Obama Campaign Arm, Cruz Lash Out at One Another on Net Neutrality
President Barack Obama's campaign arm mocked Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, as it continued to seek backers in the White House's quest to pressure the FCC to reclassify broadband as a Communications Act Title II telecom service (see 1411100033). “That's something…
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worth fighting for -- especially in the face of an absurdly well-funded opposition,” Organizing for Action Digital Director Toby Fallsgraff told supporters by email, asking people to sign the White House petition backing Obama’s plan. “The groups trying hard to end net neutrality have plenty of allies in Washington. One of them, Senator Ted Cruz, wasted no time yesterday criticizing the President's plan, calling it 'Obamacare for the internet'... which, as far as I can tell, makes sense to exactly no one.” Organizing for Action is a fundraising and campaign arm of the Democratic Party affiliated with Obama and run by Jim Messina, his 2012 campaign manager. The BarackObama.com petition, funded and run by Organizing for Action, asks people to “add your name to tell the FCC you support the President's plan to protect net neutrality.” The Fallsgraff email praises the concept of the open Internet, which it says is under threat: “But if some internet service providers get their way, that could all change forever. They want to have a say in how you use the internet, or how fast your favorite sites load.” Cruz is a member of the Communications Subcommittee and has weighed legislative action on net neutrality. In a Washington Postop-ed Thursday, Cruz called net neutrality one of the Internet’s “biggest regulatory threats” and reaffirmed his earlier Obamacare label for it: “It would put the government in charge of determining Internet pricing, terms of service and what types of products and services can be delivered, leading to fewer choices, fewer opportunities and higher prices. … If the federal government seizes the power to regulate Internet pricing and goods and services, the regulations will never end.”