Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/611901
BySamHananel The Associated Press WASHINGTON Thegovern- ment's latest push to make sure consumers get equal access to the Internet faced a key legal test Friday as a federal appeals court con- sidered whether to treat high-speed service provid- ers as though they are pub- lic utilities. Cable and telecom indus- try groups urged a three- judge panel to throw out new regulations that forbid online content from being blocked or channeled into fast and slow lanes. But two judges hearing more than three hours of technical arguments in the case seemed at times sym- pathetic to government at- torneys arguing that the Federal Communications Commission was within its authority when it approved "net neutrality" rules in Feb- ruary. The rules have won praise from consumer ad- vocates and content com- panies such as Netflix that want to prevent Internet service providers from of- fering preferential treat- ment to those who pay for faster service. On the other side are providers like Com- cast, Verizon and AT&T who argue that the FCC's move will threaten innova- tion and undermine invest- ment in broadband infra- structure. At issue is whether the FCC had the authority to reclassify Internet provid- ers as utilities after its pre- vious attempt to mandate net neutrality was struck down last year by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Judge David Tatel said a Supreme Court ruling from 2005 seems to give the FCC a choice to regulate broad- band companies as com- mon carriers or as infor- mation service providers. He said customers who pay for service believe they are "just buying access to the Internet." Peter Keisler, a lawyer representing the U.S. Tele- com Association, an indus- try group, insisted broad- band providers offer "a core information service" that Congress meant to protect from burdensome regula- tions. SERVICE PROVIDERS Fi gh t ov er n et n eu tr al it y rules returns to court By Christopher S. Rugaber The Associated Press WASHINGTON If the Fed- eral Reserve needed any fi- nal evidence that the econ- omy is ready for higher in- terest rates, it got it on Friday. A solid November job gain of 211,000 showed that despite weak overseas growth and struggling U.S. factories, the U.S. economy appears healthy enough to withstand a Fed hike from record-low rates later this month. The unemployment rate remained at a low 5 percent in November for a second straight month, the gov- ernment said Friday. More Americans started look- ing for jobs, and nearly all found them. Average hourly pay rose, though modestly, and the government revised up its estimate of job growth for September and October. Employers have now added a robust average 213,000 jobs a month over the past six months. The healthy jobs fig- ures indicate that con- sumer spending is help- ing the economy surmount some lingering challenges. They include a strong dol- lar, which has made ex- ports pricier overseas and squeezed U.S. manufactur- ers, and sinking oil prices, which have led drilling companies to slash orders for steel pipes and other equipment. Even so, Americans are spending more on restau- rant meals and on big-ticket items like cars and homes. The U.S. economy "is strong enough to with- stand an initial hike in in- terest rates from what were seen as emergency record- low levels," said Chris Wil- liamson, chief economist at Markit. "A December rate hike now looks to be in the bag." The economy's strengths were evident in last month's hiring patterns: Construc- tion firms added 46,000 jobs, the biggest increase in two years. Spending on construction projects, in- cluding homes, roads and office towers, reached an eight-year high in October. In addition, restaurants added 31,500 positions, re- tailers nearly 31,000. Investors cheered the jobs report, which helped send the Dow Jones indus- trial average soaring 360 points in afternoon trading. This week, Fed Chair Ja- net Yellen said the econ- omy appeared to be improv- ing enough to justify a rate hike as long as no major shocks undermined growth before the Fed meets Dec. 15-16. The Fed has kept its key short-term rate at a re- cord low near zero for seven years. A Fed rate hike typically lifts interest rates for mort- gages, auto loans and other borrowing, though those in- creases might not occur im- mediately. For the Fed, conditions seem nearly ideal for a pe- riod of small and only grad- ual rate increases in com- ing months: Job growth has been solid, and wages have begun to rise but not so much as to cause con- cern about future high in- flation. Since the recession ended, average hourly pay has grown at only about two-thirds of the pace typ- ical of a healthy economy. INTEREST RATES Another month of solid hiring clears way for Fed hike By Erica Werner The Associated Press WASHINGTON In a victory for the business establish- ment over tea party con- servatives, Congress has revived the federal Export- Import Bank five months after allowing it to expire. The bank is a small fed- eral agency that makes and guarantees loans to help foreign customers buy U.S. goods. A measure extend- ing it through 2019 was in- cluded in a massive trans- portation bill that cleared the House and Senate late Thursday and is headed for President Barack Obama's signature. The development was cheered by business groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which say the Ex-Im Bank is neces- sary for U.S. competitive- ness since most overseas competitors rely on simi- lar government help. But conservatives pushed by the billionaire GOP Koch Brothers decried the de- velopment, arguing that the bank amounts to gov- ernment interference in the free market and many of its beneficiaries are large cor- porations that don't really need the help. "The Export-Import Bank's revival in this bill is especially offensive to taxpayers who want to end corporate welfare hand- outs and let the free mar- ket finance overseas invest- ments by American com- panies," said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Rubio is among the GOP presidential candidates and other leading Republicans who've arrayed against the bank, a once-obscure entity that's become a cause cele- bre for conservatives led by the Koch Brothers in re- cent years. For decades it was renewed by bipartisan agreement, with little or no debate and often not even a roll-call vote. But after the Koch Brothers and other conservative groups began to seize on the opportunity to kill off a federal agency, leading Republicans such as House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy who once supported the bank turned against it. Amid that pressure and with tea party lawmak- ers on the ascent on Capi- tol Hill, Congress failed to act when the bank's char- ter was up for renewal June 30, allowing it to expire for the first time in its 81-year history. All along, though, a ma- jority of lawmakers in the House and Senate, includ- ing Republicans and Dem- ocrats with major manufac- turers such as General Elec- tric, Caterpillar or Boeing in their districts, supported the bank. An unusual series of maneuvers and alliances followed, including a rarely usedprocedureintheHouse to force a floor vote on the bank over the objections of top GOP leaders. The end result was that the measure ended up on the highway bill and five months after expiring, the Ex-Im Bank is getting back into business. "We brought the Export- Import Bank back to life, so American manufacturers and workers can compete against our foreign com- petitors on a level playing field," said GOP Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, who is fac- ing a tough re-election fight and took the opportu- nity to issue a joint state- ment with leading CEOs. The bank says that last year it authorized $20 bil- lion worth of transactions which supported $27.5 bil- lion of U.S. exports and 164,000 U.S. jobs. 5 MONTHS AFTER EXPIRATION Export-Import Bank revived; establishment win JACQUELYNMARTIN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE A man walks out of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. in Washington. Published by The Daily News with great appreciation for the support of local businesses! IusetheServiceDirectorysectionof The Red Bluff Daily News every year. 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