The White House is threatening a new veto, on the heels of Tuesday's Keystone XL bill veto. House Republicans are set to debate revisions to No Child Left Behind that Speaker Boehner said will give states “more flexibility over how federal dollars are used to educate America’s kids.” The bill maintains annual federal testing, but contains a number of changes in how dollars flow to the states.

The tax firm H&R Block has found that over half of the people who received a federal subsidy through Obamacare have had to return part of the money through their taxes. From that group, taxpayers on average are returning $530 to the federal government. The firm also found that on average those opting to pay a penalty will pay $172 dollars, representing the fine for a family. AAF’s Chris Holt has more on the ACA’s effects on your taxes in this “Policy in 60 Seconds” video.

Eakinomics: D-Day for Net Neutrality

Today the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) will vote on Chairman Wheeler’s proposed “net neutrality” regulation. The fundamental notion in network neutrality — namely, that all users on the Internet should have fair access to content — is intuitively appealing. Unfortunately, the reality of classifying the Internet like a public utility (“Title II regulation”) is far less rosy. Indeed, the prospect of an overly intrusive, micromanaging regulatory regime makes it quite likely that instead of enhancing Internet openness and freedom the regulation will harm the U.S. consumer.

Though President Obama didn't kickstart the Title II movement, he strong-armed the FCC into its current approach. Unfortunately,  Congress never intended for the FCC to have this kind of power. Twice before the FCC has tried, only to have the courts toss out the rules.  It is an act of desperation to shoehorn the dynamic Internet into an octegenarian legal regime.

Conservatives and progressives alike share the same ultimate goal: a vibrant Internet ecosystem that supports investment in speed, innovation in applications and content, the ability to enter and compete in markets and fair pricing. Unfortunately, the issue has become contentious and partisan, to the detriment of clear thinking on the issue. A better route forward, in general, would be for Congress to hash out the issues and legislate on the appropriate framework for net neutrality. Given that it does not appear that this is imminent, it would be better for the FCC to avoid locking in a particular business model (public utility) and instead adopt a clearer approach that stresses identifying violations of net neutrality and imposing remedies on behalf of the harmed parties. 

From the Forum

Testimony: Toward a 21st Century Regulatory System by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, AAF President

Video: Policy In 60 Seconds: The ACA and Your Tax Bill featuring Chris Holt, AAF Health Care Policy Director

Shine the Light on the FCC’s Net Neutrality Proposal by Doug Hochberg, AAF Press Secretary