Senators grill FCC Chairman over 'modest' National Broadband Plan goals
By Donald Melanson 
posted July 12th 2010 2:22PM
posted July 12th 2010 2:22PM
Bringing broadband to everybody is certainly an admirable goal, but at least some US Senators are apparently starting to question if the new National Broadband Plan is ambitious enough. In written questions submitted to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski recently, Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) pointed out that other nations already have 100Mbps fiber-based services and are beginning to roll out 1Gbps residential services, which would only be required for a "single anchor institution in each community by 2020" under the National Broadband Plan" -- something Inouye says "appears to suggest that the US should accept a 10- to 12-year lag behind the leading nations." That's a sentiment echoed by Senator Mark Begich (D-AK), who asked Genachowski why the plan settled for the minimum download speed of 4Mbps by 2020, and added that "it seems a bit modest for a goal." For his part, Genachowski insists that the 4Mbps targets are "aggressive," and he notes that the plan recommends reevaluating that target every year, so it's possible it could increase over time. Hit up the PDF link below for the complete Q&A.
@polidiotic
one doesn't have to be an Obama fan to read the paranoid, talking-point regurgitating brainwashing in your post.
@polidiotic
*whines about government spending 1 billion dollars to wire up rural areas with broadband.*
*blows up brown people with 1 billion dollar missile*
@Psyclotr0n Allow me to help you with your unfortunate misunderstanding of what Socialism is...
so·cial·ism [soh-shuh-liz-uhm] –noun
1. a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2. procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3. (in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.
What exactly is paranoid about this? This is what's happening in the United States. You don't need talking points, when you watch what's happening in the news... It's not paranoia, it's not brainwashing... it's called reality. Take a look around, read the news, watch the news. Like I said, hop on board the train, pal, because we can't afford to be ignorant anymore. Well, maybe you can... but 9.5% of America disagrees with you (that would be the unemployment rate - 18% underemployed).
Meanwhile, you guys just love giving this soft-tyranny sycophant more and more power over your lives.
@Calculon Apparently you're under the impression that we can afford another $1 billion + anything accrued after the government decides to take control of your blessed internet. ;]
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
@polidiotic The government could afford a lot more if we didn't spend half our budget bombing other countries. And spending money in our future is worth it, especially when it's a drop in the bucket compared to other, much more wasteful things. What do you guys always say, gotta spend money to make money?
@polidiotic
It is people like you holding this country back and stopping us from moving forward. Seriously it is people like you that are the #1 Reason we lag so far behind in education in the world. People like you are the #1 Reason we can't get anything done in this country because you seriously are so paranoid that you believe the sky is falling!
Imagine if the Government had not made it mandatory to make phone service available to every American. There would literally be tens of thousands of small farm towns around this country that would not have basic TELEPHONE service!! Now we are here again this time with something much more important than Telephone ever was. Soon everything from net, to TV, to Phone (VoIP) will be handled via one pipe to each house. To sit there and deny people that just because you choose to live in a rural part of this country is ignorant and selfish.
I hope you drive to a rural town and explain to a farmer who grows that food you eat that you think he is not worth getting available high-speed pipe to his house which would allow him the flexibility to conduct his work/life better.
I pray to god that Rush/Beck listeners such as yourself just all get on a boat and move to Somalia. No Government there, so you will have nothing to worry about.
@Calculon And thinking Obama or any of the democrats in the United States are socialist is absurd. Apparently being center right and favoring corporations makes you a socialist? Thank god those socialists in the government were able to pass a public opti... oh.
@Calculon No, that's what idiots say, who have never run a business or had experience living life. Frugality and saving money is how you prevent yourself from falling into debt, which is where we are right now. I just posted a link to the US National Debt clock... which is in real-time. Why not look at it?
Spending and taxing is not the answer we need - cutting both, at the same time, is what we need. That's a stimulus that can work and has historically worked.
I agree that wars cost a lot of money... but this current administration has cost us $Trillions in his first 1.5yrs. Look at his exponential budget. For 2011, alone... it's $3.8 Trillion. That's absolutely absurd. And that's after a 2009-2010 deficit of an all-time-high $1.42 Trillion. That's equally as absurd... You can't pay this type of spending off... and we just keep on borrowing money from communist China, who is ready to start selling our bonds, which, by the way... is bad news.
I realize that I'm probably arguing with teenagers or college students... so, I'm going to try some deep-breathing techniques, to ease my blood pressure. However, if you ARE students, then perhaps you should challenge your teachers/professors about some of the crap they're feeding you. If you're not students, then shame on you.
@Calculon Public option is coming, friend. Don't worry. And you really, really, honestly and seriously think this current administration and those in Congress are "center-right?" Seriously? You're not even joking a little bit? Really? You're clearly lost...
@polidiotic Look at you, thinking the government needs to be run like a private business. The government is not a corner store run by mom and pop. Although those don't really exist anymore, I guess it's more like the government is not the produce department in a superwalmart.
And the US National Debt clock is where it is because of your buddies Reagan and Bush. You whine about the national debt and yet don't acknowledge we have pissed away trillions on wars that have accomplished nothing but the slaughter of mostly innocent people. And I'm all for cutting taxes on the middle class, something Obama actually was able to accomplish. Unfortunately CEOs of major corporations pay less in taxes than their secretary, again thanks to idiotic laws put in place by Reagan. Don't worry, I'm sure it will all trickle down when he buys his eight McMansion in West Palm.
And then you start to demonize college students that may have been, gasp, educated. If only we could be as free thinking as those noble old white people, listening to Rush and Glenn Beck every day.
@polidiotic Obama couldn't pass a public options with both houses of Congress, do you really think it's going to happen in the future? Again, you think the Democrats in the United States are socialist and yet they are incapable of passing one of the most basic of socialist polices. You are so delusional it's sad. The United States is one of the most right leaning countries in the world, our "socialist" democrats would have the Europeans laughing. Actually they already do.
@mjkxxl The internet is available to everyone in the United States, through one means or another... what you're asking for is broadband internet. You're asking for the Federal Government to expand broadband internet to those who either choose not to care about such things, already have access via dial-up or satellite, or to areas that people can't afford to pay for this... In which case, who's going to pay for it? Verizon? Comcast? No, I think not. Oh... all of a sudden that $1B turns into $20B... eventually turning into $50B, etc... just like Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, etc. More social programming for the masses. Awesome!
People like me kept us back, huh? I was under the impression that people like me kept the world rotating. You know... the typical person holding a job, running a company, believing in free market capitalism, liberty/freedom, and my unalienable and Constitutional rights. Yeah, it's people like me who loves honest, factual education, that hasn't been distorted by progressives with agendas. It's a person like me, who recognizes that the Department of Education only began in the 70s, under Carter... and understands that our educational system has only deteriorated ever since. It's people like me that actually reads history, reads founding documents, reads words from our founders and understands what this country is supposed to be, and seeing where progressives like Obama and those in the educational system are taking it... it's people like me, who are afraid of where this country is headed, because everything we love about this country is being changed.
I'm sorry that I don't prescribe to your progressive ideology/point of view. I don't see America lagging in education... except in historical facts. I do see Europeans, Asians and Africans coming to our Universities, though. I don't see America lagging in technology... I see some of the best technological feats of the world occurring in this country on a day-to-day basis. I'm sorry that you think so horribly of your country, but you're f'ing wrong.
I live in a rural town... Gainesville, VA (Prince William County - look it up, we're in the news today) It's amazing! I have cable and internet. I also live down the street from several farms... all of which have homes attached to them, with the same services that are available to me. I've also noticed that most farmers don't give a crap about what's happening on the internet. Most have more important things to think about - like work, family, the effects of government regulations and policies. Meanwhile, why don't you ask them about the precious government regulations that they've been hit with? They've been hit, too, several times.
As for leaving the country? Why would I do that? I love this country... at least what it used to be. You people are so unhappy with our success over the last 200+ years, that you're completely undermining everything our forefathers and those succeeding them have fought and worked diligently for... even your grandparents (I assume your parents are hippies). If you're so unhappy with this Republic, then why don't you leave? Why don't you go test out Socialism? There are some softer brands in Europe... They all follow the same structure though, like Greece... so I'd choose carefully. They're even warning us to head in the opposite direction. Or, you could go hard and check out Venezuela. Go for it.
@Calculon Wow... talk about talking points. I read those same articles... passed down from the mainstream media. Awesome work, there, buddy... Apparently you stopped paying attention to politics in 2009. I see now, why you have the beliefs you do. You can't see outside your little box of CNN, MSNBC & the Daily Show. I've watched those networks, I read the NYT and Washington Post... I get it. Just so you know, though... that's not objective journalism. Try the Drudge Report... at least you're getting news from all over the internet, instead of one place.
@polidiotic Expanding ______ penetration, something the government has done time and time again in history. Good thing too, otherwise that wonderful small town you live in would probably not have electricity or telephone service. I'm glad you speak for all farmers though, good thing they're satisfied with their 56k internet connection. It's not like the internet is completely different from where it was in 1997. It's not like the internet connection we have will soon replace and merge with every other service we use. No, fuck that, farmers don't care about having a fast internet connection, they've got subsidized corn to grow.
It's people like you that whitewash American history into this legend, myth, of omnipotence and get pissy when others point out that things aren't quite that rosy. And obviously you don't have a problem when your "unalienable" rights are taken away, arbitrarily, to combat drugs, or terrorists, or whatever boogeyman has been thrown out, all so you don't have to live next door to a brown person. I'm sure your heart wrenches for the non violent drug offenders wasting away in the world's largest prison population.
Americans go to foreign Universities, they come here. It's mutual, although we are home to some of the most respected Universities in the world. Too bad going to these Universities is cost prohibitive and requires going into debt for many of the people that would benefit from an education. I know, I know, bootstraps - while your whining about bootstraps other countries will continue to outstrip us with college educated adults that didn't have to go into debt to get an education.
I'll put it this way: You're a middle aged, male, white, middle class American that has lived the good life and are incapable of seeing the injustices that currently exist in our system. You've convinced yourself that you are where you are today because you worked hard, did things that those dirty poor people didn't do. Good job, you bought into the myth of the American dream, it must feel so good to be a free thinker. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be a millionaire in no time!
@polidiotic Lmao I don't know what's funnier, that you think I watch any mainstream news network or that you think those networks are pushing a socialist, unamerican agenda. I bet you've jokingly called CNN "Clinton News Network" or "Communist News Network" to your family in friends. Congratulations, you've made the same joke millions of old white people have made.
And using the Drudge Report as a standard of journalistic integrity that goes against the mainstream media, hahahahaha. Let's see, take one part linking to mainstream media news articles, mix with misleading, right leaning headline, and presto, you have a website that appeals to free thinking fox news viewers.
@Calculon Yep, middle-aged is 31 now, I guess. Huh... Nope, not yet. I'm working to get ahead and working to keep the job that I have, thank you. Here you are, though, feeling sorry for yourself... feeling sorry for a people that you probably hold no ties too. Let me guess, all of the Founding fathers were racist, all white people hate the black man, because we don't like where Obama is taking the country... You know what? Forget it... you're a lost soul, fed lies and believing in your own self-hate. I'm not falling into your little, typical progressive racism trap, built on idiocy and negligence. Try reading a book or two and come back to the conversation when you grow up.
@Calculon
Three things:
1. Yes, a lot of money has been spent on wars, but let's not forget that Our wonderful Mr. President Obama has racked up more debt in his first year and a half than all Presidents in the past COMBINED. Also, your claim of 50% of the budget spent on defense is ridiculous. It hovers around 20-25% of the budget. For comparison, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid consume nearly 40% of the budget.
2. Don't give me the crap about CEOs paying less than their secretaries. Chances are, their secretary pays NO income tax just like the CEO. However, the CEOs pay many other taxes in the form of capital gains and estate taxes. The top 10% of wage earners (where the CEO would most likely reside) pay nearly 70% of taxes in the United States whereas the bottom 50% (where the secretary would likely be) pay about 5%.
3. I'm pretty sure that nationalizing the financial and auto industries in the U.S. qualifies as socialism, if nothing else.
@polidiotic Haha when you can't refute arguments you resort to "grow up." But still, I hit the nail on the head and it makes you uncomfortable. And no, the founding father's were not all racist, I'd say it's tough to be racist and in love with one of your slaves at the same time. Even if they were all racist, they were a product of their time and many still at the founding of our country were against slavery. But beyond that, idealizing our founder fathers and deifying them is stupid and I hate when people do it.
And no all white people don't hate the black man but many do like to pretend everything is sunshine and rainbows and there aren't still mountains of unjust policies and forces in this country. Maybe you should open a book sometime, or at least migrate from your echo chamber conservative blogs and news aggregators and learn about some of these problems. Maybe you should start on our ridiculous prison population, you know, the one that is larger than every other country on earth. But them be criminals and if you can't do the time you shouldn't do the crime, am I right?
I also wasn't calling you racist, I was implying that you think anyone that hasn't succeeded in life must be lazy or has failed in some way and deserve what they got. Just because you were born with certain advantages doesn't mean everyone was.
@Spartan117458 Oh yeah good thing our current President also inherited one of the shittiest economic crisis's in our entire history, which we can squarely blame on idiotic, short sided polices instituted by many of your heroes. But I'm no Obama defender, you guys think he is a muslim commie when he's really not much better than Bush. I was also clearly exaggerating about our defense budget but it's still ridiculously high, higher than many other nations combined, and when push comes to shove funding is always taken from other, more important things when it comes time for budget cuts. More education cuts please, we need to build new missiles.
And bahahaha you think CEOs pay anything close to resembling fair taxes. It's great to be rich so you can afford to get around the tax system. Now please whine about the flat tax, I love that one. Don't read this though: http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
But it's fair though, CEOs worked hard to get to where they are, they deserve all the profits. It's not like the people on the bottom deserve a fair wage that is equal with inflation, they are poors and didn't work hard enough, they get what they deserve. (Note this does not mean everyone should make the same amount, it means the huge disparagement between the salaries of workers and upper management is ridiculous)
@Spartan117458
1. Hmmm, I was under the impression that Pres. Obama's "debt" seemed higher because: (a) he decided to do the shockingly logic thing and include the bills from TWO wars we're fighting when the last President conviently kept that seperate to keep his debt calculations low and (b) that huge bank bailout (or financial nationalization as you would call it) initiated by the PREVIOUS President was finally included in the books.
2. If you truly think that CEOs are paying their fair share of taxes then you're more delusional than your writings indicate. I think the word you're ignoring is "loophole".
3. Let me know when the financial and auto industries are officially nationalized by our democratically elected representatives. I can't wait to get my free car from the government.
But what do I know? Reality has a liberal slant.
@polidiotic
Continued murder and oppression of Black Americans are nothing to be proud of, this is not a Great Country, its a semi-okay country at best and Chavez is not evil, stop watching Fox News you'll be much better for it.
With a download speed of 2 Mbps I'm happy with just about any thing faster...
Why would anyone be surprised at the government caving to the big corporations?
The big corporations will not let ANY laws that even remotely stop them from screwing customers with ridiculous charges
@Binkious Don't worry, the free market has your back.
HEEEEY!!! I wondered whatever happened to Vinnie Delpino! XD
i understand it's ridiculous to expect the whole country to have broadband speeds, but it's embarrassing for our country that our top25 cities don't all have 100mbps right now. The U.S. is supposed to be a technological nation.
I want to see a comparison of the speeds offered by Municiple ISPs Vs. Consumer ISPs. Average them all together, and see which one offers better speeds.
The proof is in in the pudding, next to raisins, and it says Muni ISPs are offering +100MBit connections to everyday folk for 99$...
If could only get a 4Mbps connection now, I would want to move. If I can only get that kind of connection in the year 2020, I would just end it all.
I FOR ONE WELCOME THE COMING OF 1 GBITS STREAMING LIVE PORN TO MY NETBOOK AND THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST! AMEN!!