Ted Cruz Says Net Neutrality Is 'Obamacare For The Internet'
Cruz, who is mulling a run for president in 2016, compared the entire concept of "net neutrality" - which posits internet companies should not be allowed to speed or slow down their services for certain users - to Obama's much-maligned healthcare reform.
'"Net Neutrality' is Obamacare for the Internet; the Internet should not operate at the speed of government," Cruz wrote on Twitter.
Cruz's spokeswoman, Amanda Carpenter, added that net neutrality would place the government "in charge of determining pricing, terms of service, and what products can be delivered. Sound like Obamacare much?"
The Federal Communications Commission is currently forming rules to regulate whether or not internet service providers can charge certain websites for faster speeds, or, conversely, block or limit those who don't pay. According to a Wall Street Journal report last Friday, the rules are so complicated that the FCC likely won't finish them until the end of the year.
On Monday, Obama called for the internet to be reclassified as a utility service.
"Ever since the internet was created, it's been organized around basic principles of openness, fairness, and freedom," Obama said in a video posted by the White House. "This set of principles - the idea of net neutrality - has unleashed the power of the internet and given innovators a chance to thrive. Abandoning these principles would threaten to end the internet as we know it."