Obama to announce $795 million in funding to expand broadband in poor, rural areas

[Gatekeeper]

No problem with this, the truly poor, not the fakers, along with the elderly,and disabled should have free or very low cost high speed access to the internet. I don't mind 'kicking in' for these people.

The issues are, how to keep the freeloaders out of the system. I still vote yes on the plan. Unless someone else can come up with reasons that would change my opinion.

 

[Immanuel]

Hey, I think this guy is a whack job , horrible President to, but if we go around attacking everything he does no matter what it is, it just weakens the argument when we have a legitimate beef.

I don't attack everything he does.

I actually like the guy. In fact, I like him 10 times (at least) more than I ended up liking Bush. I just don't agree with Congress.

And I sure don't think we should be putting the man on a pedestal.

Our economy is in the toilet. I do not blame President Obama for that. I simply want him to work towards turning things around and broadband for the poor over food for the poor... well, food wins out in my books.

Immie

Once again,
A) No one is doing without food to fund this
B) No one is actually going to "get broadband" from this, instead they will simply have ACCESS to broadband once the infrastructure is built.

Well, I have to admit the difference between "800 Million" and "800 Billion" helped bring me around a little bit.

I'm still convinced that the $800 million can be spent in better ways. But there is a difference between what I read and what was written.

Immie

 

[Article 15]

I wonder how many winter coats for children in those poor rural areas 800 million will buy?
Do you think those children prefer winter coats or faster internet?

I thought conservative volunteerism took care of problems like that.

At least that's what wingnuts keep telling me. Charity has fixed poverty and disadvantage in this country. That's why we can eliminate the social safety net,

and use the money we save to build some more schools and hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan.

You can eliminate the mandated 'social safety net' because you have the freedom to succeed that goes hand in hand with the freedom to fail

Nothing will ever 'fix' poverty... something entitlement junkie supporting leftists just cannot understand

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I gots mine.

Fuck everyone else.

 

[Jarhead]

Seriously? Even DSL is better than that and thats been around since Clinton days! And wherever there is a telephone pole Verizon is stringing its own fiber optic cable

You can get even wireless at a multiple of that speed today, do they have cell service there?

our phone lines are too antiquated...NO DSL, NO CABLE TV, no cable BROADBAND...

NO cell phone service at my home either.....

while for decades, we all have been paying extra fees to the cable and phone companies for them to use to add service to rural areas...? Why haven't they just done it.....

I call once a month the phone company here to complain and they have told me I will never get it....!!!! jerks!

And you have the choice to live there or not to.... you want service.. move... you can live with out it for the other benefits you have for living there... stay.... but this 'want' is not owed to anyone by the federal government

When I complained that it was not appropriate for Mr. Obama to imply that all people that make 250K are wealthy enough to take on the burden of supporting the needs of others becuase whereas 250K was wealthy in the middle of Iowa, 250K is by no means wealthy in the NYC area...

I was told by nearly every left leaning poster that it was my choice to live in NYC and if I dont like it I should move to a place with a lower cost of living.

And now the tune changes. "where I live I dont have broadband"

Well, where I live it costs me 10K a year in real estate taxes.

 

[Jarhead]

Once again,
A) No one is doing without food to fund this
B) No one is actually going to "get broadband" from this, instead they will simply have ACCESS to broadband once the infrastructure is built.

So just to be clear....

Are you saying that there are no people in the US that are doing without the bare essentials needed for life due to lack of funds for such?

No to be clear I am saying no money has been taken out of the SNAP program to fund this.

If there are people starving or people freezing or people dying in ER's....shouldnt that be a priority over "faster internet"?

 

[Immanuel]

I think you are being a bit irrational.

So? What else is new?

I'm unemployed. I'm trying to find a job. I am out of ideas on this and I am becoming depressed. Sending resumes to jobs that I never hear from again because 2500 other people applied for the same job and now, 5 months after having my job terminated the government tells me... we are cutting off your unemployment benefits next month, but have faith, in a short time your brothers in rural locations will have access to Broadband.

Thank you very much Mr. President. And put it where the sun don't shine, Mr. President!

Immie

So, you're not so much mad about this spending as you are mad that the government is cutting off your welfare.... Odd that...........

Sorry to hear about your problems finding a job to.

Not really, I'm mad that there is no work out there at all. I'm mad that I seem to be spinning my wheels and going no where. I'm mad that I am "over qualified" for most jobs out there, "under qualified" for most of whats left and that there are thousands other people just like me looking for jobs that don't exists.

It's frustrating as all hell.

Immie

 

[Immanuel]

No problem with this, the truly poor, not the fakers, along with the elderly,and disabled should have free or very low cost high speed access to the internet. I don't mind 'kicking in' for these people.

The issues are, how to keep the freeloaders out of the system. I still vote yes on the plan. Unless someone else can come up with reasons that would change my opinion.

I don't mind "kicking in" either. I do not oppose social programs although I would prefer that they were "hand ups not hand outs" as the cliche has become.

I am not even opposed to bringing broadband access to anyone. What I think is that for now this is pork and we have bigger things to worry about including hundreds of thousands of people who are losing unemployment benefits every week.

Immie

 

[DiamondDave]

No problem with this, the truly poor, not the fakers, along with the elderly,and disabled should have free or very low cost high speed access to the internet. I don't mind 'kicking in' for these people.

The issues are, how to keep the freeloaders out of the system. I still vote yes on the plan. Unless someone else can come up with reasons that would change my opinion.

That is your freedom to kick in as much as you choose to do so... but they are not owed it at the expense of all taxpayers in this country

 

[editec]

Really? We ended unemployment benefit extensions right after we put all those temporary census workers right back on the unemployment line, over 200 thousand back on the unemployment line, meaning over 200 thousand more people to compete for non-existant jobs. In the same month, we announce a plan to spend over 3/4 of a trillion dollars on a plan to expand broadband coverage.

Forgive me, but I think our priorities are screwed up here and I can survive a year or so without finding a job, even without benefits, but in doing so, I am going to deplete my savings. The President's priorities are screwed up.

Immie

Hey, I think this guy is a whack job , horrible President to, but if we go around attacking everything he does no matter what it is, it just weakens the argument when we have a legitimate beef.

I don't attack everything he does.

I actually like the guy. In fact, I like him 10 times (at least) more than I ended up liking Bush. I just don't agree with Congress.

And I sure don't think we should be putting the man on a pedestal.

Our economy is in the toilet. I do not blame President Obama for that. I simply want him to work towards turning things around and broadband for the poor over food for the poor... well, food wins out in my books.

Immie

Yeah, that would make sense except it's not about food v prodicidng rural internet service.

In fact it's not about providing internet TO THE POOR, at all.

It's about providing service to areas where the population is too low for it to make economic sense for the internet providers to run the WIRES.

Hereabout that means about 1 mile off US route 1.

Most of the truly POOR don't live in rural areas, they live in URBAN areas.

IOts a good idea, just like it was a good idea to run electricity everywhere, to run phone lines everywhere, and to give POSTAL service everywhere.

The internet is way beyond the stage where it's a toy.

It's a utility, now, no less than the telephone or electricity.

And, even in these trying times, insuring that the "rural" areas (which includes one hell of a lot of suburbs, BTW) is just good policy.

THIS is actually a very good example of STIMILUS spending, acutally.

It puts people to work expanding it, it give the Internet providers more customers who will PAY for that service, PLUS it give people (rich AND poor) who live in blacked out broadband areas, access to the most AMAZING connumications system mankind has yet to invent.

I cannot believe that some of you are trying to make something so good into a partisan issue.

You people truly need a sense of perspective.

 

[DiamondDave]

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I gots mine.

Fuck everyone else.

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I EARNED mine.

Now you earn yours

.......That's a more accurate sentiment

 

[Jarhead]

So? What else is new?

I'm unemployed. I'm trying to find a job. I am out of ideas on this and I am becoming depressed. Sending resumes to jobs that I never hear from again because 2500 other people applied for the same job and now, 5 months after having my job terminated the government tells me... we are cutting off your unemployment benefits next month, but have faith, in a short time your brothers in rural locations will have access to Broadband.

Thank you very much Mr. President. And put it where the sun don't shine, Mr. President!

Immie

So, you're not so much mad about this spending as you are mad that the government is cutting off your welfare.... Odd that...........

Sorry to hear about your problems finding a job to.

Not really, I'm mad that there is no work out there at all. I'm mad that I seem to be spinning my wheels and going no where. I'm mad that I am "over qualified" for most jobs out there, "under qualified" for most of whats left and that there are thousands other people just like me looking for jobs that don't exists.

It's frustrating as all hell.

Immie

Immie.....do not take this as sarcasm...take it as sound advice from someone who did exacty what I am going to say...

Do some research on the internet. There are many different service needs out there where you can start your own company with little to no overhead. There are the needs for "middle man" type companies to handle the administrative work of an internet purchase.

For example, I needed new filters for my attic fan. I went to the filter maker site and they were too expensive.

I searched the brand filter on the internet and found a distributer for 1/3 the price. I ordered it and received them 4 days later, They were shipped from the manufaturer to a warehouse and processed by a third party "internet" company. That internet company is strictly the processor of the order. No overhead and likely some man or woman working from home.

I started a business consulting firm several years back. My initial overhead was nothing as I worked out of my house. I had to market, but used the internet and Google to research potential clients. I made OK money at the beginning, nothing great.

2 years ago was a great year for us...now sturggling again, but that is becuase I have employees and not prepared to let them go so my wallet is slimmer, but I am ready to make an impact when the economy turns.

Like Rahm Emanuel said....always take advantage of a cirsis. You are in a cirsis. Maybe your life can change for the better?

 

[Jarhead]

Hey, I think this guy is a whack job , horrible President to, but if we go around attacking everything he does no matter what it is, it just weakens the argument when we have a legitimate beef.

I don't attack everything he does.

I actually like the guy. In fact, I like him 10 times (at least) more than I ended up liking Bush. I just don't agree with Congress.

And I sure don't think we should be putting the man on a pedestal.

Our economy is in the toilet. I do not blame President Obama for that. I simply want him to work towards turning things around and broadband for the poor over food for the poor... well, food wins out in my books.

Immie

Yeah, that would make sense except it's not about food v prodicidng rural internet service.

In fact it's not about providing internet TO THE POOR, at all.

It's about providing service to areas where the population is too low for it to make economic sense for the internet providers to run the WIRES.

Hereabout that means about 1 mile off US route 1.

Most of the truly POOR don't live in rural areas, they live in URBAN areas.

IOts a good idea, just like it was a good idea to run electricity everywhere, to run phone lines everywhere, and to give POSTAL service everywhere.

The internet is way beyond the stage where it's a toy.

It's a utility, now, no less than the telephone or electricity.

And, even in these trying times, insuring that the "rural" areas (which includes one hell of a lot of suburbs, BTW) is just good policy.

THIS is actually a very good example of STIMILUS spending, acutally.

It puts people to work expanding it, it give the Internet providers more customers who will PAY for that service, PLUS it give people (rich AND poor) who live in blacked out broadband areas, access to the most AMAZING connumications system mankind has yet to invent.

I cannot believe that some of you are trying to make something so good into a partisan issue.

You people truly need a sense of perspective.

Excellent presentation.

I beleive I just changed my views on this topic thanks to this post.

Call me a flip flopper. I really dont care. I believe this explanation is valid and sound.

Thanks for the post.

 

[Article 15]

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I gots mine.

Fuck everyone else.

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I EARNED mine.

Now you earn yours

.......That's a more accurate sentiment

It's simply impossible for everyone to "earn their's" and fortunately, we as a society have formed social safety nets because of that truth. Even more fortunately people who share your extreme views are a tiny minority.

 

[Jarhead]

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I gots mine.

Fuck everyone else.

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I EARNED mine.

Now you earn yours

.......That's a more accurate sentiment

It's simply impossible for everyone to "earn their's" and fortunately, we as a society have formed social safety nets because of that truth. Even more fortunately people who share your extreme views are a tiny minority.

Only a small minority can not earn theirs...and we have programs to help mainsteam them.

Sadly, a larger minority believe they can not earn theirs as they hear the rhetoric from politicians of how they are victims and are being held back. And they tend to believe it.

 

[DiamondDave]

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I gots mine.

Fuck everyone else.

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I EARNED mine.

Now you earn yours

.......That's a more accurate sentiment

It's simply impossible for everyone to "earn their's" and fortunately, we as a society have formed social safety nets because of that truth. Even more fortunately people who share your extreme views are a tiny minority.

As stated.. you will never fix poverty.. or fix some people being with less than others... but that does indeed fall into the realm of the freedom to succeed that is hand in hand with the freedom to fail... to have or not to have

 

[ConHog]

I don't attack everything he does.

I actually like the guy. In fact, I like him 10 times (at least) more than I ended up liking Bush. I just don't agree with Congress.

And I sure don't think we should be putting the man on a pedestal.

Our economy is in the toilet. I do not blame President Obama for that. I simply want him to work towards turning things around and broadband for the poor over food for the poor... well, food wins out in my books.

Immie

Yeah, that would make sense except it's not about food v prodicidng rural internet service.

In fact it's not about providing internet TO THE POOR, at all.

It's about providing service to areas where the population is too low for it to make economic sense for the internet providers to run the WIRES.

Hereabout that means about 1 mile off US route 1.

Most of the truly POOR don't live in rural areas, they live in URBAN areas.

IOts a good idea, just like it was a good idea to run electricity everywhere, to run phone lines everywhere, and to give POSTAL service everywhere.

The internet is way beyond the stage where it's a toy.

It's a utility, now, no less than the telephone or electricity.

And, even in these trying times, insuring that the "rural" areas (which includes one hell of a lot of suburbs, BTW) is just good policy.

THIS is actually a very good example of STIMILUS spending, acutally.

It puts people to work expanding it, it give the Internet providers more customers who will PAY for that service, PLUS it give people (rich AND poor) who live in blacked out broadband areas, access to the most AMAZING connumications system mankind has yet to invent.

I cannot believe that some of you are trying to make something so good into a partisan issue.

You people truly need a sense of perspective.

Excellent presentation.

I beleive I just changed my views on this topic thanks to this post.

Call me a flip flopper. I really dont care. I believe this explanation is valid and sound.

Thanks for the post.

That's not flip floppin brother, that's lookin at the evidence and realizing that there is more to this than you originally thought.

I haven't seen any estimates, but I would say more jobs would HAVE to be created to do the kind of infrastructure building they are talking about doing.

 

[Article 15]

There's an awful lot of old ppl in this country who would be royally effed without our social programs, Jarhead.

 

[ConHog]

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I EARNED mine.

Now you earn yours

.......That's a more accurate sentiment

It's simply impossible for everyone to "earn their's" and fortunately, we as a society have formed social safety nets because of that truth. Even more fortunately people who share your extreme views are a tiny minority.

Only a small minority can not earn theirs...and we have programs to help mainsteam them.

Sadly, a larger minority believe they can not earn theirs as they hear the rhetoric from politicians of how they are victims and are being held back. And they tend to believe it.

I don't think we can ever fix the problem of poverty in this nation, hell I'm convinced some CHOOSE poverty, but what we can do, and what we MUST do is offer EVERY advantage to those who are willing to take advantage. If ONE child takes advantage of this program to better educate themselves and becomes a doctor who cures cancer one day, was it worth it?

 

[Article 15]

Life's tough, wear a helmet.

I EARNED mine.

Now you earn yours

.......That's a more accurate sentiment

It's simply impossible for everyone to "earn their's" and fortunately, we as a society have formed social safety nets because of that truth. Even more fortunately people who share your extreme views are a tiny minority.

As stated.. you will never fix poverty.. or fix some people being with less than others... but that does indeed fall into the realm of the freedom to succeed that is hand in hand with the freedom to fail... to have or not to have

I agree you will never fix poverty and that there will always be winners and losers in life. But I'm glad we live in a society that provides a net to help if you do fail, or are unlucky, or unhealthy and doesn't just say "fuck 'em."

 

[AllieBaba]

It's simply impossible for everyone to "earn their's" and fortunately, we as a society have formed social safety nets because of that truth. Even more fortunately people who share your extreme views are a tiny minority.

As stated.. you will never fix poverty.. or fix some people being with less than others... but that does indeed fall into the realm of the freedom to succeed that is hand in hand with the freedom to fail... to have or not to have

I agree you will never fix poverty and that there will always be winners and losers in life. But I'm glad we live in a society that provides a net to help if you do fail, or are unlucky, or unhealthy and doesn't just say "fuck 'em."

Our society provided that safety net long before we had state-sponsored babysitting.