The GOP has called a temporary halt to the politics of David Duke and is returning to its roots as a defender of the moneyed interests. What’s good for AT&T and Verizon is good for America! Welcome home Kay Bailey Hutchinson! We wish you well in your drive to raise money from AT&T and your quest to become the next governor of the great state of Texas.

Hutchinson, along with a cabal of other GOP senators, has introduced an amendment to an appropriations bill that would bar the Federal Communications Commission from enforcing regulations ensuring that AT&T, Verizon and others abide by net neutrality regulations that they’ve already said they would never violate (except when they really, really have to. Like here. And here).

Newly appointed FCC chairman Julius Genachowsi today announced, to the surprise of no one, that Internet service providers would not be allowed to discriminate on the basis of content or allow some content providers to pay for faster speeds.

Under the proposal… network operators would be prohibited from discriminating against the type of data traveling through their systems and would have to be clear about how they manage their networks.

AT&T, Verizon, and industry lobbies like the CTIA issued Chicken Little-like statements condemning the idea. It’s their pipes and they should be allowed to do exactly what they please. Innovation! Innovation! Innovation!

Never mind that AT&T, Verizon and Comcast are doing precious little innovating (unless creating special interest entities to offshore taxable income falls under the banner of innovation), and that most innovation is done by the likes of Skydeck, which the incumbent carriers are holding off with their unfair rules.

And never mind that American tax dollars were used to pay for the infrastructure to begin with, or that their pipes occupy public lands and ways. The proposed rules are an outrage!

This, my friends, is really great news. Competence has replaced privilege as the requirement for serving in government, public service has replaced greed as the prime motive for taking a government position, and Hutchinson and her ilk can’t do a thing about it.

Hurrah for business as unusual.

[Image source: Photo by jurvetson via Flickr]