Mediaboss Marketing

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced his long-awaited proposal to undo net neutrality Wednesday, officially restarting one of the most vicious and high-profile political fights of the Obama era.

When we are saddled with FCC rules that will deny many Americans high-speed internet access and jobs, doing nothing is nothing doing, Pai said at aWashington, D.C.event co-hosted by the right-wing political advocacy organization FreedomWorks. Instead, we need rules that focus on growth and infrastructure investment, rules that expand high-speed internet access everywhere and give Americans more online choice, faster speeds, and more innovation.

The FCC chairman wants to reverse the 2015 decision to regulate broadband internet providers like utilities under whats called a Title II classification. This requires telecoms to adhere to the principles of net neutrality, meaning that they cant throttle internet speeds in order to reduce congestion and persuade consumers to pay more for faster packages, or require services like Netflix to pay more for separate fast-lane service.

Pai waseagerto roll back the Obama administrations internet regulations even before he was named FCC chairman in January. We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation, and job creation, hesaid in a December speech while still an FCC commissioner.

And earlier this month, Pai loudly backed Republican legislation that undid rules preventing internet providers from selling personal user information, such as browsing histories, to advertisers.

Pai, who was formerly a corporate lawyer for Verizon, argues along with other conservatives that net neutralityrules inhibit internet infrastructure investment and circumvent Congressional authority. Instead, they say, regulatory authority should lie with the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that punishes corporations for deceptive or anti-competitive practices.

The FTC, however, doesnt actually write the rules by which telecoms have to abide the agency can only issue fines. Thus, several experts have argued, the FTC isnt equipped to enforce internet non-discrimination.

[Pais] plan would leave the FCC the expert agency tasked with overseeing communications networks without any role when it comes to the most important network in history, Obama-era FCC official Gigi Sohn wrote Wednesday in a story for Mashable. This would leave the FCC powerless to prohibit fraudulent billing, price gouging, and practices that violate consumers privacy.

Acting FTC Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen, an ideological ally of Pai who is widely believed to be auditioning for the permanent job, has positioned her agency as fully capable of punishing companies for violations.

Investigation and enforcement is a particular strength of the FTC, Ohlhausen said recently at a Washington conference on privacy and the law. I have a lot of confidence in the FTC and our abilities, thats the message I want to put forth.

Ohlhausen released a statement Wednesday shortly after Pais speech concluded, calling it an important step toward restoring the FTCs ability to protect broadband subscribers from unfair and deceptive practices, including violations of their privacy.

Net neutrality advocates and most of Silicon Valley, however, argue that internet providers shouldnt be able to determine what consumers get access to and how they get access to it. And the American public would seem to agree. When the FCC was accepting public comment about net neutrality reforms in 2014, the agency said it received more than 3 million submissions, about two-thirds of which supported Title II reclassification.

One poll taken after the recent privacy rollback bill was quickly shoved through Congress found that 83 percent of the country opposed the legislation.

Last months attack on broadband privacy was just the Republicans opening salvo we cannot and will not let the defeat of net neutrality happen, Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey said on a call with reporters prior to Pais Wednesday address.

He he was joined by Connecticut Sen. Dick Blumenthal and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden; all three all Democrats.Blumenthal noted that more than 800 startups have signaled their support for net neutrality.

Advocates for net neutrality believe they can garner enough support ahead of the anticipated mid-May FCC vote on Pais proposal in order to kill it in Congress. Evan Greer, campaign director of the civil liberties group Fight for the Future, pointed to the 50 House Republicans who broke ranks on Aprils broadband privacy vote despite the fact that opponents had so little time to lobby before the vote.

We have several weeks at least to mobilize opposition to this, Greer said. Republicans are misjudging their base on this issue. The reality is that outside of the Beltway, this is not a partisan issue. I think the more we get into this, the more the GOP and the Trump administration is going to hear from their voters that they are just plain wrong.

See the rest here:
The Republican plan to kill net neutrality could change the internet forever - VICE News

Republicans from Pembroke, Kingston, Plymouth, Bourne, Sandwich and Falmouth will caucus next week to select a new state committeeman from the Plymouth and Barnstable district.

PLYMOUTH Republicans from Pembroke, Kingston, Plymouth, Bourne, Sandwich and Falmouth will caucus next week to select a new state committeeman from the Plymouth and Barnstable district.

State Sen. Vinny deMacedo, R-Plymouth, resigned from the position as state committeeman for the district earlier this month, citing increased demands of his work in the legislature.

DeMacedo, who has served as the districts state committeeman for more than three years, said his duties as a state senator prevent him from fulfilling duties of the job, which include attending monthly Republican Town Committee meetings in each of the districts six towns.

Ive loved serving the last three years, but it become too challenging with all the work were doing. This is my busy time, traveling all over the state and the district, deMacedo said.

Eligible Republican Committee Town Committee members from the six towns will chose deMacedos successor at a caucus next Wednesday at Hotel 1620 in downtown Plymouth. Each town can have up to 35 town committee members, so approximately 200 Republicans will be voting.

As of Thursday, only one Republican had publicly emerged as a candidate for the position.

Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph D. McDonald Jr. confirmed this week that he will seek the position.

McDonald, who was re-elected to a six-year term as sheriff in November, said he appreciates deMacedos work on behalf of the district and understands how the constraints of his office as well as the two-year election cycle make it difficult for him to serve on the State Committee.

McDonald, a Kingston resident, said serving in the position will give him an opportunity to give back to the Republicans who helped him in his elections. A lot of people, when I started, were very, very helpful to me, McDonald said.

Every state senate district has two state committee members a committeeman and a committeewoman. There are 40 districts in the state so the Republican State Committee has 80 members, 40 men and 40 women.

Barbara McCoy of Sagamore is the state committeewoman for the Plymouth and Barnstable district. She will lead the caucus. Nominations will be accepted from the caucus floor.

There are rumblings about a challenge for the position, possibly from Republicans from one of the districts towns on Cape Cod.

But Jenny Bruce, chairman of the Falmouth Republican Town Committee, said she has not heard of any candidates except McDonald being interested in the position. Bruce said she will miss the hard work deMacedo did on the committee, but she also knows McDonald and personally supports him for the post.

Laurie Curtis, chairman of the Plymouth Republican Town Committee, said local Republicans will not have time to meet to consider endorsing a candidate for the post before the caucus, but she also personally also supports the sheriff and believes others do as well. I know Sheriff McDonald has strong support among a lot of members, she said.

DeMacedo said he too will support the sheriff for the State Committee.

Im a big fan of Joe. Ive worked with him many times. Hes a great guy and a great friend. He certainly has my support, deMacedo said.

Read the original here:
REPUBLICAN STATE COMMITTEE: Sheriff looking to succeed deMacedo on Republican State Committee - Wicked Local Pembroke

Republicans say President Donald Trump needs to turn things around fast or the GOP could pay dearly in 2018.

With the party preparing to defend its congressional majorities in next years midterms, senior Republicans are expressing early concern about Trumps lack of legislative accomplishments, his record-low approval ratings, and the overall dysfunction thats gripped his administration.

Story Continued Below

The stumbles have drawn the attention of everyone from GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, who funneled tens of millions of dollars into Trumps election and is relied upon to bankroll the partys House and Senate campaigns, to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Adelson hasnt contributed to pro-Trump outside groups since the inauguration, a move thats drawn notice within the party, and McConnell is warning associates that Trumps unpopularity could weigh down the GOP in the election.

Potential GOP candidates whom party leaders want to recruit are afraid of walking into a buzz saw, uncertain about what kind of political environment theyll be facing by the time the midterms come around and what Trumps record will look like.

As tumultuous as Trumps first 100 days have been, theres still plenty of time for him to correct course. The president is projecting confidence that the GOP can resuscitate its stalled repeal of Obamacare, pass tax reform, and work with Democrats on a major public works package. Success on those fronts would no doubt calm the GOPs current jitters.

But interviews with more than a dozen top Republican operatives, donors and officials reveal a growing trepidation about how the initial days of the new political season are unfolding. And they underscore a deep anxiety about how the party will position itself in 2018 as it grapples with the leadership of an unpredictable president still acclimating to Washington.

Its not the way youd want to start a new cycle, said Randy Evans, a Republican National Committee member from Georgia. At some point, theyve got to find some kind of rhythm, and there is no rhythm yet.

Theyve got to put some drives together, he added.

Appearing Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus pushed back on the suggestion Trump has accomplished little. Among other things, Priebus pointed to the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and reports that border crossings have plummeted since the start of the new year.

He is fulfilling his promises and doing it at breakneck speed, Priebus said.

Behind the scenes, the administration is keeping a watchful eye on the 2018 election. Priebus remains in touch with his political allies from his time as party chairman. Theres talk Priebus may attend an RNC meeting in San Diego next month and a Mitt Romney-hosted donor summit in Park City, Utah, slated for June. The midterms are likely to be front and center at both events.

Priebus and chief strategist Steve Bannon are carefully tracking the special election for a Republican-leaning Georgia House seat, a contest the administration sees as a key early test of the presidents political standing. White House officials were heartened that Democrat Jon Ossoff whom Trump attacked on Twitter and robocalls fell short of an outright victory in the first round of voting, triggering a June runoff against Republican Karen Handel.

Yet as Republican strategists examine that special election, and one for a conservative Kansas seat a week earlier, theyre seeing evidence of a worrisome enthusiasm gap. In the run-up to the Georgia election, low-propensity Democratic voters people who in years past did not consistently turn out to the polls cast ballots at a rate nearly 7 percentage points higher than low-propensity Republicans, according to private polling by one Republican group.

In Kansas, the chasm was wider. Infrequent Democratic voters cast ballots at a rate of 9 percentage points higher than low-propensity Republicans did. The GOP nonetheless held the seat.

Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning in your inbox

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Former Rep. David Jolly, a Florida Republican who won a 2014 special election that was a precursor to a broader GOP sweep in that years midterms, said the Georgia race was rife with warnings for his party.

It's a verdict on Trump's first 100 days, Jolly said. Ossoff simply has to speak to the president's failure, while Republicans have to wrestle with whether and how to defend Trump's historically low approval ratings and how closely to align with a president who at any moment could undermine Handel's entire messaging strategy with an indefensible tweet or an outright lie.

Jolly, who lost reelection in 2016 and is considering running again, said he and other would-be GOP midterm contenders are struggling to take measure of what theyd be getting themselves into. The election is bound to be a referendum on Trumps first two years. Two Republicans, Wisconsin Rep. Sean Duffy and Indiana Rep. Susan Brooks, recently announced they will be forgoing Senate runs.

"If you're a prospective candidate, boy, it's tough," Jolly said.

Republicans are far more concerned about the House than the Senate. The GOP has a four-seat edge in the Senate and a map tilted heavily in its favor. House Republicans, by contrast, have a 24-seat margin but must defend dozens of swing districts. Its a scenario not entirely unlike the first midterm election of Barack Obamas presidential tenure, when Democrats lost control of the House.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), a member of GOP leadership, said the lack of legislative progress so far has imperiled his partys hold on the House. But Cole doesnt point the finger at Trump: Instead, he said, fellow Republicans unwilling to compromise on key agenda items like health care are to blame.

The majority is not safe, he said. We need to be more constructive legislatively, and there are going to be political implications if we don't."

I'm confident President Trump and the Congress will deliver meaningful results for the American people, said Henry Barbour, an influential RNC member from Mississippi and the nephew of former Gov. Haley Barbour. We don't have another option, particularly as it relates to the House in 2018.

Not every Republican is confident about the Senate, either. McConnell has privately expressed concern about Trumps approval ratings and lack of legislative wins, according to two people familiar with this thinking. A student of political history, the Senate leader has warned that the 2018 map shouldnt give Republicans solace, reminding people that the party in power during a presidents first term often suffers electorally.

We do have to do something with our full control of the government, said Scott Jennings, who served in George W. Bushs White House and oversaw a pro-McConnell super PAC during his 2014 reelection. Doing nothing is not an option. Theres time the midterm elections arent until November 2018 but at some point we have to finish the things we ran on.

Republican fundraising, bolstered by the partys full control of the federal government, has been robust. The RNC reported raising $41.5 million during the first quarter of the year, a record.

Yet Trumps rocky start is causing restlessness in some corners of the donor world. Adelson, the Las Vegas casino mogul, has privately complained about Trumps failure to fulfill his campaign promise to move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, three people close to the billionaire said. Adelson is also rankled that some people he recommended for administration posts havent yet been tapped.

More fundamentally, Adelson is dismayed by what he sees as a state of chaos in the new administration, these people said. In what some Republicans are interpreting as a sign of his frustration, Adelson has yet to give money to any of the pro-Trump outside groups set up to boost the presidents agenda.

An Adelson spokesman, Andy Abboud, said the billionaire is overall not angry or unhappy with the president and is pleased with his decisiveness on certain issues. Adelson, he said, is waiting patiently for action on the embassy.

Others are less forgiving. Texas businessman Doug Deason and his billionaire father, Darwin, have become so annoyed with the lack of progress that they have told Republican members of Congress they will not donate to them until the presidents agenda is approved. The younger Deason, a member of the Koch brothers political network, said he blamed House and Senate Republicans for the impasse, not Trump.

"I think generally people are happy, but we're in a rare position where we have the presidency and both houses of Congress, and we want to get things done," he said.

In recent weeks, party leaders have taken steps to assure nervous donors that the political environment remains stable for Republicans and that the presidents agenda is on track. During a recent donor summit in Palm Beach, Florida, hosted by House Speaker Paul Ryan, organizers stressed that health care and tax reform could still get done.

Indeed, some Republicans say its premature to start fretting about an election 18 months away, regardless of Trumps early blunders.

This is part of the growing pains of the new administration. Its like fumbling a football in the first three minutes of the game, said Ken Abramowitz, a New York businessman and major GOP donor. Its not great. But if youre going to fumble the football, its good to do it in the first three minutes.

Missing out on the latest scoops? Sign up for POLITICO Playbook and get the latest news, every morning in your inbox.

Read the rest here:
Republicans sound alarm on Trump's troubles ahead of 2018 - Politico

Richard DeNapoli, the state Republican Party committeeman from Broward, says the county party is rife with personal disagreements, vendettas and score settling.

The county party organization holds its regular monthly meeting Monday night.

DeNapoli emailed county Republicans with his concerns over the weekend, following Fridays resignation of Dolly Rump, secretary of the county party.

In her resignation, Rump cited major dysfunction, division and disorder between officers. She was elected secretary in December after serving as Broward chairwoman for Donald Trumps presidential campaign.

DeNapoli, a former county Republican chairman who was also an early Trump supporter, was elected as the state Republican committeeman by party voters in the August primary. That makes him a member of the state Republican Executive Committee, which governs the state party, and a leader in the local party.

The local party, run by committeemen and committeewomen throughout the county, is formally known as the Broward Republican Executive Committee.

DeNapoli, in his email, said Rump correctly diagnosed what was going on.

I understand Dolly's reasons and can echo her sentiments. It is true that rather than focusing on critical tasks, certain members of BREC are instead focused on personal disagreements and vendettas, he wrote. You may be shocked by what Im about to write, but its all true and you need to be aware of the situation.

Instead of working together, certain members are bent on expelling other members or making their lives miserable so that they resign, DeNapoli said.

Bob Sutton, chairman of the party, could not be immediately reached on Monday. After Rump resigned on Friday, he said he look[ed] forward to the Broward Republican Executive Committee board getting back to work, explaining that within the party theres always disagreements like there are in any large family.

DeNapoli said the situation is far worse than Rump described. Exhibit A, he said, was a call about him to the police on March 8 when he was speaking the Lauderdale Beach Republican Club.

I was falsely accused of assault. I say falsely accused because the police determined immediately that there was no assault, DeNapoli wrote, adding that he was accused of falsely imprisoning someone.

After he was questioned, deputies determined, of course, that I had committed no crimes and did nothing wrong. The matter was closed and there was no further investigation. They knew that this was just a political disagreement, DeNapoli wrote.

He continued:

I've heard through the grapevine that more fake criminal accusations may be coming my way. From whom I don't know. But here's an example of what might happen an ordinary handshake could be portrayed as a trumped-up battery charge.

Clearly, this is a "witch hunt" orchestrated to intimidate, harass and defame me, and you as BREC members need to be aware of this. This culture of intimidation and using the police for political purposes needs to stop, and I call upon Chairman Sutton to do something to stop this ridiculousness. ...

The bottom line is that no one should treat fellow Republicans in such a manner. No one should falsely accuse a fellow Republican, former chairman, and current state committeeman of committing crimes for their own political purposes. You do not try to ruin someones life simply because they disagree with you or you don't like them. You do not waste the taxpayers' dollars by involving the police to solve your political problems. You do not tie up the police from handling other life-threatening matters in the community by making frivolous and false calls to the police. I am an attorney and former prosecutor who has been falsely accused of assault, the crime of false imprisonment, and being under an imaginary FBI investigation. This is beyond ridiculous for someone volunteering for the Republican cause. But these are just a couple of examples of what has been going on over the last few months.

DeNapoli said he was concerned about the prospect of the county party creating a local Grievance Committee on Monday night, even though the state already has a grievance process. He said a local committee could be used to perform witch hunts against BREC members.

aman@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4550

Read the original:
Another Broward Republican leader says party is plagued with dysfunction, personal feuds - Sun Sentinel

Republicans have put President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee on the bench, and they're now in a position to fill dozens more federal judgeships and reshape some of the nation's highest courts.

Democrats have few ways to stop them.

The Republican opportunity comes with the GOP in control of Congress and the White House, about 120 vacancies in federal district and appeals courts to be filled and after years of partisan fights over judicial nominations.

Frustrated by Republican obstruction in 2013, then-majority Democrats changed Senate rules so judicial nominations for those trial and appeals courts are filibuster-proof, meaning it takes only 51 votes, a simple majority in the 100-member Senate, for confirmation.

Today, Senate Republicans hold 52 seats.

The Democratic rules change did not apply to Supreme Court nominations. But Senate Republicans are now in the majority, and they changed the rules in similar fashion this month to confirm federal Judge Neil Gorsuch to the high court over Democratic opposition. As a result, the GOP can almost guarantee confirmation of future Supreme Court justices, as well, if there are more openings with Trump in office and Republicans are in the majority.

"The Trump administration does have an opportunity to really put its mark on the future of the federal judiciary," says Leonard Leo, the executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society and an adviser to Trump on the Gorsuch nomination.

Reflecting a conservative judicial philosophy, Leo says the unusual number of vacancies that Trump is inheriting could reorient the courts of appeals, in particular, "in a way that better reflects the traditional judicial role, which is interpreting the law according to its text and placing a premium on the Constitution's limits on government power."

That philosophy was a priority for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, whom Gorsuch replaced, and Trump has said he wants the federal judiciary to reflect those values.

There are currently 20 vacancies in the federal appeals courts, which are one step below the Supreme Court, and roughly 100 more in district courts, where cases are originally tried. Former President Barack Obama had around half that number of vacancies when he took office in 2009. Of the current vacancies, 49 are considered judicial emergencies, a designation based on how many court filings are in the district and how long the seat has been open.

As the White House has focused on the Gorsuch nomination, Trump has so far only nominated one lower-court judge, Amul R. Thapar, a friend of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, for the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

Republican senators say they hope to see more nominations soon from the White House.

"We've heard from them and we're talking to them," says Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the No. 2 Republican leader.

The number of vacancies is a monumental opportunity for conservatives looking to exert more influence on a judiciary that they see as too liberal and activist. But it also could work to Republicans' disadvantage. Democrats can't stop the process, but they can delay it, and they still can call for procedural votes that will delay other Senate business when Republicans are trying to confirm each individual judge.

If they do that, says Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, "we'll have more vacancies than we have now."

Democrats haven't signaled a strategy for lower court judges, but partisan tension over the judiciary is at a peak after McConnell blocked Obama's nominee for Scalia's seat, federal Judge Merrick Garland, then changed the Senate rules to avert a Democratic filibuster of Gorsuch this month. They're also frustrated that Senate Republicans confirmed very few of Obama's picks once the GOP regained control of the Senate in 2015.

Also unclear is whether the traditional practice will persist in which both senators from a state, regardless of party, consult with the White House on a nominee and then have to approve of the nominee for the Senate Judiciary Committee to move forward. Grassley said this month he is committed to honoring the practice, but said "there are always some exceptions."

Of Democratic senators working with the White House, Grassley says "it ought to be pretty easy" in states that have at least one Republican senator. But there are multiple vacancies in states with two Democrats, including eight district court openings in New York and six in California.

In Texas, which has two Republican senators, there are two appeals court vacancies and 11 district court vacancies. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are continuing their practice of creating and consulting with a bipartisan panel of leading state attorneys to help identify the most qualified candidates for those jobs.

Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., a committee member, says he thinks the future of the bipartisan process is "the real fight" going forward. He says he hopes it doesn't change.

"I think there's a lot of desire to keep that power within the Senate," he said.

Read the original:
Republicans in position to reshape federal bench - ABC News