Legislative Absurdity...

I have been busy attempting to write my seminar paper examining the role of the judiciary in resolving conflicts over the war powers between the legislative and executive branches of our government. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to post as often as I would like. I guess this is what I have been missing, but in reverse-chronological order. There will be several posts today and tomorrow to catch up.

Apparently, Congress has a need to continue to meddle in the public school system. Screwing the system up through no child left behind just wasn't enough. Now, Congress needs to increase its paternal presence in the public school system and make sure that kids have a selection of healthy snacks in their vending machines. First off, can someone please explain the Constitutional basis for this type of legislation, or legislation about public education in general? Usually, these kinds of laws are justified under the Commerce Clause, but this obscene expansion of Congressional power is now subverting the power of the states to control what should rightfully remain under state control. Yes, we have an adolescent weight problem in this country. No, the answer is not more legislation adding to the bureaucratic bloat of the legal system. Now, I know the idea of people being responsible for themselves is, to some extent, revolutionary, but maybe this could be a viable alternative to legislation.

So much for the internet. While this point is largely hyperbole, the possible effects of cutting the Net Neutrality Act out of upcoming telecommunications legislation will have, essentially, this effect. Some of my previous posts have detailed the problems with creating multiple tiers to the internet and charging companies like Google and Yahoo! for their bandwidth usage. This could have disastrous consequences for our everyday usage of the internet. Could you imagine...MORE ADDS...to pay for these pay schemes? Its more likely that the telecos are using this as a method to limit the influence of technology developments like Internet Protocol TeleVision (IPTV) and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP). For all the Vonage users out there, switch from MCI long distance, and now you have to pay $10 more per month to cover MCI's fee levied against Vonage for their bandwidth use. This is particularly absurd because individual users already pay for web access through the same companies who want to raise prices for bandwidth use. The Telecos, then, get the windfall of double billing. Charge the end user for access, and charge the web companies for the amount of traffic they generate. The net result, a charge on both ends.

Update:

My Point Exactly.

Even More.

Scary.