from the how-many-times-do-we-have-to-pay-for-broadband? dept.
U.S. Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has proposed up to $275 billion in infrastructure investment, including investment in broadband:
Hillary Clinton has announced a $250bn plan to build out the United States' broadband infrastructure and ensure that everyone has fast internet access at an affordable price by 2020.
That's the headline figure anyway in her new policy position called "Building Tomorrow's Economy Today." In reality, the presidential candidate has pledged to fund a $25 billion dollar "national infrastructure bank" over five years that will cover all infrastructure improvements for roads, bridges, pipes, and internet network.
That bank will provide "up to an additional $225 billion in federally supported investment," according to the policy paper, by leveraging "the $25 billion in direct loans, loan guarantees, and other forms of credit enhancement."
[...] Interestingly however, even Clinton's $25 billion infrastructure bank idea doesn't appear to have been her own. Democratic rival Bernie Sanders has been talking about the US' lackluster networks for some time, noting that the US comes 16th globally in terms of broadband access, and 12th in terms of average speed, according to the OECD. "Today, businesses, schools, and families in Bucharest, Romania, have access to much faster internet than most of the United States. That is unacceptable and has got to change," Sanders says in his policy position on "rebuilding America."
Interestingly, Sanders pledged the exact same figure as Clinton – $5 billion a year – but solely for internet rollout, rather than all infrastructure needs, through an Act of Congress. "The Rebuild America Act will invest $5 billion a year to expand high-speed broadband networks in under-served and unserved areas, and to boost speeds and capacity all across the country. Internet access is no longer a luxury: it is essential for 21st century commerce, education, telemedicine, and public safety," he said.
DSLReports calls the promises "painfully ambiguous". Other outlets have gravitated to the promises of "smart cities", "free Wi-Fi", "5G networks", and supporting "tomorrow's Internet of Things".
Billions in broadband investment? Hmm, where have I heard that one before?
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @10:25PM
Is there anybody who actually believes these premisses?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @10:31PM
I believe the ISPs will gladly take the money, do nothing with it, and will never be punished.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday December 04 2015, @11:16PM
What needs to be done about this is to simply encourage municipal broadband and stop the big telcos from lobbying and suing municipal broadband out of existence.
That would have a much better effect than simply throwing more money at the big telcos. Although you are wrong about them doing nothing with it - it will go to executive bonuses and perhaps some stock dividends.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by davester666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @02:18AM
Of course Congress will have no problem authorizing what Hillary proposes. Unlike when Obama was elected/reelected, the Republican's are lining up in their support for her. It will definitely be smooth sailing for her.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 05 2015, @06:16AM
Almost as if she is a career politician that has been making backdoor deals with everyone she could for the last fifteen years to ensure this victory.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @07:06AM
I can't decide if you were completely whooshed or you were doubling down on my comment.
The only thing easier for Hillary [vs Obama] is that there will be fewer questions about whether she is eligible to run for President, because she has two white American parents.
It's also not quite as bad that she's female vs Obama being black. It's close, but definitely better that she isn't black.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @07:13AM
Note, this is my view of what the Republican party thinks of her, not my personal view of her.
Like virtually every politician at that level, I'm sure she would make me want to go home and wash the slime off if I had to work with her for any length of time, but she'll be better at the job than whomever makes it through the Republican primaries. The R primaries seem to be a contest about having a group of people having gun, and during the primaries they have to shoot as close to their toes as they can, but knowing that they need all their toes intact to win the general election.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @01:13PM
No she wouldn't, my friend. The Clintons are desperately incompetent. What they are competent at, you don't want.
We've all been sitting around for 3 years now pointing out that the NSA police state surveillance will be abused for political control. She is one who will do that. She has a lifetime of scores to settle, and if she is put in the Oval Office that's exactly what she'll do.
Also, consider that the Clintons are in bed with Wall Street and the very evil 1% they play fight with in front of the cameras. I have witnessed them meeting with Chris Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax and the architect of the Vince Foster suicide theory, and Rupert Murdoch.
Hillary Clinton must never be President.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @08:26PM
Right. Unfortunately, any Republican who wins the primary will do the same or worse.
Right now, she is the least-worst person from the field of people who have a reasonable chance of actually winning the job.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @10:38PM
> Is there anybody who actually believes these premisses?
Campaign promises matter [vox.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @10:40PM
>Vox
Shiggy.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @10:50PM
Sounds like more political doubletalk bullshit to me. Lets not take care of real problems, we'll just dump a bunch of taxpayers money into a non-existent problem whose only cause is to get corporate donations to Clitons campaign. And maybe get her brothers uncles step-cousins son a job at the fiber optic plant.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @11:29PM
Lemme guess - as far as you know, anything a politician says is "doubletalk bullshit."
Which is the kind of know-nothing bullshit that article explicitly debunks.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Phoenix666 on Friday December 04 2015, @11:30PM
This is absolutely true. It's using a real problem to divert money from our pockets to the pockets of Friends of Bill (clinton, that is), in order to get a freshly laundered kickback in their own bank accounts. The Clintons are grifters, through and through.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 05 2015, @04:45AM
> It's using a real problem to divert money from our pockets to the pockets of Friends of Bill
You've been scored informative for that. Which friend is a beneficiary of this proposal? You do know what you are talking about, right? You wouldn't just be indulging yourself, right?
(Score: 2) by Hairyfeet on Saturday December 05 2015, @12:58PM
The giant cable/DSL duopoly, just like the payout her husband backed in the 90s [pbs.org], and ironically damned near the exact same amount and just like that deal all we'll get for all that cash is a nice low res picture of the CEOs burning a c-note from their brand new mega-yacht while flipping us the bird.
Remember folks, socialism is only for rich people, you poor actually have to pay your bills and do the job you get paid a pittance for while the rich can just hold out their hand and get billions for absolutely nothing. old Billy proved that with his 200 billion dollar kickback in the 90s and if Hillary gets elected she is just gonna follow his example. After all they've had 20 years of letting the infrastructure fall apart and they can't milk anymore money out of it with caps and gouging, won't somebody think of the rich CEOs of these corps? Those 10k hookers and McMansions don't pay for themselves ya know!
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @01:22PM
You're not really getting how it works. Clintons use a crisis or problem to put together a big pile of money. If they have an FoB in mind already to give it to, they do. If they don't, they wait around until a new plutocrat decides to become a new FoB. That FoB gets the contract, then a fat check from the FoB wends its way through various channels, ie. campaign donations, contributions to certain charitable funds that don't actually do anything, etc. and ultimately winds up in the Clintons' bottom line. Money that gets applied to the crisis or problem? None, or virtually none.
It's all a big scam.
And, yes, I do know what I'm talking about. I have first-hand knowledge.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @10:47PM
Fix our roads, bridges, water and other services. Bridges are outdated. Water is being trashed by fracking. My car needs new shocks now.... dam potholes....
Internet? Yeah that's nice; but it won't fix my car or save me from a falling bridge. In houston we have a Bridge that is off limits to trucks due to it's age. They say it might fall but yet no planes to remove it or replace it. Water whould be nice to have in 25years when it's all contaminated and cost as much as a Gallon of milk. The price of cleaning the water to drink it will be dumped on the drinkers later as now the oil barons get to piss in the aquafers for profit. I would stop driving my car if I felt it would make any diffrence. Maybe a "No gas day" to protest the toxic waste in our water. Fuck fuck fuck..... just depressing to think about it. You remember the Indian with the tear in his eye because the trash on our hiways in the 70's. I feel like that about our water now. I cry for my daughters future. I only hope that I can teach her how to survive in this trash of a would we leave the children.
Signed Taxpayer.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04 2015, @11:32PM
> Water whould be nice to have in 25years when it's all contaminated and cost as much as a Gallon of milk
Do you have any evidence for systemic degradation in fresh water quality? Because my impression is that the EPA has been very successful at improving water quality to the point where all the republican politicians have forgotten how bad it used to be and are itching to eliminate the EPA with the naive expectation that without the EPA the status quo will somehow just maintain itself.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snotnose on Saturday December 05 2015, @12:10AM
Fix our roads, bridges, water and other services. Bridges are outdated. Water is being trashed by fracking. My car needs new shocks now.... dam potholes....
The greatest generation kicked some Nazi ass, then built a lot of infrastructure so the country could grow. The baby boomers didn't want to pay to maintain that infrastructure, and pissed the money away on crap like farm/corporate subsidies and assorted wars. Gen X looked around and said "hey, I reroof my house every 10 years, how come none of this infrastructure has been maintained for 30 years?". The millennials realize where the pointy part of the screw is heading and stay in their parent's basements.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 05 2015, @06:20AM
Well, not so much knowing we will get screwed and more dumbstruck, recovering in the parent's house from the speed and ferocity of being screwed by the dotcom bubble, housing bubble, and recession all in a row before we have even begun to contemplate paying back the massive student debt we carry for those 300 apiece textbooks. The younger millenials still have a shot at a normal life. but people born in the 80's are a lost generation already.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Hairyfeet on Saturday December 05 2015, @06:20AM
The millennials became gender fascists and stay in their parent's basements posting diatribes on Tumblr. FTFY
MY generation was fighting to save the rain forest, stop rivers from catching on fire due to rampant pollution, and fighting a government that thought the war on poverty meant you should declare war on poor people. What are the millennials doing? Attempting to fight for MORE government intrusion in the name of banning "cyber" words, bringing back racism in the form of "the progressive stack" and supporting such heart warming movements like third wave feminism and the whole "die cis scum" and "all men are rapists" bullshit. You should watch the recent Atheism talks, I swear to fucking God the panels take more than 15 minutes at the start giving their sexual orientation that is for these groups a fucking merit badge to show your qualifications!
If you want to know why corporations can get away with fricking murder now? Its because the second you try to organize here is a bunch of millennial social justice narcissist twats to wreck shit by trying to add a bunch of off topic horseshit like a damned congressman trying to add pork to a fucking defense bill! Just look at how quickly they completely wrecked the Occupy Wall Street movement which had such a simple and universally supported message...get corruption out of banking. That was it, simple and to the point. Then here came the SJ narcissist squad and suddenly they are grabbing the mike to talk about "rape free zones" and shouting down anybody who spoke that wasn't part of the progressive stack and turned such a simple message into a snarled clusterfuck that was so nasty nobody wanted anything to do with it.
As far as what Hillary wants? I honestly don't think she has a snowball's chance in hell so it honestly does not matter, the amount of hatred and backlash I'm hearing and seeing against the progressive movement I honestly think is gonna cause a hard right shift, just as the years of neo-cons and moral majority being shoved down our throats caused the hard left shift we experienced in the 90s. Why do you think Trump has gotten such high numbers? He is the embodiment of the "I'm tired of this shit" sentiment.Right now people are worried about whether they will have a job next week, whether the bridge they drive across is gonna collapse, if they will be able to pay their bills, they REALLY don't give a rat's ass about another 200 billion+ dollar bribe for the corps to take in return for a single low res Goatse like they did under her husband and the fact she thinks this is actually a selling point? Just shows how fucking out of touch that woman is. I swear the more I watch her the more I think of GHWB looking amazed at the checkout scanner, she seems THAT out of touch with the common person.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @01:31PM
I agree with you. Trump's numbers are born of nihilism. People are heartily sick of the corrupt status quo. Hillary is still playing 1990's politics, throwing out sops to focus-group tested special interests. This week, it's a sop to millenials. Last week it was some coal-related sop to the Appalachians who supported her over Obama during the last primary. She is utterly tone-deaf.
If we were still talking about a functional democracy, I'd say Bernie would be the best option since Elizabeth Warren chose not to run (more's the pity--I would have gone to the mat for her). But this democracy has ceased to function and needs burning down. Trump is the best man for that job, and he might even make me laugh occasionally while doing it.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by art guerrilla on Saturday December 05 2015, @01:54PM
she is a functionary of Empire, which just happens to be the route they chose to enrich themselves, ensconce a place at the elbow of the puppetmasters, and otherwise feather their nest by going full authoritarian in an attempt to salvage pre-Fall Empire...
the clitons are willing tools of Empire, wormtongues all, in service to perpetuating the 'necessary illusions'...
liars and hypocrites, willing to garishly paint themselves for their part in the kabuki play distracting the masses...
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @01:59PM
That's a florid way to put it, but, yes, that's it.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Saturday December 05 2015, @03:53PM
You don't realize what kind of hell you're asking for.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Saturday December 05 2015, @06:09PM
As opposed to 99% of the population being ground down into nothing 24/7, 365? You're right, we are living in paradise. What was I thinking?
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by Hairyfeet on Saturday December 05 2015, @07:00PM
I lost any and all respect for Bernie when he cowered before Thug Lives Matter and let them shove him around like a little white bitch. When I saw that I knew he would be about as worthless in the office as Carter was and the LAST thing we need is another president with zero backbone.
SJ twats can call me an "ist" all day long,but as black activist Tommy Sotomayor pointed out when it comes to Thug Lives Matter (as well as coining that phrase) "Why is it they didn't say a word when that 11 year old boy was executed by gangbangers? When that 7 year old girl was killed walking home from a thug spraying a drive by? Because to TLM its perfectly fine as long as its Pookie doing the shooting, its ONLY a problem if Pookie gets shot by a white person. Doesn't matter what Pookie did, rob a store, pull a weapon on the cop, nope none of that matters because "he did'nt do nuffins!". TLM if they are taken by a white person, otherwise? They ain't worth shit".
Say what you will but after 30 years of voting straight democrat across the Board? Myself as well as everybody I know is more than willing to vote Trump as we're sick of the whole Clinton/Bush corporate crony trickle upon politics, he certainly can't do any worse than the constant corp welfare and backroom backstabs we got under Clinton/Bush/Obama.
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday December 07 2015, @02:00PM
If "Pookie" does the shooting, he goes to prison. If Officer Smith does the shooting, he gets two weeks paid vacation. THAT is the problem. "Nobody is above the law" has turned into "I am the law."
(Score: 1, Troll) by Hairyfeet on Tuesday December 08 2015, @12:52AM
Bullshit, when it came out that Pookie had robbed a store in Mo and there was a dozen eye witnesses come forward that he had attacked the cop while the cop was in his car and went for the gun, did you see TLM say "Oops, our bad". Nope because they are racists and don't give a wet fuck WHY something happens, only the color of the skin of the shooter. If the shooter is black? Its all good man, you will never see a TLM say a fucking word, if the one that pulls the trigger is white or even Mexican like Zimmerman? Then here they come, looting and burning and acting like fools.
Remember boys and girls, you can't spell reverse racism without racism!
ACs are never seen so don't bother. Always ready to show SJWs for the racists they are.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday December 08 2015, @02:49PM
The guy who actually owns the store disputes that and says it wasn't robbed at all. I think he'd probably know. The person who called the cops was a customer who was, at best, mistaken about what he saw.
Please explain how he was reaching for the cop's gun while the cop was several yards away and behind him. Because that's how he was killed. Or are you saying pre-trial public executions are an official part of the US justice system?
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday December 05 2015, @06:03PM
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Saturday December 05 2015, @01:34AM
You mean this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Suu84khNGY [youtube.com]
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday December 04 2015, @11:36PM
That bank will provide "up to an additional $225 billion in federally supported investment," according to the policy paper, by leveraging "the $25 billion in direct loans, loan guarantees, and other forms of credit enhancement."
For Clinton's next trick, she will turn $25 billion into $250 billion using the power of leverage. While it's not likely that all of the $250 billion will end up being paid by the US government or its citizens, IMHO most of it will be. This just isn't viable. Rear loading massive financial obligations is one of the nastier tricks available to a politician.
(Score: 5, Funny) by M. Baranczak on Friday December 04 2015, @11:53PM
"Today, businesses, schools, and families in Bucharest, Romania, have access to much faster internet than most of the United States. That is unacceptable and has got to change," Sanders says in his policy position
If this statement came from anybody but Bernie, I would interpret it as a promise to bomb Bucharest.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 05 2015, @12:57AM
I am an American. My house is 35 miles from Manhattan and my interned speed tops out at 5m (that's bit per sec) but averages at 3. I pay $59.95 for it and have no other alternatives.
I am also Russian and my apartment over there has 7 broadband providers. The one I use offers 10-100m. I pay $4 per 20m down guaranteed with fixed IP. The upstream is not guaranteed or throttled - 70m typical, tops at 100m
In case you are wondering, both are cable.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 05 2015, @10:57AM
I'm just outside of Springfield, MO. I get roughly 0.64 megabit/sec (yes, barely 80 kilobytes/sec) for $100 a month through my only option. The people extorting me are http://totalhighspeed.net [totalhighspeed.net] where you can verify the prices I pay so you don't feel so bad about what you've got~
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday December 05 2015, @03:37PM
http://totalhighspeed.com/services/residential [totalhighspeed.com]
That is just fucked. From the FAQ it seems that's because it is "fixed-wireless access" designed to reach your rural ass without getting close.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Saturday December 05 2015, @07:23PM
Invisible hand strikes again!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday December 07 2015, @04:14PM
That makes me feel a bit better with my Point-to-Point Fixed Wireless that I am getting from Tier One. http://www.tocn.com/residential.html [tocn.com] The service is crap, I am at the edge of the network, any bad weather pretty much ensures that I don't have a connection, but it's better than dial-up / satellite. On bad weather days I use the 5GBs of data that I have with AT&T. Sad thing is that I can get between 1.5 and 4 Megabyte download speeds with AT&T LTE vs about 300K or so with my point-to-point wireless.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Saturday December 05 2015, @01:10AM
one thing we need in this country is to fix our crumbling infrastructure. i'm not talking about communications systems, i'm talking about actual the actual roads and bridges that we travel across. however, i am reluctant to say we should just build up information networks and give them to telecom companies that are refusing to invest in them. however, if everything installed is considered a public utility and thus any company can use it (for a low price), i would be ok with that. i just want to stay away from the "socialize the costs, privatize the profits" business model.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Saturday December 05 2015, @07:21PM
i just want to stay away from the "socialize the costs, privatize the profits" business model.
What, are you a pinko liberal hippy putin loving terrorist?
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Saturday December 05 2015, @01:44AM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 05 2015, @02:36AM
Perhaps better would be to hold the companies that we ALREADY PAID to do the work to task... I know of several major ones that have 0 plans to do anything. It usually takes someone talking about municipal or google rocking in for them to do anything. The only reason the phone provider in my area is upping speeds is because it is bookended by google. The areas with google they already have high speed, the areas with municipal high speed, and 3-4 to choose from now. Other areas? When they get around to it. Maybe. Even though many have been paying 2-10 dollars a month for 20+ years now.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 05 2015, @03:07AM
So that's how they are going to pay the TelCos for MetaSnoopy work. You did'nt think they would gather and log all that data for free did you.
TaxPayer