House divided: Senator Hutchison acts to block FCC net neutrality funds

Abraham Lincoln's 1858 pronouncement that a "house divided against itself cannot stand" is more and more applicable for a number of politically charged 21st Century issues, not the least of which is the effort to move ahead with some form of broadband regulation or net neutrality.

Next Tuesday the FCC is expected to approve a plan advanced by Chairman Julius Genachowski after working with media giants like Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA), Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T). The plan has come under fire from both sides of the current and future Congress, with some, such as Sen. Al Franken, decrying that it shouldn't pass because it's not strong enough and others, now including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, saying it shouldn't pass because it's too strong.

Hutchison has filed an amendment to an appropriations bill that would "prohibit the FCC from using any appropriated funds to adopt, implement or otherwise litigate any network neutrality based rules, protocols or standards."

And the business of governing the country rolls on.

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