Obama’s New Web Tax

[Commentary] It’s now almost unanimous: President Obama’s new plan to regulate the Internet would cost consumers billions.

The Progressive Policy Institute reports that state and local regulators would join with the feds in gouging Internet consumers. That’s because states and localities have their own levies that would kick in if the Internet is officially deemed a monopoly telephone network. Authors Robert Litan of the Brookings Institution and PPI’s Hal Singer optimistically expect regulators to reduce the federal levy from the current 16.1%. But the analysts still forecast significant pain for Internet users. These taxing consequences haven’t received as much attention as they deserve amid the debate over President Obama’s demand that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler regulate the Internet like a public utility. But if Chairman Wheeler obliges, the new Congress should make clear who’s responsible.