Seriously Though - All Republicans Should Demand Net Neutrality

Unless freedom isn't your thing anymore.

Recently, Senator Ted Cruz came out strongly (and strangely) against net neutrality.

I'm sure Ted Cruz is a lovely person, but there is no way Republicans should be against net neutrality.

Yes, President Obama supports it, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. Just think of net neutrality as one (or both?) of those times.

The only people who should oppose net neutrality should be people in charge of big internet service providers (ISPs) who - without net neutrality - could make us pay insanely high fees to use sites like Netflix.

And maybe politicians who took donations from those big ISPs....

Here are 7 simple reasons why you, a Republican, should be 100% in favor of net neutrality.

1. You're Against Regulation

foreignpolicyblogs.com / Via foreignpolicyblogs.com

Net Neutrality literally demands that the internet be unregulated.

Net neutrality means a random citizen with a blog has as much chance of getting web traffic as President Obama does on the official White House webpage.

But Ted Cruz and The Heritage Foundation say net neutrality means MORE regulation! Let me clear this up: Net neutrality can be twisted and described as a regulation demanding there not be any regulation.

In plain English: net neutrality PREVENTS restrictive new rules and power plays from becoming legal.

Without net neutrality, big ISPs could pay to slow down your personal website (or speed up their own).

They could make your site so comparatively slow that no one would take the time to wait for your content to load. They would just head on over to the fast websites and get their information that way.

There might be an option to pay ISPs to broadcast your content for you, though. Isn't that nice?

Net neutrality prevents such regulation from happening.

2. You Value Personal Freedom

rogerebert.com / Via rogerebert.com

This is America. We should be able to get on the internet and go to websites we like and access content created by people we deem to be informative, entertaining, or trustworthy.

We should be able to start our own websites or blogs, knowing that we have a legitimate shot at getting noticed if we brand ourselves properly.

We should be able to post videos and pictures and know that they will load in basically the same amount of time it takes to load a picture or video on the Verizon website.

Without net neutrality, those freedoms go away. Can you imagine getting online and only having access to certain websites, chosen for you by major corporations and/or political organizations?

That's some scary V For Vendetta s**t right there.

3. You Want to Pay Smaller Bills Each Month

rapacki.com / Via rapacki.com

Essentially, getting rid of net neutrality could allow large service providers to treat the internet like cable.

Instead of paying a few dollars a month to have the entire World Wide Web at your fingertips (like you do now), companies could create website packages and make you pay for them.

Suddenly some of your favorite websites would cost an additional fee to view. Like is true now for HBO or movie channels on cable.

Want sports websites to work? Better pay for that sports website package.

Sure, there would probably be "basic" package that would give you access to whatever your ISP has decided are the top websites. Sound good?

There would even be fewer kitten and corgi videos available for your procrastinating pleasure, because the additional bandwidth required to load videos could be too much for the average user to afford. Think of the kittens!

Joking aside, net neutrality would almost certainly make all of our internet bills go WAY up. And we would still have access to far fewer sites than we have now.

4. You Value Competition And The Free Market

successfulworkplace.org / Via successfulworkplace.org

So net neutrality is gone, and you're now paying more for internet packages - similar to the way cable operates. What's next?

What would guarantee that the service you paid for would be any good? There'd be no competition. No small or local providers to threaten to switch to if your Facebook kept going out when it rained.

The free market system would be stifled by the lack of options. Without net neutrality, the free market suffers. End of story.

5. You Can't Stand The Mainstream Media

themillenniumreport.com / Via themillenniumreport.com

One major problem with net neutrality is that smaller media outlets could be squashed by the mainstream media.

The CNNs of the world could pay to slow down your local news stations, essentially making themselves one of the only news sources available.

Is that what you want, Republicans? More people getting their news from CNN?

6. You Support Small Business

inthesetimes.com / Via inthesetimes.com

You believe in the American spirit of entrepreneurship.

You want tax cuts for small businesses to help them succeed and grow and hire more hardworking American employees.

How exactly are small (and even medium-sized) businesses supposed to succeed if someone can pay to slow down their websites and steal their web traffic?

How are these businesses supposed to succeed without knowing how much it will cost to get their business going?

In addition, marketers and others who make money through advertising need the general public to have access to as much content as possible, so they can bombard us with as many advertisements as possible.

Net neutrality is a freakin' job creator.

7. You Want America To Remain The Greatest Country On Earth

yourpopfilter.com / Via yourpopfilter.com

We all know that America needs to stay competitive in today's age of rapid innovation.

Without net neutrality, it will be much harder for startup companies and services to break through the monopolies and let the public know they exist.

Who has the time (or attention span) to wait for your tiny personal website to load just to see if your exciting new invention is worth our interest?

Small companies who couldn't yet afford to pay-to-play would face an uphill battle - placing another burden on the backs of American entrepreneurs, and providing a leg up to global competition.

Net neutrality allows America to keep up with the rest of the world in terms of innovative ideas, technologies, and services. It is a really big deal.

Why would anyone oppose net neutrality if they weren't one of the few people who would profit from it, you ask? Good question.