Despite what Democrats claim, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is not at all a naive man. He just happens to be a very clever politician, and sometimes the untrained observer has difficulty distinguishing between the two. Take, for example, Cruz's much repeated and mocked claim that net neutrality - the policy that prohibits telecommunication companies from interfering with the Internet - would be like Obamacare.

It is a clever line. It is also a clunky metaphor that works better as a political cudgel than a rhetorical device. What Texas' junior senator means is that the Federal Communications Commission treating broadband Internet service providers like telephone companies would be Obamacare for the Internet.

Currently, the FCC treats broadband providers under the same hands-off regulations as "information services," such as Facebook and YouTube. The rules, however, don't give the FCC enough authority to require that broadband providers follow a rule of content neutrality. Any company that connects point A to point B - telephones, pipelines, power lines - usually has to act like a common carrier and treat all content with a neutral hand. This allows for a fair and functioning marketplace where established players and upstart challengers have to play by the same rules. But telecoms have been caught throttling up and down their networks to squeeze money out of online companies, and they've even blocked legal web sites. An overwhelming tide of public feedback convinced the FCC to consider rescheduling broadband Internet providers as a "telecommunication service" - the same category of rules that covers phone companies.

This rescheduling would give the FCC the authority it needs to mandate net neutrality. It would also give the FCC a whole litany of other powers that few want to see enforced on Internet providers, such as rules on obscene material, price controls and other regulations that shouldn't apply to the Internet. The FCC could self-select its authority down to only net neutrality through a process called "forbearance." There's little reason to think that, if done correctly, this process wouldn't turn out fine. But telecom industry advocates are worried about the prospect of unworkable rules made functional through a series of exceptions written by appointed administrators. And that is exactly what Texas' junior senator is comparing to Obamacare.

This rescheduling isn't the same as net neutrality. Cruz does a disservice to his constituents and risks the future of the Internet by conflating federal regulation with the underlying policy it is supposed to enforce. It is like saying that breathalyzer tests are flawed, so therefore we should allow drunk driving. Mandatory content neutrality is good policy. It just so happens that the easiest way to enforce it also brings in a whole bunch of other regulations.

However, Cruz has a chance to redeem himself. Our tea party leader could rally a cause in Congress to update the Internet's regulatory rules, which haven't been touched in nearly 20 years. Instead of relying on the FCC and the courts to make policy, our elected lawmakers could actually do their jobs and write a law that properly enforces net neutrality.

Content neutrality works for our nation's natural gas pipelines and Texas' electrical grid, and it has been working for the Internet since its creation. We hope Cruz can be a leader on this. Otherwise, administrative action will have to fill in for legislation and the whole debate will descend into a political boxing match, where substantive policy succumbs to wedge issues and politicians worry more about scoring points than writing good law. Now that would be Obamacare for the Internet.