The Patriot Post® · The FCC Is Getting a Makeover

In the months leading up to the Nov. 8 election, many voters rallied behind a simple yet powerful mantra: anyone but Hillary Clinton. That same feeling of apprehension also applies to the outgoing FCC chairman: anyone but Tom Wheeler. Thankfully, to conservatives’ delight, Wheeler — an Obama appointee and kingpin — declared he was relinquishing the title last month. Wheeler has been nothing but a thorn in the sides of free market advocates — whether it be his contempt for the “Redskins” or his successful push for net neutrality.

This week we learned who his successor will be: whistleblower Ajit Pai, whom The Washington Free Beacon says “has been an outspoken defender of free speech and freedom of the press, as he’s worked to expose the FCC’s politicization since he joined the agency in 2012.” For example, “Pai gained notice in 2014 when he exposed the FCC’s plan to ‘police the newsroom’ through a study that would have sent government-backed researchers into nearly 300 newsrooms to learn how they decide which stories to run.” In terms of policy, “Pai believes in free markets and less regulation and has promised to ‘fire up the weed whacker’ against net neutrality rules finalized under the Obama administration.”

The issue of Internet neutrality is an understandably sticky subject even among conservatives, but we in our humble shop believe the Obama/Wheeler iteration of it to be onerous. Democrats have specific reasons for wanting to make the Internet a public utility, and Pai knows it, which is why he wants to fight back against it. And just like that, another part of Obama’s legacy is under threat. The Left had better get used to it.