Donald Trump and the Republican Party won't need U.S. Senate approval to destroy net neutrality in America.

While Trump has signed a flurry of executive actions this week, the media has completely ignored Trump's appointment of Ajit Pai to chair the Federal Communications Commission.

And because Pai is already a member of the FCC, he won't need Senate approval for his new position.

Pai is a staunch opponent of FCC regulations.

He recently spoke at the Free State Foundation about removing so-called "unnecessary" regulations, declaring that "We need to fire up the weed whacker and remove those rules that are holding back investment, innovation, and job creation."

But net neutrality doesn't threaten freedom or hold back investment -- net neutrality keeps the Internet the way we've always known it: everyone's online content and services are treated the exact same way as anyone else's, no matter whether the creator is a tech-savvy high-school drop-out or a giant multinational like Microsoft.

You're not hearing about this in the mainstream media in large part because MSNBC and CNN are owned by Comcast and Time Warner, two companies that stand to cash in big if net neutrality is destroyed.

Read more here.

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10:30pm... Proof Petro Billionaires Are Running the White House (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Community Square  

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Wednesday's Daily Stack 

Hour One: Issues of the Day as the Trump Era Begins
- Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District)    

Article: "Trump bans agencies from 'providing updates on social media or to reporters'" by Jamiles Lartey.

Article: "Climate change, LGBT rights removed from White House website" by Chris Matyszczyk.

Article: "White Rose: The Germans who tried to topple Hitler" by Lucy Burns.

Article: "Badlands park tweets fleetingly defy Trump climate views" by Stephen Shankland.

Article: "'Alternative' National Parks Twitter account gains 170,000 followers overnight" by Gavia Baker-Whitelaw.

Twitter: "AltUSNatParkService".

Article: "Sean Spicer Again Eschews the AP by Taking First Question From This Conservative Outlet" by J.D. Durkin.

Tweet: "I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and...." by Donald J. Trump.

Tweet: "even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!" by Donald J. Trump.

Article: "'I'm not up for grabs': Peaceful crowd of at least 75,000 marches against Trump" by Katelyn Ferral.

Article: "Trump's budget nominee defends support for cuts to Social Security, Medicare" by Ylan Q. Mui.

Article: "Price grilled over Medicare innovation, Medicaid block grants" by Neil Versel.

Tweet: "A moment does not make a movement, #sacrifice does....#blackeagle" by Joe Madison.

Tweet: "I will be making my Supreme Court pick on Thursday of next week.Thank you!" by Donald J. Trump.

Article: "Voter Purges Alter U.S. Political Map" (CrossCheck) by Greg Palast.

Article: "Second Hill committee to investigate possible Russia-Trump ties" by Austin Wright.

Article: "Mark Pocan, Keith Ellison push to add right to vote to U.S. Constitution" by Jessie Opoien.

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 2 section 2." ... [The President] shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; ..."

Article: "Trump's impending executive order heralds 'dangerous' return to torture, official warns" by Spencer Ackerman.

Article: "Trump could reinstate secret CIA 'black site' prisons: U.S. officials" by Jonathan Landay and Mark Hosenball.

Article: "Report: Trump May Continue Using Gitmo for Trials of 'Newly Captured' Prisoners" by Edwin Mora.

Article: "Trump expected to order temporary ban on refugees" by Julia Edwards Ainsley.

Article: "Trump orders building of Mexico border wall, targets U.S. 'sanctuary' cities" by Julia Edwards Ainsley.

Article: "Toll road idea resurfaces in Wisconsin" by Tom Still.

Article: "Baldwin, Johnson back bill to delist wolf" by Lee Bergquist.

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010)

Article: "Trump's 'alternative facts': Why the row about inauguration 'lies'?" by BBC.

Article: "Evans: California independence? Yes we can" by Marcus Ruiz Evans.

Article: "More Californians dreaming of a country without Trump: poll" by Sharon Bernstein.

Site: Yes California Independence Campaign.

Article: "Peter Thiel, Trump Adviser, Has a Backup Country: New Zealand" by David Streitfeld and Jacqueline Williams.

Article: "How to Make California Great: Secede, With a Little Help From Putin" by Leonid Ragozin.

Article: "Donald Trump Jr. for Interior secretary?" by Elise Viebeck.

Article: "Reminder: Donald Trump Jr. bragged that 'we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia'" by Aric Suber-Jenkins.

Article: "Donald Trump's "public" Inaugural Balls Divided High-dollar, Low-dollar Donors, Documents Show" by Mattathias Schwartz.

Article: "Trump defends his big-game hunting sons as they are shamed on Twitter for posing with their trophy kills - including a leopard and an elephant - after death of Cecil the lion" by Alexander Lerche.

Video: "Ronald Reagan States' Rights Speech in Philadelphia, MS", August 3, 1980.

Article: "Donald Trump, Jr. makes curious campaign detour" by Rachel Maddow.

Article: "Mississippi civil rights workers' murders" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Estimated 20,000 participate in Phoenix Women's March, joining hundreds of thousands nationwide".

Article: "Maricopa Sheriff Joe Arpaio Loses Re-election Fight" by Bill Chappell.

Video: President Donald Trump Actions Affirm Fears For Environment | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC.

Article: "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown.

Site: Common Dreams

Site: Alternet

Site: Truthdig

Article: "Net neutrality" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Donald Trump just named a net neutrality foe to head the FCC" by Timothy B. Lee.

Tweet: "Congratulations to @FoxNews for being number one in inauguration ratings. They were many times higher than FAKE NEWS @CNN - public is smart!" by Donald J. Trump.

Song: "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire.

Article: "Supreme Court Won't Hear Appeal From Texas on Voter ID Case" by Adam Liptak.

 

Talk Media News Segment:
- Bob Ney 

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Article: "Trump issues orders: 'Immediate' border wall construction, deportation program" by Loree Lewis.

Article: "Trump Plans To Suspend Visas To 7 Muslim-majority Countries, Draft Order Shows" by AP.

Article: "Trump to issue orders to build border wall, restore deportation program" by Loree Lewis.

Article: "Trump's Draft Executive Order on Detention and Interrogation".

Article: "Trump Cracks Down on Sanctuary Cities" by Priscilla Alvarez.

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution"

Hour Three: The Oil Barons are Back...Trump Revives DAPL & KXL...
- Josh Fox, Gasland/Gasland II & How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can't Change  

Article: "Trump signs executive orders advancing Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines" by TMN.

Article: "Pipeline protests resume after Trump revives Keystone, Dakota projects" by Barnini Chakraborty.

Article: "Army Corps starts Dakota Access Pipeline environmental study" (The period for public comment ends on February 20, 2017.) by RT.

Action: "Fight Back: Trump Moved Keystone Xl And The Dakota Access Pipeline Forward" by Sierra Club.

Video: Busted! The Tables Get Turned On James O'Keefe....

 

Article: "The Status Of Trump's Cabinet: Where Everyone Is In The Process And How It Works" by Domenico Montanaro.

Article: "President Trump orders American steel for oil pipelines. Will that help Ohio?" by Stephen Koff.

Article: "Dems introduce 'Buy America' amendment to water bill" by Melanie Zanona.

Article: "Brown Slams Leadership for Stripping Buy America from Water Infrastructure Bill" by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH).

Article: "Boris Epshteyn" by Wikipedia.

Law: "Sherman Antitrust Act", 1890.

Law: "Telecommunications Act of 1996" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The Corporate Media Isn't Coming Close to Holding Trump Accountable" by Thom Hartmann.

Site: Beneficial State Bank (Kat Taylor).

Article: "Tom Steyer" (Kat Taylor) by Wikipedia.

Book: The Money Cult: Capitalism, Christianity, and the Unmaking of the American Dream by Chris Lehmann.

Article: "Dismissal of U.S. attorneys controversy" by Wikipedia.

Site: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.

Video: The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.

Article: "TV Icon Mary Tyler Moore Dead At 80" by Lydia O'Connor, Stephanie Marcus.

Tweet: "Elephant in the room: The people who vote for the DNC chair, many of the DNC at large members/party chairs, work as lobbyists. #dncdebate" by Lee Fang.

Site: shareblue.

Book: The New Democrats and the Return to Power by Al From.

Facebook: "Let Your DNC Members Know If You Prefer Ellison or Perez?" by Thom Hartmann.

Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

 

I'll be talking with Larry Cohen of Our Revolution.

 

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

 

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