it faces stronger opposition. Only 161 Representatives have publicly indicated that they would vote in favor of the resolution, 57 short of a majority.
There is still a chance that lawmakers who want to preserve net neutrality could convince more of their colleagues to join them because the issue resonates widely with voters, said Andrew Wyrich, a politics staff writer at The Daily Dot. A number of [polls](http://thehill.com/policy/technology/364528-poll-83-percent-of-voters-support-keeping-fccs-net-neutrality-rules) show strong support ー among Democrats and Republicans ー for maintaining net neutrality.
"A lot of people didn't think that it would happen in the Senate so I think anything can happen," said Wyrich.
Net neutrality rules were put in place by the Obama administration in 2015, ensuring that internet service providers give equal access to all content online, regardless of who produces it or where it comes from. The F.C.C. decided in December to abandon the rules, and they officially expired last month.
Supporters of net neutrality, including the tech companies Amazon, Google, Netflix, and Facebook, have said that stripping away these rules would give internet service providers the power to charge some websites or services more for speedier access. The chairman of the F.C.C., Ajit Pai, who has been a vocal critic of net neutrality, has said the rules hurt the companies that build the internet's infrastructure, and stifle innovation and limit investment.
“It’s going to hurt the little guy,” said Representative Jim Langevin, a Democrat from Rhode Island. Net neutrality allows “small entrepreneurs to have the same amount of access that big companies do,” he said.
Though a majority of Americans support net neutrality, Pai, the F.C.C. chairman, has said the rules were "heavy-handed."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/senate-votes-to-keep-net-neutrality-rules).
Inflation in the U.S. is only getting hotter. The 12-month inflation rate for December 2021 was the highest in nearly 40 years - continuing the trend seen at the close of 2021.
The Consumer Price Index increased 7% in the 12-month period ending in December, marking the fastest increase since 1982. Scott Wren, Senior Global Market Strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, joined Cheddar's Movers for more.
If President Biden runs for re-election in 2024, he may not have anyone to debate. The Republican National Committee sent a letter to the commission on presidential debates, saying the RNC will require candidates to pledge not to participate in those general election debates. Paris Dennard, RNC national spokesperson, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Student loan collection company Navient agreed to cancel $1.7 billion in debt and paid more than $140 million in other penalties to settle a lawsuit over abusive lending practices. Josh Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania who led negotiations in the settlement, joined Cheddar to go over the details of the company's predatory lending. "What Navient would do is charge [borrowers] these exorbitantly high rates, even though they knew people couldn't pay them or they would likely default on them," he explained.
The January 6 committee has subpoenaed four tech giants for more information on what they did and didn't do leading up to last year's deadly Capitol insurrection. Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit were asked to assist the investigation in August, but the committee says their responses have been 'inadequate.' Craig Timberg, a national technology reporter at the Washington Post, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell for more details about the subpoenas, why this is happening now, and how it might impact social media companies moving forward.
With the Australian Open set to begin on Monday, Novak Djokovic is once again being threatened with deportation from Australia after his visa was briefly reinstated and revoked again over alleged discrepancies. Djokovic’s team will sit for an Immigration hearing on Saturday.
Makena Kelly, politics reporter at The Verge, joins Cheddar News to discuss what's next for net neutrality as Biden's other nominee for the FCC, Gigi Sohn, awaits votes from the committee and Senate.
Jewell Jackson McCabe, chair of the Keep Love Alive Campaign and founder of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, and Marvin Owens, chief engagement officer of Impact Shares and former senior director of Economic Development at the NAACP, join Cheddar News to reflect on racial issues still prevalent in America.
Hagar Chemali, Host of 'Oh My World' on Youtube and Former Spokesperson for the U.S. mission to the UN, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to share her expert insight into what the future of diplomacy could look like as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepens.
Markets opened higher on the first trading day of the new year as investors continue to watch inflation and the rapid spread of the omicron variant in the U.S. Frances Newton Stacy, Optimal Capital Dir. of Strategy/Market Analyst joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
