Thursday, September 18, 2014

Senators opposing net neutrality rake in more campaign cash

Ars Technica reports Senators opposing net neutrality rake in more campaign cash "Of the nine senators—all Republicans—opposing net neutrality as of Tuesday, they averaged $140,255 in contributions from both categories, the data shows. Of the 15 senators who favor net neutrality, they averaged nearly $100,000 in contributions. Thirteen of the senators are Democrats and the two others are independent."

This is interesting to me. Since it's divided down partisan lines is this saying money isn't the issue? If money was the root of the issue, wouldn't the ISPs just give more money to the Democrats and Independents and "win" their votes? Is a difference of $140K vs $100K (on average) enough to swing a vote? Seems like the party platforms, for or against big business regulation, is the real deciding factor here. Maybe as big businesses the ISPs more generally favor Republicans and they know that with the filibuster they don't need the support of any Democrats to block new legislation.

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