White House pledges another $800 million for broadband stimulus
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted July 6th 2010 4:48PM
posted July 6th 2010 4:48PM
Usually, when we see "stimulus" and "broadband" in the same sentence it's because someone turned off our Google SafeSearch filter, but today we have one such item that is totally safe for work. According to Information Week, the $7.2 billion in broadband grants and loans that we've already seen will be buttressed by an additional $800 million. A total of sixty-six new infrastructure projects (with up to 5,000 new jobs created in the process) are planned to launch in every state of the union (and Washington DC to boot). That is, of course, if the congressional appropriations committee doesn't siphon off $602 million of it to offset the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Once we emerge from the immediate crisis, the long-term economic gains to communities that have been left behind in the digital age will be immeasurable," President Obama said in the announcement.
Whats on the hat?
@epicsurge
A low resolution bundle of fiber on a higher resolution hat?
@rutter9 Worst Photoshop EVER
It's be a lot smarter for us to just borrow the hardware from China, rather than borrow the cash, then buy the hardware from china.
@epicsurge
i thought someone turned the google safe search filter on the hat.
@Xtole
Sorry their photoshop skillz arent good enough for those who criticize on Engadget.
If you can do better, really, maybe you should offer pieces for almost every article?
@Testies Testies 12 3
You asking way too much of our Government, which requires thinking.
@KGB
When I see this hat or any "american hat" I just picture some fat guy with beer stains on his shirt and a beer in both hands yelling "WE GONNA GEET MORE BEER! YEEEE AMERICAAA"
Sorry if this offends those who are fat and drink beer, but this is the image the media is portraying as the average US citizen, those with NO culture (does being rich and selfish count?).
If you guessed by now, I dont like americans, but their TV is good.
@uckApple
Are you call our media trash ?
Pot call kettle black.
@DefPoet
What?
Please government. Give us broadband.
1Gigabit Please
@Cainhunpi In this century?
@d0mth0ma5 Oh please, Verizon is already successfully testing 10Gigabit -- it's VERY possible.
http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2009/verizon-conducts-worlds.html
http://newscenter.verizon.com/press-releases/verizon/2010/Verizon-s-Second-Field-Trial-of-10-Gigabit-per-Second-XG-PON-Fiber-to-the-Premises-System-Affirms-FiOS-Network-Design-Is-Future-Ready.html
@Cainhunpi
Please government. Give me lots of free stuff so that I don't have to think for myself or be responsible for anything.
@WhatDeficit
we are responsible for the infrastructure owned by private corporations
bunch of idiots thinking broadband services shouldnt remain stagnant and in the hands of regional monopolies
@LMLYP
So rather than modernizing existing (and currently useless) regulations the solution is to give millions of dollars to these 'idiots' using money pulled out of the sky.
@WhatDeficit You and your common-sense thinking! Don't you know that Obama can pull unlimited amounts of money out of his ass?
@WhatDeficit
Infrastructure development projects are being used to... develop and modernize the infrastructure.
You argue that the government is making you pay for others internet service when this has nothing to do with subsidizing our internet bills. It has to do with development and improvement of broadband penetration in the US due to its enormous economic impact.
Of course they could also change telecom regulations, but it would be incredibly difficult to do so with such entrenched interests. And would you think a company would fund development project when they know their customers have no other provider?
@LMLYP So again, rather than doing the right thing and fixing regulations, we should just throw money (that we dont have) at the problem because it's too hard to do anything else.
@aliendude5300 I was talking about 1Gbps for everyone, but yes I was being overly negative as well.
@WhatDeficit what a idiot.
@LMLYP
Government could EASILY have PRIVATE Corporations penetrate this markets that might see less than 100 monthly broadband subscriptions for its millions of dollars invested.
SIMPLY: Grant corporations a 100% tax deduction for anything government will consider "rural", and this will be hooked up and wired (or wireless), in a matter of months!
See... Government gets OUT of the way of private business... not pretend it knows and works like a business.
@epicsurge
lol @ that picture
Another magic trick?
"That is, of course, if the congressional appropriations committee doesn't siphon off $602 million of it to offset the cost of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."
.. sort of an odd jab at Afghanistan & Iraq .. but.. okay.
Why do I have to pay for other peoples internet?
@The Shadow
this is exactly what it said
Pay for others internet. This is exactly what the bill reads. Keep that in mind, dont bother reading the article or further into things. Side with the simplest argument
@LMLYP I'm with shadow. Nowhere in the Constitution does it say the government can distribute my tax dollars for others internet pleasures. It's not a necessity.
@The Shadow
You don't, Obama wants to spend more borrowed money that we cant afford. Your great grand kids will be paying for other peoples internet.
@The Shadow
Why do I have to pay for older peoples insurance. Why do I have to pay to house and feed criminals. Why do I have to pay for people in other countries who can elect non corrupt and competent leaders at the same time. Why do I have pay for work on highways and intestines when I don't drive. Why do I have to pay for any at all?
@imatreehugga
neither is road work or vehicle registration or telecommunication. They are developed due to their economic impact on society. Broadband penetration in the US is crucial to the development of the country because of our society's dependency on the internet
these are corporations and provide services between different states and are therefore under the regulation of federal commissions.
@The Shadow
This is not free internet service or something. It's is building infrastructure. It's like saying, "Why should I pay for someone else's road?"
@wraith404 I don't really give a crap about other people's grandkids so I say spend away!
@The Shadow It's not really even your money in the first place unless you live in a country whose currency relies on actual tangible, quantifiable assets. And if you don't own your own house, fully unencumbered, no mortgages, orbit you have any outstanding loans or habit granted a security interest in any of your property, that money you are calling your own is really someone else's. We really have it twisted these days.
I'm all for this though. Hopefully it will lead to the proliferation of, and access to, education... Crap, I was dreaming again.
@LMLYP Leave it to the private sector to provide these types of services, it's up to the government to make regulations and see that the rules are being followed. The commerce clause in the Constitution does give the government to do this because of it's large impact on the economy but once you allow these type of actions it's only a slippery slope from there.
@The Shadow
Why do I have to pay for other people's freeways?
as soon as we emerge from the immediate crisis? I don't think humans will exist long enough to see the end of American debt, unfortunately.
the first sentence was kindof amazing. hahaha.
This money is coming from where, again?
You can't siphon money off of a war when they are playing with Monopoly money (Red China Edition).
@WhatDeficit
Exactly. Plus, what's another $800 million when you have a $600 Trillion deficit? Seriously, they should print money for everyone since they're doing for themselves and the corporations...
@WhatDeficit
This is how deficit spending works. We spend money to create jobs and infrastructure. This builds back up our economy and our GDP. This mean more tax revenue and less debt.
I'm sick of people who think our economy works like their household budget.
@ConradOBrien
isn't Macroeconomics a GE requirement?
@ConradOBrien the truth is it also works in the micro economics world. You have to spend money to make money. Mortgage, Small business loans, advertising, etc etc. How many of these folks complaining about deficit have a mortgage and or unsecured credit?
@Plazmic Flame
The United States unfuned liabilities is right above $105 Trillion. Just checking the numbers.
@ConradOBrien
There's a difference, though, between spending like that, and spending, well, like the Obama administration. The first is investment, the second is a mindless flushing of money down the toilet. Yes, there are cases where you have to spend money to make money. This is investment. Then there is creating enormous pork-filled stimulus packages to bail out failing businesses that ended up going bankrupt anyway. This is flushing money down the toilet. Our government officials need a lesson in investment.
@Gandalf20000
Had the Bush Administration completely paid down our debt, the deficit would not be as big of an issue as it is now. The government is supposed to pay down its debt during the good times and then run a deficit during the bad times. The government cannot save up emergency funds the way the average person can because if the government is running a surplus and has no debt, taxpayers will demand a tax cut, so the only way the government can save for an emergency is by paying down its debt and then running a deficit in an emergency. Bush should have used the surplus he inherited from Clinton to pay down the debt. Bush should have raised taxes to pay for the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. And yes, Bush should have cut wasteful spending by reforming government programs to make them work more efficiently and effectively without resorting to eliminating or privatizing them; those options would not work with Social Security and other hugely popular programs.
You want to send the economy into a panic? Start slashing government spending. People will lose jobs, people will lose income, the stock market will collapse and the private sector will not jump in to create jobs until they see stability again. By that time, we will be in another depression and there will not be much of the private sector left.
It's the stupid "starve the beast" tactic. Having a huge amount of debt is in the Republican's best interest, because they believe its the only way they will have a chance at getting rid of hugely popular socialist programs like Social Security, Medicare, etc. They will follow their ideology at all costs, even if it means putting the country's economy at risk.
Right now people are more concerned about jobs than the deficit.
A great thing the Obama administration is pushing for. Technology is the future. That is something the conservative politicians in America will never understand.
@TheHypnotist There are plenty of people on both sides of the aisle that fail to understand the benefits of technology. Don't bring partisanship into this.
@TheHypnotist
I bet you were one of the parasites screaming "Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage..........Oh lawwdddzz!!!!"
@nastro
You are an Idiot.