GOP aide: With industry eyeing profits, Republicans must be ‘the adults’ on net neutrality

“We’re supposed to be the adults in the room,” the aide said. “We’re supposed to be looking out for the interests of the country. Net neutrality is a bad policy and bad for the economy.”

The aide cited a letter House Republicans sent to Genachowski last week urging him to stand down as the commission renews its effort to create rules for broadband service.

“The letter didn’t say ‘unless industry says they like it.’ It said, ‘This is wrong, don’t do it,'” he said.

Republican members would be even more opposed to a prospective FCC plan if it does not get hearings before becoming a federal rule, according to the aide.

But he added that
“hopefully” Genachowski will not move ahead with his efforts to broker a
compromise so that there “is no need for a next step” from House
Republicans.

The telecom industry has expressed a willingness to compromise on net neutrality this year in an effort to forestall what they see as “nuclear” approach to broadband regulation. The stricter route could lead to much harsher regulations than a potential compromise would yield.

That dynamic is not lost on House Republicans, according to the GOP aide. 

“We understand that these guys have a gun to their head. It’s their
business at stake,” the Republican aide said, referring to telecom
companies. “But we don’t have a business to defend. We’re supposed to
look out for the economy.”

He said Republican House members oppose net neutrality because they are looking out for the best interests of the country, while companies are entertaining compromise because their concern is their bottom line.

AT&T’s policy executive Jim Cicconi, for instance, has spoken with aides to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski twice in the last week in support of a broadband proposal crafted by House Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), according to an ex parte filed with the commission.

The framework Cicconi suggested as a model would have imposed various restrictions on network management, a position House Republicans see as untenable. 

“Members understand why the companies are doing what they’re doing, but it doesn’t make it right,” the Republican aide said.

He also said the unwillingness of House Republicans to support a net-neutrality compromise backed by AT&T, Verizon and the cable industry this year refutes claims by critics that the GOP is too cozy with the telecom industry.

“I don’t think that’s ever been accurate,” he said. “If you believe that and need evidence to the contrary, these members provided it.”

In the next Congress, all the Energy and Commerce subcommittees will be focused on job creation, he said.

“In the telecom space, it’s going to be USF and spectrum,” he said. “That’s going be the way we can work together in that subcommittee’s jurisdiction, so lets start there.” 

Comparatively, net neutrality has just wasted time.

“We’re still banging our heads against this issue after wasting at least five years,” he said. “And we’ve gotten nowhere.”