Free Republic

It’s like it’s his first time learning just how inefficient our government is. Comedian and late night host Jon Stewart is obviously pretty liberal, and has been a big critic of the Donald Trump administration in its efforts to cut the government through Elon Musk’s DOGE. But after this one, you’ve gotta think he at least understands why it might be necessary. In case you weren’t aware, the Joe Biden administration included $42 billion in its 2021 infrastructure spending package to expand broadband internet access to 25 million homes that didn’t have access to high speed internet. Sounds great, right?...

Here are two examples of how Democrats stole tens of billions of dollars from taxpayers.This is why they hate DOGE so much.Original: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/03/28/ev-charging-stations-slow-rollout/Archive: https://archive.ph/k6JkEBiden’s $7.5 billion investment in EV charging has only produced 7 stations in two yearsMarch 29, 2024President Biden has long vowed to build 500,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the United States by 2030. Those stations, the White House said, would help Americans feel confident purchasing and driving electric cars, and help the country cut carbon pollution.But now, more than two years after Congress allocated $7.5 billion to help build out those stations, only 7 EV charging...

When first responder communications networks failed after 9/11, the government decided to build a nationwide wireless emergency communications network that would actually work. It took a decade of general histrionics and dysfunction by Congress, but in 2012 the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act formally created the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet). FirstNet is an entirely new federal agency tasked with coordinating the build of a 700 MHz LTE-based coast-to-coast emergency broadband network. But since its creation the effort (tell us if you've heard this one before) has been plagued with dysfunction, allegations of incumbent carrier cronyism, and...

A new broadband law is going into effect this week in New York state requiring internet provider to offer low-income residents access to monthly broadband rates of $15 for 25Mbps or $20 for 200Mbps. As a response, AT&T has decided that it no longer plans to offer its 5G home internet in the Empire State and will begin notifying users about the decision on Wednesday. "While we are committed to providing reliable and affordable internet service to customers across the country, New York's broadband law imposes harmful rate regulations that make it uneconomical for AT&T to invest in and expand...

Government makes many promises, the Biden Administration more than most. Results are another story. For the latest example of the latter, consider the “internet for all” plan that President Biden tapped Kamala Harris to lead. Fiasco is the word for it. The 2021 infrastructure law included $42.5 billion for states to expand broadband to “unserved,” mostly rural, communities. Three years later, ground hasn’t been broken on a single project. The Administration recently said construction won’t start until next year at the earliest, meaning many projects won’t be up and running until the end of the decade. Blame the Administration’s political...

The Democratic Party’s platform hails a rural broadband project overseen by Kamala Harris, which—despite a $42 billion budget—has yet to connect a single user to the Internet. In 2021, Joe Biden tapped Harris to lead the Biden-Harris government’s taxpayer-funded efforts to subsidize rural Internet infrastructure. However, ground has yet to be broken on a single project—and will not be broken until at least 2025.Despite the lack of progress, the 2024 Democratic Party’s platform claims that “under President Biden, we’re finally rebuilding our roads, bridges, ports, airports, water systems, electric grids, broadband, and more, paving the way for a great American...

The fastest data delivery rate ever achieved using specific wavelength bands in fiber optic technology has been reported by an international team of researchers, who say they sent information 4.5 million times faster than the average home broadband will allow. According to researchers at Aston University in Birmingham, England, who participated in the experiment, a series of new technologies they developed allowed them to successfully transfer data at an astonishing rate of 301 terabits (301,000,000 megabits) per second. Remarkably, the Aston team says the breakthrough that achieved these impressive data transfer rates used only standard optical fiber. The team says...

Psaki said Harris is 'a vital partner' to Biden and also 'a bold leader' -------------- White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended Vice President Kamala Harris' position in the Biden administration on Sunday amid her sinking poll numbers. "For anyone who needs to hear it. @VP is not only a vital partner to @POTUS but a bold leader who has taken on key, important challenges facing the country—from voting rights to addressing root causes of migration to expanding broadband," Psaki tweeted. Psaki's tweet comes after Harris' office appeared to respond to a CNN article on Sunday that suggested "dysfunction" within...

Pennsylvania may have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make significant progress on a long list of needed infrastructure projects if the House passes the $1 trillion plan approved by the Senate and makes billions in federal dollars available to the state. Officials can’t squander this chance to upgrade roads, bridges, dams and other infrastructure areas statewide. In state-by-state estimates released by the White House, Pennsylvania stands to gain — over a five-year period — $11.3 billion in federal highway funding, $2.8 billion for public transit and $1.6 billion for bridge replacement. There’s also $171 million to add charging stations for electric...

Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday proposed a three-year program with $7.35 billion in funding to bring broadband access to rural America. The bill would focus on the most remote and least served areas. More than 20% of rural Americans lack access to high-speed internet service, says the Center for Rural Innovation.

Prioritizing government-owned broadband networks would be inconsistent with the Constitution’s provisions regarding private property and commerce.As part of its massive $2 billion infrastructure proposal, the Biden administration is proposing an ambitious $100 billion broadband plan. The plan overreaches, misdirecting subsidies in ways that are wasteful, such as shoveling funds to areas already served instead of those lacking service. And the plan suggests the need to regulate the broadband prices of private service providers as if they were public utilities. As a matter of policy, these aspects of the Biden broadband plan are serious enough defects. But here we want to...

The Emergency Broadband Benefit, administered through the Federal Communications Commission, gives eligible households a $50-a-month subsidy that can be used to pay for broadband service, as well as a one-time $100 payment toward a device to connect to the internet.

Broadband internet is essential, not a luxury. Thank you @GovHolcomb for prioritizing #Indiana students and schools in your $250M investment so they have equitable access to participate in a meaningful digital learning experience. @ExcelinEd https://t.co/iLlqVzOqXf— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) April 23, 2021

Proponents have called the state’s massive new toll road project a monumental opportunity and a thoughtful plan for smart growth. The 330 miles of new highways will curb interstate congestion, bolster the economy and facilitate hurricane evacuations, they say. In short, the argument goes, the roads would be a good investment. So why is it that so many of the preliminary studies are at best lukewarm on the idea? And the latest reports only add to the list of reasons to reconsider the controversial project. The tolls roads, dubbed the Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance, were largely pushed by...

Thanks, @pescami and @SlateGist, for the great convo on why #broadband access for everyone is so important for the future of our country. Listen at link below https://t.co/GmcVbdvmyf— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) November 2, 2020

Presidential candidate Joe Biden has released an infrastructure plan that calls for $1.3 trillion in investment over 10 years. The plan, released Nov. 14, makes a pledge to update the nation’s freight infrastructure, from highways and canals to railroads and tunnels. Biden plans to spend $50 billion over the first year of his presidency to repair roads, highways and bridges. He proposes a new $40 billion, 10-year Transformational Projects Fund, which will provide substantial grants for projects that are too large to be funded through existing programs, such as a major port upgrade or new tunnel. Biden also plans to...

The UK’s opposition Labour party has promised it will give free full-fiber broadband to every home and business in the country if it wins Britain’s upcoming December elections. The party said it would nationalize part of UK telecoms firm BT to achieve its goal, and introduce new taxes on Silicon Valley tech giants like Apple and Facebook to fund the network’s maintenance. The announcement took the business world by surprise, with shares in BT dropping four percent in early trading before recovering to a roughly two percent fall. The chief executive of the company Philip Jansen told the Financial Times...

NEW YORK - Every hour that one of The Advance Group’s trucks is stuck in highway or bridge traffic, it costs the moving company around $200. And with 40 trucks trying to get into Manhattan daily and contending with the New York metro area’s deteriorating infrastructure, the price of lost time runs up quickly. “Getting to and from a job site is not really billable to a client,” says Anthony Parziale, president of The Advance Group, based in the suburb of Farmingdale.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Northern Indiana lawmakers are calling into question Gov. Eric Holcomb’s decision against imposing new tolls on the state’s interstate highways, while allowing the Indiana Toll Road’s private operator to significantly boost rates for large trucks using that highway. Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian of Portage tells the South Bend Tribune that the situation is unfair because only the communities in northern Indiana along the Toll Road will have the burden of higher tolls, while all parts of the state will benefit from the toll money. The Republican governor announced in September that the operator of the Toll...

LAPORTE — Law enforcement in LaPorte County is preparing for the possibility of an already-congested and dangerous U.S. 20 being overrun with more semi-trucks as drivers avoid the 35 percent cost increase of traveling the Indiana Toll Road. Much of that stretch of highway being down to one lane in each direction for resurfacing adds to the concerns. LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd said he’s reached out to Indiana State Police to help patrol U.S. 20 if an increase in truck traffic becomes too much for his staff to handle alone. “We’re going to prepare for it,” Boyd said. “We’re...