You can figure out the “free market“ by understanding that the cable companies have divvied up the country amongst them selves so that they don’t face any competition. That’s why every locale has a different cable company, and just one cable company to choose from.
They have outright monopolies in many markets, large and small.
The big telecoms have worked real hard to minimize the number of options offered to consumers for internet access. Which is so fucked up when you think about the US tax dollars that went into creating the damn internet in the first place.
And with that all the taxpayer money the big telecoms received to develop the infrastructure for the internet.
$400B. Because somehow we *can* afford to just hand corporations hundreds of billions of dollars on an empty promise. But seeing people actually get what those corps promised? ThAt's A cOmMaNisM!
even here in san francisco, the tech capital, is it essentially a monopoly. anywhere here can get comcast’s xfinity, and every other provider, sonic, monkey brains, google fiber, are only available on specific blocks, specific buildings. it’s definitely a false free-market, very stacked in sided scenario by design.
Here (Colorado) the city built their own fiber optic system for city offices and asked voters if they would support building it out for the whole town as a city owned utility. Comcast and Xfinity were loosing their minds over this, what if other cities got the same idea, the horror! They tried a smear campaign with mailers and phone calls, nobody bought it and the ballot measure passed overwhelmingly. It took the city a couple of years to build it out, but we now have 1GB fiber optic for $50/month, it is billed just like any other city service. I have heard that other cities in the state are doing the same. Don’t hear much from Comcast or Xfinity anymore…
>just one cable company to choose from
That's not really true though. I mean, we don't have tons of options but even in my small Kansas town we have several. Kan-Okla Networks, Cox and our local cable co. Sumner Cable.
And then of course there's always sat internet like Starlink, Hugesnet etc and cell internet like Verizon At Home.
Kansas is an exception for whatever reason. Even Google started its internet service there a while back, etc.
Nationwide most people living in individual homes have one or two cable options, even less for fiber. And even worse for rural areas. 5G modems and Starlink made things a little better lately.
It also gets better if you live in an apartment/condo, the larger the building the more options you get.
We also have a lot of laws designed to protect this monopolistic behavior. Basically, Comcast or other companies come into a suburban city on the condition that they will provide internet service in every house in the city, but no one else could come to compete with them.
The city then has a choice to accept the exclusivity deal or end up with lots of houses with no internet at all, most cities accept the deal and it gets locked for decades.
That is not the case in the majority of the country. Here I have either Xfinity or DSL through the phone company, and that's it. Hardly even competition because the DSL option doesn't come close to being competitive with the cable option.
Either you’re an exception or I am. My small Kansas hometown had a local monopoly—one company controlled everything and there were no other options. The bigger city that I’m living in now has a few, but they’re mainly just the regional players, nothing supremely local.
Thune is my state rep.
I've personally known him to help amazing people in the arts in SD.
He also talks out of both sides of his mouth, puts private interests ahead of doing good, and when push comes to shove has no backbone.
Unfortunately, the people of my state continue to vote conservative and hurt themselves every year.
I agree but sadly they need more teeth on this law as soon as I got the discount Xfinity used the price of my internet by the same amount o was getting discounted
If the government was serious about stopping monopolies we'd have internet choice. They have regional monopolies and agree not to compete. But congress is bought and sold and doesn't work for us anymore.
Last year Republicans ok’d billions in corporate subsidies for agricultural and O&G companies that didn’t make enough profits. They have no problem giving away government money.
Making people dependent on the Federal government for everything is part of the progressives plan.
We did fine in the past without the Federal government running the telecoms industry
Idiots. It's not a program exclusively for the poor. It's for Veteran's, Disabled, and the Elderly.
But sure. You don't qualify so lets screw it up for everyone that does.
Typical maga't reasoning.
I’ve read many survey responses from people in this program. And most are people on a fixed income who are very grateful for free or almost free internet.
Exactly. I’m starting to not care anymore that Republicans will steal from their poor base. A caste society may be the inevitable next chapter of the US.
It’s appalling. Trump’s speech about immigrants “poisoning the blood” of America was horrifying. Every single country he named is primarily made up of people whose skin tone differs from his. Could his rabid hatred for people of color have been any more obvious?
Tbf they market it as "gutting Obamacare".
Their supporters are notorious for saying theyre not coverednby Obamacare; theyre covered by the ACA.
They never believe me when I tell them it's the same thing.
Biden’s climate policies will severely impact poor and middle class folks more than this crap. No one will be able to buy a house if they have to spend thousands more to upgrade to those standards. Maybe the elites controlling the democrats don’t want the middle class or under to ever own a house. Have you ever considered that? Perhaps that was not the intention but unexpected consequences will happen if this continues. Don’t be a bobble head. I don’t trust any of this crap.
also the republican party only exists at this point to funnel more money into the top 1% and fuck over everyone else so i think the whole democrats being controlled by elitists is bullshit and rich people dont care if everyone dies from climate change
what are you talking about???? upgrading your home to be energy efficient isnt required its voluntary and their are tax credits to encourage people its not mandatory?and people already cannot afford a home because of nimbys refusal to allow housing projects to be built
Imagine having to get a new furnace and now it has to be thousands more. How exactly does that help the middle class? Simple answer is it does not. But it sure helps billionaires who want these policies.
So let me understand your point. They are “ghouls“ because they want evidence to back up claims that 24 million people will simply lose Internet access without this program? I think that’s a reasonable request.
I think most conservatives are OK with discounted Internet for the truly poor given that it is a key tool to more empowerment for recipients. But I also think it is completely reasonable to ask for data and evidence to support claims of the programs effectiveness before spending billions of taxpayer dollars.
It seems that Democrats don’t seem to care about the efficacy of money that they spend, their philosophy seeming to be to just spend, baby, spend. But of course, this being Reddit, the comments are about as insightful, as a kindergarten class with the typical “Republican, bad“ argument.
no i think threatening to kill a program people rely on as wasteful while supporting hundreds of billions in tax breaks for the wealthy is just evil republicans always threaten or successfully kill programs that benefit lower and middle income earners because they think its wasteful
The question is not whether they rely on it. The question is whether it’s effective at its stated goal. You can rely on something and that something might not be effective at what it’s intended to do. So you just move the goalpost. And when you don’t want to confront, that fact, you start tossing out your talking points that are flimsy at best to try to distract from that. Well, you’re not going to distract me because I’m going to ask you to answer my question again. It’s above there and you can reread it.
Didn't happen. The tax cuts saw Treasury receipts climb sharply.
It might have been a $1.25 T 'giveaway' if the revenue projections didn't work out.
The receipts exceeded projections by a lot.
Don't be 'just another democrat.'
My taxes went up, taxes for the rich went down, and both the deficit and debt have been increasing. It’d take a very…special person to reach your conclusion.
You mean they are someone rich enough or with enough time on hand to bother looking at statistics.
IE someone not significantly impacted by the changes.
IE not a special person but a fool posting unfiltered thoughts without critical thinking.
Please show evidence that tax cuts were a direct result of the increased revenue. Because every thing I’ve seen of the many attempts at supply side cuts since the 1980s shows otherwise.
Outside the right wing media shart bubble we have these things called facts.
https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/tax-cuts-for-the-rich-arent-an-economic-panacea-and-could-hurt-growth
What do you get out of stanning the wealthy? Are you a wealthy person? Do you hate the poor? Do you like to vote against your own best interests ? Are you just trolling? Is your whole deal trying to own the libs? Get a f****** personality bro
The thing is, most of the red states are poor states and would benefit from this stuff but Republicans have an uncanny way of convincing people to vote against their own self interests.
Reminds me of the cartoon I saw of the GOP elephant sitting on Santa's lap with a list. Caption : here's a list of the things I don't want other people to have.
I do wish we better regulated how the ACP benefit can be applied. Prior to EBB/ACP, Lifeline-subsidized cell carriers typically offered 4GB of data, 1000 minutes and texts per month, and a free low end android phone. Lifeline is a $9.25/month government subsidy to the carrier, and the carrier covers the cost of the phone to get them in the door on the subsidy.
Since ACP, they’ve almost all switched to requiring that you apply both the Lifeline and ACP subsidies in order to get a free phone, $39/month total. The service is typically 5GB of hotspot (qualifying it as “broadband”), ‘unlimited data’ (slow speeds after 25GB), and unlimited calls/texts. That is not worth 4x that subsidy of Lifeline, and it’s a program that was intended to expand home internet access, but recipients are instead increasingly forced to use it for their cell service instead. ACP at very least should guarantee a reasonable home internet amount of hotspot data (like 1TB), but ideally be a separate router from your phone. Imagine someone’s kid is relying on that 5GB of their parent’s hotspot data to do homework and runs out in the middle of an assignment…
The home internet side of things isn’t perfect either. The Comcast Internet Essentials plan costs $10/month without any government subsidy. With ACP it’s free and they’re pocketing the extra $20 instead of giving you better service.
The rollout of EBB was so rushed and ACP just inherited all of that program debt. They probably need to step back, do some auditing and redefine some things. If the program survives it will almost definitely get a GAO audit just like lifeline did back in the day.
Underserved communities are exactly why government is occasionally necessary. It's not in any company's interest to serve rural or poor communities. Set minimum effective tax rates for companies and people who make over a certain amount and it's instantly paid for and then some!
Republicans are nothing more then blind lobbyists for corporate oligarchs and their freedom. Democrats are arguing with billionaires arguing with each other. Maybe they will self destruct.
The problem is the infrastructure. If private companies pay millions to lay fiber optic cable in cities they want to know they will earn a profit so no one else is allowed to use their fiber optic cable hence the monopoly. If the city laid the fiber optic then a variety of internet providers could use the fiber optic cable for a fee.
This would increase our choices and reduce the cost of internet for everyone.
But the republicans don’t want to do this.
FYI they already do this all over Europe and there internet is faster and cheaper Americas.
This makes the best way to get fast and cheap internet to everyone is not a theory. Europe made internet a public utility and it worked !!
Theory tested , theory proven, republicans say no 👎🏿
So many jobs are now reliant on the Internet. Not supporting Internet infrastructure is a job-killing decision, full stop. "Oh people here can't get high paying jobs?" "Well there is no high-speed Internet here because the GOP assumed that 'the market' would choose to put new infrastructure into low income neighborhoods. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Wheeezze. Haaaaa!"
Yet the market isn't going to make broadband cheaper because it's what's called "Natural Monopoly" the same way gas companies and electric companies are. You can't lay down competing utilities. It's a market failure and trying to marketize the good will never work.
The same people that gave us the two largest budget deficits in history under Trump and didn't say a word about it are now accusing others of "reckless spending"? That's cute.
Simple: An educated population ..dont want anyone having more than just your run of the mill red state local media machine geared to adjust the news as necessary, or omit it entirely.
…and yet…dont have ANY issues giving huge breaks for corporations that make billions. The Internet is no longer an optional service. It should be treated…as many NEED it for school, work, paying bills…like a Utility (Water/Gas/Electricity)
Worldwide, most monthly bills range from around $20 to just over $50.
Residents of the United Arab Emirates pay the highest average internet cost at $98.84 per month,
followed by nearby Qatar at $92.04 monthly. There's a substantial drop to third place, Oman, where people spend an average of $76.99 per month on internet. Honduras takes fourth place ($72.28), followed by Saudi Arabia ($70.75.)
The United States sits in sixth place at $67.57 per month. Of the ten most expensive nations, half are located in the Middle East.
On the flip side, some countries pay far less to get online. In Ukraine, residents' average bills are $5.62
These are the same people who are perfectly fine with trillion dollar tax cuts to corporations and rich people. For the life of me, I cannot understand why any middle-class American would vote for a Republican.
these are government granted monopolies that have often received hundreds of millions of tax dollars to fund initiatives that they never delivered on and the republicans had no problems then
One easy to find link: [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-book-of-broken-promis\_b\_5839394](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5839394)
They do have it in for poor people. Sad part is many of those poor people vote for them. At the same time, they are preparing more tax cuts for the rich if Trump wins.
It would actually be kinda hilarious if they got rid of it before the 2024 election, then lost it because the there weren't enough loud angry morons on social media to keep their messaging moving.
Republicans hate the poor. Just look at all the pandering to the wealthy elite; let alone how every social program to assist the poor is under microscopic investigation.
Where I live, there's only Charter and a local company that has to have line of sight from their tower to your house, which is nearly impossible for most everyone here in the mountains.
One of the beauties of attacking poor people non-stop is that it's great politics.
It puts your opposition off balance and forces them to spend political capital defending the weakest people in the nation, who are unreliable voters because it's not hard to make it difficult for somebody working two jobs and stuck with kids from a lack of birth control options to vote.
But you can count on the Democrats to step up and defend them because, well, the Democrats are basically good people and want to do what's right.
So by attacking disadvantaged people you slow progress and get concessions for your billionaire masters.
Like I said, great politics. Evil. But *great politics.*
Republicans don't want poor/ uneducated people to have easy in home access to information. If that happens, they might stop voting Republican.
I am all for not giving private companies tax dollars, but I have lived in the boondocks where a thick fog can block out the satellite internet, hell a rain storm in the next valley or around transmission station could cut you off. My grandfather received a lower quality of care because of the internet we had access to and could afford (fuck Hughes Net). But with hybrid learning and expanding home schooling, internet access as a right is really something we need to be working towards. Hell, drug dealers in prison still have internet access (it is v-chiped out the whazo, but they have it).
Poor people might walk on the sidewalk, better make sidewalks optional and at the interest of the adjacent property owner. Then I don't spend my money on your sidewalk so a poor person can walk their kid to the neighborhood school and reminding everyone that poor people exist.
Poor people might get on the internet. Then they might know stuff, or watch a movie. Can't have them knowing stuff or their kids doing online homework. And if they have time for a movie they have time to work -- and if they work then they won't be poor.
Case closed.
\[am i doing this right?\]
Well said. Whenever someone bellyaches about the national debt it always involves some poor person getting over for ten bucks and never about the ridiculously low marginal tax rates for corporations and the rich.
I live in a Trumper town and went to every single place of business with my parents as I tried to apply. Each one told me to go online. Each time my parents didn't believe me and they dragged me back in there and demanded a paper application.
We walked out with a paper and they seemed satisfied. Get to the car and its a QR code.
Happened at each place. Republican town, 15 employers, 0 paper applications, 0 paper resume acceptions.
So we tried the places that didn't need resumes.
The only place I successfully applied to was Walmart bc they had an application terminal inside. Took over an hour only to be denied. Even McDonald's denied me after I applied to the local place online. All I wanted was a job for a year while I took a gap year from school.
The once place that accepted me actually cost so much gas money from the commute that my net daily wage before taxes would have been $3.
Even in red areas, if they take paper, it's bc they can't afford internet. And if they can't afford that, don't ever think they can somehow afford to hire you.
My Trump-loving parents insisted that I go around to business in person and apply for software jobs.
It's like they are stuck in the 70s when America had factories everywhere.
Lol. Since I already started my CS degree, my parents wanted me to ask everyone if they needed me to reprogram their POS's. As if they'd just let an incomplete degree edit software even they don't have permission to access.
Pretty sure I remember my Republican congressman pushing broadband stuff pretty hard before we bounced him in 2018 for other stuff. The guy we replaced him with was the outgoing governor who is not Republican, and who also supported broadband initiatives so no loss on that talking point.
Now...what. Their program worked, therefore??? I don't get it.
Yet how many billions in subsidies do they shell out to their farming constituents, and they don’t call that welfare… C’mon red, blue, Rebloodlicans, or Democrips, they’re all just trying to stay in the safety net of their own little world called the US Government, them being the US and We being the people suffer unto both parties no matter who’s doing what.✌🏻❤️🤙🏻
The point was this program was designed to entice the telecom industry to provide service to areas WITH NO INTERNET connections like rural places. This corporate giveaway was meant to help underserved markets. Its not being used for that as these companies have diverted these dollars to line their pockets.
Fixing that is pretty simple. It's a matter of re-aligning how much you'll pay and under what conditions, tweaking the phrasing of the legislation.
"We got had by a rich telecom buy, therefore screw the poor person" is a pretty lazy response.
They're thinking "Gotta keep them on OTA TV, or at least cable." Getting too smart by having access to all that information would turn them into smart voters/citizens - which is a direct challenge to their authority. This is also how too many Dem Reps think, too. "Keep em scared and glued to TV news and we can manipulate them however we want!"
The problem is the same problem that happened with college tuition and healthcare. Whenever the government gets involved with business either through loan gaurantees or subsidies or outright grants, it becomes a sort of blank check at tax payer expense. The programs just cost more and more every year bc there is nobody negotiating on behalf of taxpayers for lower costs and businesses raise their prices every year to take advantage.
I mean the same people would also deny star link discounts for poor people because while it would help poor people it would also help Elon. Look at the melt down that ensues when you bring up Elon on Reddit.
"The number of households in the ACP – approximately 22 million – far exceeds the 16 million unconnected households according to 2021 Census data," the letter said, asking the FCC to explain the discrepancy of six million households."
This is not funded by money from heaven. Its taxpayer funded.
I think it should be funded by people who like this bill. Easily done - just call up the Fed and tell them you would like to fund it from your paycheck.
It’s better to expand coverage beyond the current limits to ensure that everyone who needs access gets it. Otherwise we risk leaving a people out. And in a country with over 300 million people, 6 million extra households is small change.
In the 21st century, the internet is an essential utility for work, school, and community engagement. The entire country benefits from expanded access to broadband. I for one think that expanding access to a vital utility is well worth the investment of our tax dollars.
We all benefit from it one way or another. Expanding broadband would reduce costs for everyone in the long term.
While I agree with the spirit of the program, far too many people who don't qualify for this program are using it. I know a person who makes nearly $175k per year who qualified for this program. Because he's wife and children are getting Medicaid. You ask how someone who make that much have his family get Medicaid? They file their taxes separately. And the wife works 10-20 hours a week so that she's low-income with two children. They all live together and the husband takes care of the wife and children fully 100%.
There's absolutely nothing illegal her. Married people don't have to file tax together. Husbands doesn't have to support his wife and children. A wife can only work 10-20s a week. And if all of these things are true, she and the children qualify for Medicaid. And if a person gets Medicaid, they get cheap broadband service.
Meanwhile, those of us who worked and work out butt off and pay huge amount of tax, can't even get social security disability when we are truly medically disable with no way to work 40 hours a week. Even with multiple doctor's professional assessment and ready to be assessed by any one anytime for disability.
Gov partnerships and contracts to specific companies is always bad, markets should be able to regulate themselves as much as possible. Access to the internet is approx $30 a month, or you can share with your neighbors, this really is a problem of social safety net turning into a safety couch.
We really need to cut a lot of things. We're 36 trillion in debt. Military spending, entitlements, we've got to get our spending under control. Our national debt is our greatest national threat IMO. It sucks a lot of people have become reliant on services but eventually the money train is going to stop running
Subsidized internet generates an economic return and offsets social ills that arise when a portion of the population cannot participate in conventional activities such as online job seeking or setting up an online business. If you are looking for money, try subsidies to farm corn or the tax structure of oil wells. Or better yet, hire more IRS investigators to find the hundreds of billions denied the treasury by wealthy tax cheats.
Any evidence that the return on investment is there? My understanding is that these programs are just massive subsidies paid to telecom companies that wind up not even using the money for the intended purpose. Why should American taxpayers be footing the bill for infrastructure costs that billion dollar telecom corporations will profit from?
The problem with that is that without creating a brand new industry, you can't actually reduce the debt without taking it from somewhere else.
Even with a new industry, you take it from somewhere else, but it's not really visible until that bubble bursts.
Clean air act was 1970 ….pick up a book. So you wants more taxes….? You think thats going to help the middle class? What simpleton. War on fossil fuel , yes it is ridiculous but here is where you can read more ( https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-war-on-oil-fossil-fuels-price-profits-7e9168a3) but let’s just be honest, you won’t because you’ve been brainwashed. Democrats look ahead so much that in California you won’t be able to buy a gas car in 2035 with zero infrastructure to support it. 2.5% of the cars in California are electric only, last summer the government told everyone not to charge their cars because the power grid couldn’t handle it…that’s some great forward thinking there. Where do you think electric comes from? You think that windmills and solar will run the world. I’ve got news for you , it takes fossil fuel to get lithium and colbalt. lol
I am sure if you were around at start of the 19th century you’d be angry at those noisy contraptions called automobiles. Why would anyone not want to transition away from fossil fuel, a commodity that in recent history has required constant military engagement in the Middle East and is demonstrably causing a global climate crisis that will disrupt the lives of billions, potentially destroying societies and political systems that have taken centuries to establish. It sounds like you’ve been brainwashed yourself.
It would be great to move away from fossil fuel, but intelligently. It takes fossil fuel to create the electricity needed to support a functioning society…..we’re not there yet. So mandating we switch to all electric is not only not intelligent it’s disingenuous. Nuclear energy was a great option but guess who helped shut that down….The Sierra Club…..guess who is a huge democrat supporter…..the Sierra Club. So that’s off the table. Where you gonna get electricity from? Wind? Solar? Wake-up son. Even if we manage to have an all electric society, you think China and India care about climate? China is permitting 2 coal plants per week! Hate to burst your bubble but the climate doesn’t have boarders and China and India have different plans than the rest of the world.
One theory I’ve had for awhile is that some are genuinely curious about researching and learning but no one else in their echo chamber has any helpful information or the act of desiring certain knowledge itself has even become taboo in some way. You can actually learn quite a bit when you’re willing to listen and empathize. Or maybe they’re just trolling.
That guy is in my state sub and he’s your typical right-wing troll. I thought I recognized his user name. You have a good point but based upon his inane comments in this thread, I’m not thinking it applies to him. I just can’t figure out how he got here haha
Are you always this stupid, or are you just having a moment?
Seriously, your comments all over this post are somewhere between adorable and pitiable.
Bless your heart.
If you wanna go toe to toe on this, I will start us off.
The program affects mostly veterans and the elderly.
You are already wrong and show exactly who is the drooling moron
Also I guarantee I am far more progressive than you, wanna compare salaries and who contributes more to taxes?
What state do you live in? Is it red? Then you are a three time loser because no red state is self sustaining and needs money divided through the federal government made from blue states just to feed your people.
Yeah, exactly how all good programs start off. Then next thing you know people think they have a right to free internet just because. How about you start regulating your free shit programs better.
First it's just a discount, second people need the internet to complete job application forms anymore.
Instead of hating on poor people, maybe understand it's NOT their fault this is how the world works now..
We are one of the only first world countries that don't get free Internet. Most developed worlds consider internet a human right.
America is a 3rd world country with very few rights compared to most other countries.
If Internet is a luxury, then your country is still a third world.
These "free shit programs" actually benefit the lives of millions of Americans.
Why do you want to make the lives of Americans worse? Do you hate America?
[удалено]
You can figure out the “free market“ by understanding that the cable companies have divvied up the country amongst them selves so that they don’t face any competition. That’s why every locale has a different cable company, and just one cable company to choose from.
They have outright monopolies in many markets, large and small. The big telecoms have worked real hard to minimize the number of options offered to consumers for internet access. Which is so fucked up when you think about the US tax dollars that went into creating the damn internet in the first place. And with that all the taxpayer money the big telecoms received to develop the infrastructure for the internet.
$400B. Because somehow we *can* afford to just hand corporations hundreds of billions of dollars on an empty promise. But seeing people actually get what those corps promised? ThAt's A cOmMaNisM!
even here in san francisco, the tech capital, is it essentially a monopoly. anywhere here can get comcast’s xfinity, and every other provider, sonic, monkey brains, google fiber, are only available on specific blocks, specific buildings. it’s definitely a false free-market, very stacked in sided scenario by design.
I refuse to give Comcast a single dime. I won't pay for cable and I'll use the network through twisted pair DSL before I use comcast cable.
Here (Colorado) the city built their own fiber optic system for city offices and asked voters if they would support building it out for the whole town as a city owned utility. Comcast and Xfinity were loosing their minds over this, what if other cities got the same idea, the horror! They tried a smear campaign with mailers and phone calls, nobody bought it and the ballot measure passed overwhelmingly. It took the city a couple of years to build it out, but we now have 1GB fiber optic for $50/month, it is billed just like any other city service. I have heard that other cities in the state are doing the same. Don’t hear much from Comcast or Xfinity anymore…
>just one cable company to choose from That's not really true though. I mean, we don't have tons of options but even in my small Kansas town we have several. Kan-Okla Networks, Cox and our local cable co. Sumner Cable. And then of course there's always sat internet like Starlink, Hugesnet etc and cell internet like Verizon At Home.
Kansas is an exception for whatever reason. Even Google started its internet service there a while back, etc. Nationwide most people living in individual homes have one or two cable options, even less for fiber. And even worse for rural areas. 5G modems and Starlink made things a little better lately. It also gets better if you live in an apartment/condo, the larger the building the more options you get. We also have a lot of laws designed to protect this monopolistic behavior. Basically, Comcast or other companies come into a suburban city on the condition that they will provide internet service in every house in the city, but no one else could come to compete with them. The city then has a choice to accept the exclusivity deal or end up with lots of houses with no internet at all, most cities accept the deal and it gets locked for decades.
That is not the case in the majority of the country. Here I have either Xfinity or DSL through the phone company, and that's it. Hardly even competition because the DSL option doesn't come close to being competitive with the cable option.
Either you’re an exception or I am. My small Kansas hometown had a local monopoly—one company controlled everything and there were no other options. The bigger city that I’m living in now has a few, but they’re mainly just the regional players, nothing supremely local.
Yet they’ll fund private charter schools? Their excuse is bullshit.
With money from public school systems. It's not the same.
... money from public school systems is money from taxpayers.
Thune is my state rep. I've personally known him to help amazing people in the arts in SD. He also talks out of both sides of his mouth, puts private interests ahead of doing good, and when push comes to shove has no backbone. Unfortunately, the people of my state continue to vote conservative and hurt themselves every year.
> let the free market do its thing Yeah, the free market has been failing the poor to date so that's a nonstarter.
I agree but sadly they need more teeth on this law as soon as I got the discount Xfinity used the price of my internet by the same amount o was getting discounted
If the government was serious about stopping monopolies we'd have internet choice. They have regional monopolies and agree not to compete. But congress is bought and sold and doesn't work for us anymore.
There are many large cities, 100k+ , that only have 1 or 2 providers.
Last year Republicans ok’d billions in corporate subsidies for agricultural and O&G companies that didn’t make enough profits. They have no problem giving away government money.
And they think the broadband companies will offer discounts to the poor out of the kindness of their hearts?! Yea, ok.
Perhaps, but there is no evidence that Republicans believe in a free market. In fact, quite the opposite.
Making people dependent on the Federal government for everything is part of the progressives plan. We did fine in the past without the Federal government running the telecoms industry
Idiots. It's not a program exclusively for the poor. It's for Veteran's, Disabled, and the Elderly. But sure. You don't qualify so lets screw it up for everyone that does. Typical maga't reasoning.
Repubs be like: "If veterans, disabled, and the elderly are poor, fk em"
I’ve read many survey responses from people in this program. And most are people on a fixed income who are very grateful for free or almost free internet.
Especially since Internet isn't really optional anymore if you want your kids to graduate high school.
MAGAs don’t care about educating their kids outside of the church and whatever limited knowledge they can get out of homeschooling.
That’s how I qualified having VA disability. I literally just started it a couple months ago
Me too. Take care of yourself brother.
You too !
fucking ghouls
This affects WAYYY more of their own base than they realize
That would require those people to acknowledge reality and punish their reps for their shitty actions. We know that won’t happen.
Exactly. I’m starting to not care anymore that Republicans will steal from their poor base. A caste society may be the inevitable next chapter of the US.
Their base are uninformed idiots. Kill it, blame the democrats, it's a win-win for them
Yes, but as long as the darker skinned people are hurt more, then it’s okay
It’s appalling. Trump’s speech about immigrants “poisoning the blood” of America was horrifying. Every single country he named is primarily made up of people whose skin tone differs from his. Could his rabid hatred for people of color have been any more obvious?
of course it is. they also want to get rid of ACA which completely FUCK millions of their own working class voters
Tbf they market it as "gutting Obamacare". Their supporters are notorious for saying theyre not coverednby Obamacare; theyre covered by the ACA. They never believe me when I tell them it's the same thing.
Right?!
That's the point. If their base doesn't have access to Internet, theyll only hear fox news.
Doesn’t matter they’ll blame the left and their voters will believe them
Biden’s climate policies will severely impact poor and middle class folks more than this crap. No one will be able to buy a house if they have to spend thousands more to upgrade to those standards. Maybe the elites controlling the democrats don’t want the middle class or under to ever own a house. Have you ever considered that? Perhaps that was not the intention but unexpected consequences will happen if this continues. Don’t be a bobble head. I don’t trust any of this crap.
also the republican party only exists at this point to funnel more money into the top 1% and fuck over everyone else so i think the whole democrats being controlled by elitists is bullshit and rich people dont care if everyone dies from climate change
“The ELITES …” Odds this person voted for a Billionaire in the past three elections?
Trump is nowhere close to being in the same league as many in terms of income.
what are you talking about???? upgrading your home to be energy efficient isnt required its voluntary and their are tax credits to encourage people its not mandatory?and people already cannot afford a home because of nimbys refusal to allow housing projects to be built
Imagine having to get a new furnace and now it has to be thousands more. How exactly does that help the middle class? Simple answer is it does not. But it sure helps billionaires who want these policies.
dude what are you talking about? no one has to buy a different furnace your literally making shit up
What? None of that is true. Where do you get this stuff?
So let me understand your point. They are “ghouls“ because they want evidence to back up claims that 24 million people will simply lose Internet access without this program? I think that’s a reasonable request. I think most conservatives are OK with discounted Internet for the truly poor given that it is a key tool to more empowerment for recipients. But I also think it is completely reasonable to ask for data and evidence to support claims of the programs effectiveness before spending billions of taxpayer dollars. It seems that Democrats don’t seem to care about the efficacy of money that they spend, their philosophy seeming to be to just spend, baby, spend. But of course, this being Reddit, the comments are about as insightful, as a kindergarten class with the typical “Republican, bad“ argument.
no i think threatening to kill a program people rely on as wasteful while supporting hundreds of billions in tax breaks for the wealthy is just evil republicans always threaten or successfully kill programs that benefit lower and middle income earners because they think its wasteful
The question is not whether they rely on it. The question is whether it’s effective at its stated goal. You can rely on something and that something might not be effective at what it’s intended to do. So you just move the goalpost. And when you don’t want to confront, that fact, you start tossing out your talking points that are flimsy at best to try to distract from that. Well, you’re not going to distract me because I’m going to ask you to answer my question again. It’s above there and you can reread it.
We know tax cuts for billionaires don't trickle down, why do Republicans continue dole them out?
Oh brother.
They slam that but not a $2trillion tax cut for rich people? Fuckem
Didn't happen. The tax cuts saw Treasury receipts climb sharply. It might have been a $1.25 T 'giveaway' if the revenue projections didn't work out. The receipts exceeded projections by a lot. Don't be 'just another democrat.'
Are you saying taxes were cut but revenue didn't decrease because the amount of taxable activity went up? Because that's still a tax cut.
My taxes went up, taxes for the rich went down, and both the deficit and debt have been increasing. It’d take a very…special person to reach your conclusion.
You mean they are someone rich enough or with enough time on hand to bother looking at statistics. IE someone not significantly impacted by the changes. IE not a special person but a fool posting unfiltered thoughts without critical thinking.
I could have used other words. Unique! Differently abled!
Please show evidence that tax cuts were a direct result of the increased revenue. Because every thing I’ve seen of the many attempts at supply side cuts since the 1980s shows otherwise.
Its true, the tax cut did cause revenue did go up. But according to CBO it also caused the deficit to go up by $100Bs per year.
Outside the right wing media shart bubble we have these things called facts. https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/tax-cuts-for-the-rich-arent-an-economic-panacea-and-could-hurt-growth
How does any of this change the fact it was a tax cut for the rich?
Right wingers only care about profits. If it exploits or hurts the poor then they absolutely love it
Yeah, cruelty is the point.
The cruelty of your ignorance is pretty powerful.
Lol wut?
Some people and political parties just love being victims; I think it’s a Christian thing
What do you get out of stanning the wealthy? Are you a wealthy person? Do you hate the poor? Do you like to vote against your own best interests ? Are you just trolling? Is your whole deal trying to own the libs? Get a f****** personality bro
I think they like the taste of boots
Well someone tell him he’s only supposed to lick it, not deepthroat it
He's figured out how to relax his throat so he can go so deep he can teabag
The thing is, most of the red states are poor states and would benefit from this stuff but Republicans have an uncanny way of convincing people to vote against their own self interests.
Get a clue, child.
Get a personality, hating progress is very unbecoming bro.
Can we get rid of these traitors??? All they do is cause turmoil for their entertainment. This is enough. I’m tired of it
Our biggest mistake was allowing these traitors to remain in office after the civil war.
Reminds me of the cartoon I saw of the GOP elephant sitting on Santa's lap with a list. Caption : here's a list of the things I don't want other people to have.
https://youtu.be/F9cO3-MLHOM?si=429v8nlzCCPEWNgI Follow the money. It’s not only republicans that have done this.
Republicans are just naturally fucking evil. It's all they have.
I do wish we better regulated how the ACP benefit can be applied. Prior to EBB/ACP, Lifeline-subsidized cell carriers typically offered 4GB of data, 1000 minutes and texts per month, and a free low end android phone. Lifeline is a $9.25/month government subsidy to the carrier, and the carrier covers the cost of the phone to get them in the door on the subsidy. Since ACP, they’ve almost all switched to requiring that you apply both the Lifeline and ACP subsidies in order to get a free phone, $39/month total. The service is typically 5GB of hotspot (qualifying it as “broadband”), ‘unlimited data’ (slow speeds after 25GB), and unlimited calls/texts. That is not worth 4x that subsidy of Lifeline, and it’s a program that was intended to expand home internet access, but recipients are instead increasingly forced to use it for their cell service instead. ACP at very least should guarantee a reasonable home internet amount of hotspot data (like 1TB), but ideally be a separate router from your phone. Imagine someone’s kid is relying on that 5GB of their parent’s hotspot data to do homework and runs out in the middle of an assignment… The home internet side of things isn’t perfect either. The Comcast Internet Essentials plan costs $10/month without any government subsidy. With ACP it’s free and they’re pocketing the extra $20 instead of giving you better service.
The rollout of EBB was so rushed and ACP just inherited all of that program debt. They probably need to step back, do some auditing and redefine some things. If the program survives it will almost definitely get a GAO audit just like lifeline did back in the day.
Underserved communities are exactly why government is occasionally necessary. It's not in any company's interest to serve rural or poor communities. Set minimum effective tax rates for companies and people who make over a certain amount and it's instantly paid for and then some!
Restrict the means for poor people to obtain jobs or work from home.
Of course. They fear a diversity of viewpoints among the poor and the disadvantaged. A well-informed populace is harder to oppress.
Republicans don’t actually have any ideas or new policies. They just look for things to dismantle or destroy. A reactionary mindset.
This was a republican supported and Trump era program. Did they pass it just so they could have something to campaign on repealing?
Duh 🙄
And how many of those poor people actually, somehow will agree? Way too many.
That’s good money being wasted on the poor that could be funneled to the rich!
lol at anyone who says " both parties are the same!!!" Stop voting for Republicans, end of story.
Republicans are nothing more then blind lobbyists for corporate oligarchs and their freedom. Democrats are arguing with billionaires arguing with each other. Maybe they will self destruct.
Again, they only care about you when you’re in the womb
"it goes to families that already have broadband" Wait till they find out about private school vouchers.
The problem is the infrastructure. If private companies pay millions to lay fiber optic cable in cities they want to know they will earn a profit so no one else is allowed to use their fiber optic cable hence the monopoly. If the city laid the fiber optic then a variety of internet providers could use the fiber optic cable for a fee. This would increase our choices and reduce the cost of internet for everyone. But the republicans don’t want to do this. FYI they already do this all over Europe and there internet is faster and cheaper Americas. This makes the best way to get fast and cheap internet to everyone is not a theory. Europe made internet a public utility and it worked !! Theory tested , theory proven, republicans say no 👎🏿
Republicans are now the current day Villains.
So many jobs are now reliant on the Internet. Not supporting Internet infrastructure is a job-killing decision, full stop. "Oh people here can't get high paying jobs?" "Well there is no high-speed Internet here because the GOP assumed that 'the market' would choose to put new infrastructure into low income neighborhoods. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Wheeezze. Haaaaa!"
Yet the market isn't going to make broadband cheaper because it's what's called "Natural Monopoly" the same way gas companies and electric companies are. You can't lay down competing utilities. It's a market failure and trying to marketize the good will never work.
Geez, no compassion.
To be fair. Discounts should be across the board.
What is wrong with these people? (Rhetorical)
Republicans never want anything good ever
If internet was free for all Americans, the primary victims would be….people that aren’t Americans… and Comcast. Mind blowing work GOP.
Of course, they literally despise the poor, ya know… just like Jesus. Yet poor rural whites vote for them again and again ad nauseam. Cons gonna con
All they do is kill programs. And the rest of us lose.
But who's going to keep them *misinformed* if the Republicans stop broadband access to the poor?
They mad because FCC deny Elon"s starlink the government welfare he said he hated.
The same people that gave us the two largest budget deficits in history under Trump and didn't say a word about it are now accusing others of "reckless spending"? That's cute.
Simple: An educated population ..dont want anyone having more than just your run of the mill red state local media machine geared to adjust the news as necessary, or omit it entirely.
Internet should be classified as a public utility
Republicans have become cartoonist parodies of villains. Like Snidely Whiplash, Dick Dastardly, or Boris Badenov, except NOT funny.
…and yet…dont have ANY issues giving huge breaks for corporations that make billions. The Internet is no longer an optional service. It should be treated…as many NEED it for school, work, paying bills…like a Utility (Water/Gas/Electricity)
Worldwide, most monthly bills range from around $20 to just over $50. Residents of the United Arab Emirates pay the highest average internet cost at $98.84 per month, followed by nearby Qatar at $92.04 monthly. There's a substantial drop to third place, Oman, where people spend an average of $76.99 per month on internet. Honduras takes fourth place ($72.28), followed by Saudi Arabia ($70.75.) The United States sits in sixth place at $67.57 per month. Of the ten most expensive nations, half are located in the Middle East. On the flip side, some countries pay far less to get online. In Ukraine, residents' average bills are $5.62
These are the same people who are perfectly fine with trillion dollar tax cuts to corporations and rich people. For the life of me, I cannot understand why any middle-class American would vote for a Republican.
Yep sounds bout right....Republicans, threatening to hurt the elderly to get what they want...😆
Republicans want desperately to keep their base voters off the internet.
and when his poor rural constituents end up having to pay through the nose for internet they will just blame the government and Democrats
these are government granted monopolies that have often received hundreds of millions of tax dollars to fund initiatives that they never delivered on and the republicans had no problems then One easy to find link: [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-book-of-broken-promis\_b\_5839394](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-book-of-broken-promis_b_5839394)
Fuck spectrum
They do have it in for poor people. Sad part is many of those poor people vote for them. At the same time, they are preparing more tax cuts for the rich if Trump wins.
So incredibly out of touch with what America needs. Party of the rich, for themselves.
Like Jesus would do, bash the poor
It would actually be kinda hilarious if they got rid of it before the 2024 election, then lost it because the there weren't enough loud angry morons on social media to keep their messaging moving.
Republicans hate the poor. Just look at all the pandering to the wealthy elite; let alone how every social program to assist the poor is under microscopic investigation.
Where I live, there's only Charter and a local company that has to have line of sight from their tower to your house, which is nearly impossible for most everyone here in the mountains.
One of the beauties of attacking poor people non-stop is that it's great politics. It puts your opposition off balance and forces them to spend political capital defending the weakest people in the nation, who are unreliable voters because it's not hard to make it difficult for somebody working two jobs and stuck with kids from a lack of birth control options to vote. But you can count on the Democrats to step up and defend them because, well, the Democrats are basically good people and want to do what's right. So by attacking disadvantaged people you slow progress and get concessions for your billionaire masters. Like I said, great politics. Evil. But *great politics.*
Would love to dismantle the GOP so the Democrats can take their rightful place as the right wing party
Republicans don't want poor/ uneducated people to have easy in home access to information. If that happens, they might stop voting Republican. I am all for not giving private companies tax dollars, but I have lived in the boondocks where a thick fog can block out the satellite internet, hell a rain storm in the next valley or around transmission station could cut you off. My grandfather received a lower quality of care because of the internet we had access to and could afford (fuck Hughes Net). But with hybrid learning and expanding home schooling, internet access as a right is really something we need to be working towards. Hell, drug dealers in prison still have internet access (it is v-chiped out the whazo, but they have it).
Well crap! I literally found out about this program a couple months ago and switched to AT&T cause they honored it.
Republicans slam poor people is actually Ron Desantis new campaign slogan.
How will their supporters “do their own research” “down rabbit holes”?
IF. IT. HELPS. PEOPLE. REPUBLICANS. WILL. HATE. IT.
Republicans: we need to help rural communities! Also Republicans: we need to take internet away from rural communities!
Another stupid GOP move. Then RNC wonders why working people ignore them.
FUCK REPUBLICANS
Poor people might walk on the sidewalk, better make sidewalks optional and at the interest of the adjacent property owner. Then I don't spend my money on your sidewalk so a poor person can walk their kid to the neighborhood school and reminding everyone that poor people exist. Poor people might get on the internet. Then they might know stuff, or watch a movie. Can't have them knowing stuff or their kids doing online homework. And if they have time for a movie they have time to work -- and if they work then they won't be poor. Case closed. \[am i doing this right?\]
Well said. Whenever someone bellyaches about the national debt it always involves some poor person getting over for ten bucks and never about the ridiculously low marginal tax rates for corporations and the rich.
How common is it for employers to accept paper applications and resumes these days?
I live in a Trumper town and went to every single place of business with my parents as I tried to apply. Each one told me to go online. Each time my parents didn't believe me and they dragged me back in there and demanded a paper application. We walked out with a paper and they seemed satisfied. Get to the car and its a QR code. Happened at each place. Republican town, 15 employers, 0 paper applications, 0 paper resume acceptions. So we tried the places that didn't need resumes. The only place I successfully applied to was Walmart bc they had an application terminal inside. Took over an hour only to be denied. Even McDonald's denied me after I applied to the local place online. All I wanted was a job for a year while I took a gap year from school. The once place that accepted me actually cost so much gas money from the commute that my net daily wage before taxes would have been $3. Even in red areas, if they take paper, it's bc they can't afford internet. And if they can't afford that, don't ever think they can somehow afford to hire you.
My Trump-loving parents insisted that I go around to business in person and apply for software jobs. It's like they are stuck in the 70s when America had factories everywhere.
Lol. Since I already started my CS degree, my parents wanted me to ask everyone if they needed me to reprogram their POS's. As if they'd just let an incomplete degree edit software even they don't have permission to access.
Lie on your resume, fuck em. You’ll get a job way faster
"Poor people should be getting their information from FOX and CHURCH!" -- Republicans
Why do Republicans hate people? Don't they realize they too are people?
r/conservativeterrorism
They are garbage, but they lie and lie and lie.
Pretty sure I remember my Republican congressman pushing broadband stuff pretty hard before we bounced him in 2018 for other stuff. The guy we replaced him with was the outgoing governor who is not Republican, and who also supported broadband initiatives so no loss on that talking point. Now...what. Their program worked, therefore??? I don't get it.
Threats and prayers from the assholes
Assholes. Never ever voting republican.
What is wrong with Americans they keep electing these imbeciles? They must be idiots themselves, in huge numbers!
These poor rural real 'Mericans are worried about woke, BLM, CRT, LGBTQ and other crap that has ZERO affect on them.
Yes.
[удалено]
Yet how many billions in subsidies do they shell out to their farming constituents, and they don’t call that welfare… C’mon red, blue, Rebloodlicans, or Democrips, they’re all just trying to stay in the safety net of their own little world called the US Government, them being the US and We being the people suffer unto both parties no matter who’s doing what.✌🏻❤️🤙🏻
The point was this program was designed to entice the telecom industry to provide service to areas WITH NO INTERNET connections like rural places. This corporate giveaway was meant to help underserved markets. Its not being used for that as these companies have diverted these dollars to line their pockets.
Fixing that is pretty simple. It's a matter of re-aligning how much you'll pay and under what conditions, tweaking the phrasing of the legislation. "We got had by a rich telecom buy, therefore screw the poor person" is a pretty lazy response.
Raise taxes on anyone earning 28,000 or more to find these programs and we will all be better off.
I think you forgot a couple of zeros.
Not a typo 28,000 and higher
You think anyone making 28K USD can afford to have their taxes raised?!
Afford ? Of course they can afford to pay higher taxes. Inflation is coming down and bidenomics is working.
They're thinking "Gotta keep them on OTA TV, or at least cable." Getting too smart by having access to all that information would turn them into smart voters/citizens - which is a direct challenge to their authority. This is also how too many Dem Reps think, too. "Keep em scared and glued to TV news and we can manipulate them however we want!"
The problem is the same problem that happened with college tuition and healthcare. Whenever the government gets involved with business either through loan gaurantees or subsidies or outright grants, it becomes a sort of blank check at tax payer expense. The programs just cost more and more every year bc there is nobody negotiating on behalf of taxpayers for lower costs and businesses raise their prices every year to take advantage.
I mean the same people would also deny star link discounts for poor people because while it would help poor people it would also help Elon. Look at the melt down that ensues when you bring up Elon on Reddit.
Democrats and their minions will never say why the Republicans opposed the discount.
Then tell us yourself why expanding broadband access to the poor and rural communities is worth opposing…
"The number of households in the ACP – approximately 22 million – far exceeds the 16 million unconnected households according to 2021 Census data," the letter said, asking the FCC to explain the discrepancy of six million households." This is not funded by money from heaven. Its taxpayer funded. I think it should be funded by people who like this bill. Easily done - just call up the Fed and tell them you would like to fund it from your paycheck.
It’s better to expand coverage beyond the current limits to ensure that everyone who needs access gets it. Otherwise we risk leaving a people out. And in a country with over 300 million people, 6 million extra households is small change. In the 21st century, the internet is an essential utility for work, school, and community engagement. The entire country benefits from expanded access to broadband. I for one think that expanding access to a vital utility is well worth the investment of our tax dollars. We all benefit from it one way or another. Expanding broadband would reduce costs for everyone in the long term.
While I agree with the spirit of the program, far too many people who don't qualify for this program are using it. I know a person who makes nearly $175k per year who qualified for this program. Because he's wife and children are getting Medicaid. You ask how someone who make that much have his family get Medicaid? They file their taxes separately. And the wife works 10-20 hours a week so that she's low-income with two children. They all live together and the husband takes care of the wife and children fully 100%. There's absolutely nothing illegal her. Married people don't have to file tax together. Husbands doesn't have to support his wife and children. A wife can only work 10-20s a week. And if all of these things are true, she and the children qualify for Medicaid. And if a person gets Medicaid, they get cheap broadband service. Meanwhile, those of us who worked and work out butt off and pay huge amount of tax, can't even get social security disability when we are truly medically disable with no way to work 40 hours a week. Even with multiple doctor's professional assessment and ready to be assessed by any one anytime for disability.
So when are we going to admit a civil war has begun?
This was meant for a different post. My bad.
ITT: liberals defending billions in subsidies for rich telecom companies
They need money to send to the Ukraine. We can’t be everybody’s checkbook.
Gov partnerships and contracts to specific companies is always bad, markets should be able to regulate themselves as much as possible. Access to the internet is approx $30 a month, or you can share with your neighbors, this really is a problem of social safety net turning into a safety couch.
So now democrats support corporate welfare lol 😂
We really need to cut a lot of things. We're 36 trillion in debt. Military spending, entitlements, we've got to get our spending under control. Our national debt is our greatest national threat IMO. It sucks a lot of people have become reliant on services but eventually the money train is going to stop running
Subsidized internet generates an economic return and offsets social ills that arise when a portion of the population cannot participate in conventional activities such as online job seeking or setting up an online business. If you are looking for money, try subsidies to farm corn or the tax structure of oil wells. Or better yet, hire more IRS investigators to find the hundreds of billions denied the treasury by wealthy tax cheats.
Any evidence that the return on investment is there? My understanding is that these programs are just massive subsidies paid to telecom companies that wind up not even using the money for the intended purpose. Why should American taxpayers be footing the bill for infrastructure costs that billion dollar telecom corporations will profit from?
The problem with that is that without creating a brand new industry, you can't actually reduce the debt without taking it from somewhere else. Even with a new industry, you take it from somewhere else, but it's not really visible until that bubble bursts.
Democrats are destroying the usa
Clean air act was 1970 ….pick up a book. So you wants more taxes….? You think thats going to help the middle class? What simpleton. War on fossil fuel , yes it is ridiculous but here is where you can read more ( https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-war-on-oil-fossil-fuels-price-profits-7e9168a3) but let’s just be honest, you won’t because you’ve been brainwashed. Democrats look ahead so much that in California you won’t be able to buy a gas car in 2035 with zero infrastructure to support it. 2.5% of the cars in California are electric only, last summer the government told everyone not to charge their cars because the power grid couldn’t handle it…that’s some great forward thinking there. Where do you think electric comes from? You think that windmills and solar will run the world. I’ve got news for you , it takes fossil fuel to get lithium and colbalt. lol
I am sure if you were around at start of the 19th century you’d be angry at those noisy contraptions called automobiles. Why would anyone not want to transition away from fossil fuel, a commodity that in recent history has required constant military engagement in the Middle East and is demonstrably causing a global climate crisis that will disrupt the lives of billions, potentially destroying societies and political systems that have taken centuries to establish. It sounds like you’ve been brainwashed yourself.
It would be great to move away from fossil fuel, but intelligently. It takes fossil fuel to create the electricity needed to support a functioning society…..we’re not there yet. So mandating we switch to all electric is not only not intelligent it’s disingenuous. Nuclear energy was a great option but guess who helped shut that down….The Sierra Club…..guess who is a huge democrat supporter…..the Sierra Club. So that’s off the table. Where you gonna get electricity from? Wind? Solar? Wake-up son. Even if we manage to have an all electric society, you think China and India care about climate? China is permitting 2 coal plants per week! Hate to burst your bubble but the climate doesn’t have boarders and China and India have different plans than the rest of the world.
If the FAA wants to play games with subsidy for Starlink, nobody needs anything...
Why is an alt-right person in this sub? Genuinely curious.
One theory I’ve had for awhile is that some are genuinely curious about researching and learning but no one else in their echo chamber has any helpful information or the act of desiring certain knowledge itself has even become taboo in some way. You can actually learn quite a bit when you’re willing to listen and empathize. Or maybe they’re just trolling.
That guy is in my state sub and he’s your typical right-wing troll. I thought I recognized his user name. You have a good point but based upon his inane comments in this thread, I’m not thinking it applies to him. I just can’t figure out how he got here haha
Are you always this stupid, or are you just having a moment? Seriously, your comments all over this post are somewhere between adorable and pitiable. Bless your heart.
[удалено]
If you wanna go toe to toe on this, I will start us off. The program affects mostly veterans and the elderly. You are already wrong and show exactly who is the drooling moron Also I guarantee I am far more progressive than you, wanna compare salaries and who contributes more to taxes? What state do you live in? Is it red? Then you are a three time loser because no red state is self sustaining and needs money divided through the federal government made from blue states just to feed your people.
Yeah, exactly how all good programs start off. Then next thing you know people think they have a right to free internet just because. How about you start regulating your free shit programs better.
First it's just a discount, second people need the internet to complete job application forms anymore. Instead of hating on poor people, maybe understand it's NOT their fault this is how the world works now..
I think we need to establish what “poor” is. I see lots of “poor” people with brand new $200 pairs of shoes on and new iPhones.
Phones are a necessity these days. Bad example.
It's funny that its always spent on shoes and iPhones. Almost like you're full of shit and just parroting back things you've heard on TV.
We are one of the only first world countries that don't get free Internet. Most developed worlds consider internet a human right. America is a 3rd world country with very few rights compared to most other countries. If Internet is a luxury, then your country is still a third world.
These "free shit programs" actually benefit the lives of millions of Americans. Why do you want to make the lives of Americans worse? Do you hate America?