Let’s not sugarcoat it: The wireless industry is a big racket.

Here’s one reason why: AT&T and Verizon are slowing down — or throttling — Internet access on smartphones, supposedly to manage congestion on their networks. Yet a new study supports what many of us have been saying all along: These companies aren’t throttling to save bandwidth.

They say nothing is certain except death and taxes. Last weekend, those two things went hand in hand when the Chicago News Cooperative — a major nonprofit journalism organization — was forced to suspend operations, thanks in part to the IRS.

Congress voted to keep a portion of unused TV airwaves for unlicensed use, which could help providers connect rural areas with high-speed broadband. But the bill also has a downside. A Chicago city alderman proposed an ordinance that would forbid the Chicago Police Department from shutting down mobile towers, blocking mobile and Web access or jamming signals. Meanwhile, the FCC has halted LightSquared’s wireless plans and a senator from Iowa is holding up two nominees for FCC commissioner.

Primary season is in full swing and voters are being inundated with political advertising. Finding out who actually paid for all these ads is no easy task. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling ushered in a new era of deep-pocketed donors and gave them cover under innocuously named third-party groups and Super PACs.

WASHINGTON -- On Tuesday, Free Press filed a petition to deny the license transfers between Verizon, SpectrumCo and Cox Communications. The petition may be found here: http://www.freepress.net/vz-sc-petition

Free Press Research Director S. Derek Turner made the following statement: