Congressman John Shimkus misleads constituents about history of internet and net neutrality

[Willinois]

I would prefer not to write a series of outraged blog posts about my Congressman, but he continues to find new ways of making himself a national laughingstock. Republican John Shimkus has outdone himself yet again by claiming in an email to constituents that the internet is an invention of the free market with no help from government.

An official Congressional email sent to constituents in March begins with the subject line: "Hands Off! Stopping the FCC Internet Takeover"

It claims that: Everything the internet is today has been made possible without the heavy hand of government mediation or regulation.

His talking points, which he lifted from telecom industry lobbyists, continue with this:

Unfortunately, some in Washington now want to put the brakes on the internet's development by regulating it through the FCC. They would put the future of this national treasure in the hands of bureaucrats rather than the proven hands of the same free market that fostered the internet's incredible expansion. I do not support this.

That's interesting but things are a little different back here on planet earth. Searching the internet will reveal that its a creation of government, not the private sector. The research and investment to create the internet was done by the US Department of Defense, PUBLIC universities, and non-profit research institutions that received government grants.

The private sector had no short-term profit motive to make the investments necessary to create the internet. In fact, commercial use was initially forbidden. The investments made later by private companies are merely piggybacking on years of public spending by we the people. The internet wouldn't be what it is today without the heavy hand of government intervention.

I really wouldn't care that Shimkus is living in a world of make believe except that he sits on an important committee which oversees telecommunication policy.

Let's reflect on that for a moment. One of the Congressmen with the most influence over telecommunications policy is either completely ignorant about the internet, or is shamelessly lying to constituents on behalf of his telecom campaign contributors. Or both.

It's bad enough that he's misleading constituents about the attempt by telecom giants to forever change the internet for their own financial gain. It's even more insulting that he does so with populist rhetoric as though he's actually standing up for the people.

Once again, I'm ashamed that this man represents me in Congress. And there's no one who deserves more blame than the Illinois Democrats who guaranteed his re-election for the past decade by drawing him an incumbent protection district. I can only hope they choose to restore democracy for the 19th district by drawing a new map that allows us to choose our Congressman instead of allowing a bad Congressman to choose his district.

[nofurylike]

wow.

you said it! "I really wouldn't care that Shimkus is living in a world of make believe except that he sits on an important committee which oversees telecommunication policy."
unbelievable!!
well, no. pitifully BELIEVABLE, unfortunately.

thank you for posting this, Willinois!

[Julie]

Look on the bright side, at least he didn't tell us it was a series of tubes that gets blocked up once in a while. You should send this to his office so he and his staff can share the laughs. :-)

Julie

[NJMaverick]

if they were forced to tell the truth

[Willinois]

A funny update. The day before I put this on my personal blog I wrote another post about a comment he made in a newsletter about mine regulations making it "difficult" to operate a coal mine. After two days of criticizing his constituent newsletters I got an automated email this morning letting me know that I had been unsubscribed. I assume whoever did it forgot that I would get an automated message informing me that I was unsubscribed from his list. So of course I wrote about that on my blog too. Someone must have thought better of it because I was resubscribed later in the day.
Can you believe this guy?

[Willinois]

BTW, if you follow the link to open secrets I included you'll see that his top career donor is AT&T.