Subsidization of transportation and communications technology has been a feature of our Republic since the start. The very first item that Congress took up, after organizing itself, was the National Road from Cumberland Maryland to Wheeling Virginia. Today, road maintainance portion of Saint Paul's budget is the largest single line item, and it is not paid for by car related taxes.
Similarly, the internet, as was pointed out, was originally ARPAnet - from the Defense Armed Resources Projects Administration. When it was cut off from funding, a Senator from Tennessee took the initiative to partially privatize it, thus creating the Internet as we know it. Yes, that is true.
Should Saint Paul be involved in putting this kind of infrastructure in the public domian? It's worth talking about, but the idea that this is outside of government purvey is nonsense. It's been a constant part of what government does ever since the Founding Fathers made it so. And it's a good thing, too, or we would not have the Internet.
My feeling is that we need to be very careful about what we are committing ourselves to, and what it might cost us in the long run. However, aside from that, I would like the stpaul.ci.us domain (or, I think it's now stpaul.mn.us in general usage) to be generalized to each house by address, such as [EMAIL PROTECTED] as a generalized address.
Just my several cents.
Erik Hare [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.comcast.net/~wabbitoid/ Irvine Park, West End, Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, North America, Earth
Fine Amish furniture, cedar chests, and crafts http://www.harmonycedar.com
-------------------------------------------------
JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY:
http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/
-------------------------------------------------
POST MESSAGES HERE: stpaul@mnforum.orgTo subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul
Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
