Only the Imperial Federal Government is capable of coming up with an idea as nutty as “to keep the Internet free, we need to control it!”  Excerpt:

In a statement released Monday, Obama called on the Federal Communications Commission to enforce the principle of treating all Internet traffic the same way, known in shorthand as Net neutrality. That means treating broadband services like utilities, the president said, so that Internet service providers would be unable “to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas.”

Obama wades into a contentious debate that has raged over how to treat Internet traffic, which has only heated up as the FCC works to prepare an official guideline. Those rules were expected to be made available later this year, though reports now claim they may be delayed until early 2015. The debate has centered on whether broadband should be placed under Title II regulation under the Telecommunications Act, which already tightly controls phone services.

This is way past idiotic.  Consider this statement alone:

That means treating broadband services like utilities, the president said, so that Internet service providers would be unable “to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas.”

The market, Mr. President, is precisely where winners and losers should be chosen – not by the Imperial Federal government.

Senator Ted Cruz likened the proposed regulation to “Obamacare for the Internet.”  He is likely right; let the Imperial City’s denizens get involved in anything as wonderfully uncontrolled, chaotic and free as the Internet, and we’ll quickly see a mountain of rules, regulations, requirements and restrictions.

We will have a new Congress in January.  This is a good chance for them to show their chops.  The President can not spend a penny of Federal Imperial money unless the House of Representatives allows him to, and they should vigorously defund any attempt to sic the FCC on the Internet.

Some years back, Ronald Reagan said the primary purpose of government was this:  “If it moves, tax it.  If it keeps moving, regulate it.  If it stops moving, subsidize it.”  He was right.

Congress should not allow the Executive Branch to attempt the latter on what is one of the last bastions of truly free speech.