 So, I have a lot of criticisms of most of the 2020 Democratic Party primary contenders, but one area where most of them get a pass is on the issue of net neutrality, because I think that most of them do support net neutrality. They've signaled support for it, usually more than one time, which I think is really, you know, it's encouraging and it makes me feel cautiously optimistic, although when they've talked about net neutrality, it's usually been fairly vague. They talked about the prospect of appointing a pro-net neutrality chairman to the FCC and finding pro-net neutrality commissioners to appoint. Now you do have to alternate. You have to appoint a Republican and then a Democrat as president to the FCC, but you can find Republicans who are in fact pro-net neutrality. So, you know, what we see will be a drastic improvement regardless of who the Democrat is when it comes to the issue of net neutrality. However, Bernie Sanders just came out with a plan to save net neutrality that is so robust, so comprehensive that he raised the bar so high that nobody in this field comes anywhere near him, because he doesn't just want to restore net neutrality, but he wants to make the internet more consumer-friendly than it's ever been. And he's doing this with a three-pronged approach, essentially. He's going to restore net neutrality, really reign in the power that internet service providers have. And on top of that, he's going to embolden cities to adopt public broadband. And Carl Bode, who has been reporting on the telecom industry for decades, claims that this would be Comcast's worst nightmare. So if Carl Bode says that what Bernie Sanders is proposing is going to scare the likes of Comcast, then I am inclined to trust his judgment. So what is Bernie Sanders proposing? Well, as Carl Bode of Vice Reports, AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast executives aren't going to like Bernie Sanders' new broadband plan. The wide-ranging proposal released Friday morning would all but demolish big telecom stranglehold over the broadband and media sectors, unwinding decades of unrelenting consolidation, imposing hard new limits on how much broadband providers can charge for service, while opening the door to significantly broader availability of community broadband. The plan would restore the FCC's authority and net neutrality rules stripped away by the Ajit Pai FCC, subjecting ISPs to far greater oversight. It also proposes banning ISPs from imposing arbitrary and unnecessary usage caps and overage fees, which critics have long said are little more than punitive price hikes on captive customers. But Sanders' plan also spends a lot of time advocating for community broadband, first by proposing $150 billion in new funding to aid the growing roster of towns and cities that have begun building their own networks after years of industry neglect, secondly by eliminating the 19 protectionist state laws big ISP lobbyists have used to try and crush those efforts. Municipalities across the country running their own internet services have proved they can deliver high-quality service at a fraction of the price of established monopolies, the proposal states. Bernie believes it's time to stop relying on profit-focused corporations to get to universal broadband, it adds, noting his administration would provide the necessary funding for states, cities and co-ops to build out their own broadband networks and ensure all households are connected by the end of his first term. Now on top of all of that, the plan would eliminate hidden fees from internet service providers and cable providers like Comcast, so you'll get this type of plan that's advertised at $79.99 per month, but then when you see your bill, it's higher than that because there's all these weird arbitrary fees that they didn't tell you about, Bernie would eliminate that because that is effectively false advertising, Bernie's going to do away with that. On top of that, he's going to target these really big mega mergers. So currently there is a merger that is going on between T-Mobile and Sprint that a G-Pi's FCC just green-lit. Now of course, that's bad for consumers because if there is less competition and there's more monopolies then the situation will get drastically worse. So Bernie is going about this in a multitude of ways, he's kind of attacking this through various angles and making sure that he doesn't just restore net neutrality but make sure that it's a lasting change and this would be a game changer. I mean, currently we see a fight for a municipal broadband across the country, but whenever that happens, you know, the industry steps in, starts fear mongering about the cost and how it's going to be difficult to establish an infrastructure. But what Bernie Sanders is saying is, we've got your back. If you want to do public broadband in your town, well, we're going to help you with the funding. And in the event that we're to be encouraged, a lot of towns simultaneously would do it. Now ISPs like Comcast and Verizon would fight against it in these towns unquestionably. But they'd be spreading themselves more thin because this is something that is not talked about enough, so not very many towns even know about this. So when they do attempt it, well, these towns end up getting barraged by corporate lobbyists who try to kill the efforts and usually they're effective at it. But towns who have implemented a public broadband like Chattanooga for example, they have been incredibly successful. So Bernie Sanders here is basically changing the internet in a way that would not only make it more open than it was before Ajit Pai killed net neutrality. But he would end this issue once and for all because I don't know about you, but I'm really tired of having this fight. Like we had this fight, this battle to save net neutrality in 2014. And then we had to do it again in 2017. We lost that battle. And if we go from Democrat to Republican, they're just going to appoint FCC commissioners and chairmen and chairwomen that will change the laws and we'll go back and forth. I want to end this debate once and for all. Seems like Bernie Sanders wants to do that and he's going further than any other candidate. And let me remind you that net neutrality is a bipartisan issue, a majority of both Democrats and Republicans supported. So for all of the centrist Democrats who fear monger about people needing to appeal to moderates and Republicans and Trump voters, well, this is how you do it. By crafting public policy, that doesn't compromise your principles, but instead bolsters something that we need a utility like the internet that actually increases freedom that gives people access to information and resources. Now Bernie Sanders tweeted about this saying, the internet as we know it was developed by taxpayer funded research using taxpayer funded grants in taxpayer funded labs. Our tax dollars built the internet. It should be a public good for all, not another price gouging profit machine for Comcast, AT&T and Verizon. So obviously if Comcast and Verizon and AT&T didn't already hate Bernie Sanders, they're really going to hate him now. And what Bernie Sanders is doing is he is drastically raising the bar. I have never seen a net neutrality proposal this good because what I propose as the solution to permanently end the net neutrality debate is for all of us to fight for a public broadband in our areas, right? But what Bernie Sanders is doing is he's giving us a boost. He's giving us the tools that we need to make that fight easier. And the tool comes in the form of funding from the federal government if your town chooses to opt for public broadband. This would be a game changer. And we would never have to worry about monopolies or this attempt to kill net neutrality and section off portions of the internet for a higher profit. And also this would make zero rating a thing of the past, right? So this is so important and I really hope that Bernie Sanders gets credit for this. He probably won't. But I mean, this is an incredibly important issue. The fact that 2020 candidates support net neutrality in and of itself is important and I give them credit where it's due. They're not talking about it enough, regardless, you know, the fact that they support is good. But Bernie is going beyond just supporting net neutrality. He's going beyond paying lip service to this issue, knowing how important it is. He's proposing a real robust solution that would save the internet permanently. You've got to hand it to him. He really did his research here and he genuinely cares about this issue. It's nice to see.