Teletruth News Analysis, December 22, 2008 Free Press Proposes Broadband Infrastructure Bailout of $44 Billion --- (More Taxes to Give Wealthy Companies that Failed to Build Out Their Networks.)
To read the rest of this story http://www.newnetworks.com/Freepressbroadband.htm There has been a call for stimulus packages to help with our current economic crisis and new infrastructure initiatives, such as the upgrading of roads and bridges, are on the top of the list. There are also a number of groups who care about broadband infrastructure and want their billions as well. The arguments more jobs, better productivity, etc, may be well intentioned, but the unasked question is: Who should pay for it and who should built it? While we agree that America needs to have a national broadband infrastructure initiative, we are against the current plans by many, including Free Press, who wants to raise taxes and give a $44 billion dollar bailout to the very companies who are responsible for Americas broadband infrastructure crisis. There are multiple reasons why were against this. Free Press Report: Down Payment on Our Digital Future: Stimulus Policies for the 21st-Century Economy, a comprehensive set of proposals that would deploy a forward-looking national broadband infrastructure. http://www.freepress.net/node/46686 Free Press does seem to get some of the major issues, such as the fact that America is 15th in broadband or that we should have open, competitive networks. Yet, Free Press and others simply miss the major point --- raising everyones taxes -- to bail out the same companies that failed to properly upgrade Americas essential infrastructure is simply the wrong approach, Also, Free Press has excluded items that need to be discussed, including true accountability and even a discussion of how we ended up becoming a 3rd world broadband power. To read the rest of this story http://www.newnetworks.com/Freepressbroadband.htm Bruce Kushnick, Teletruth _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@digitaldivide.net http://digitaldivide.net/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to digitaldivide-requ...@digitaldivide.net with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
