{"id":427561,"date":"2021-04-15T13:51:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T17:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=427561"},"modified":"2021-04-15T13:51:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-15T17:51:07","slug":"biden-revives-obama-broadband-boondoggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-revives-obama-broadband-boondoggle\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden Revives Obama Broadband Boondoggle"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-revives-obama-broadband-boondoggle%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=427561&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2051.jpeg?w=1200&amp;h=800&amp;ixlib=react-9.0.3\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>In the latest page President Biden has taken from the Obama playbook, the administration is investing eye-popping dollar amounts into government-run broadband infrastructure, reviving a multi-billion-dollar effort that sputtered and eventually trailed off under the Obama administration.<\/p>\n<p>Biden\u2019s&nbsp;<span>American Rescue Plan Act, the<\/span>&nbsp;mammoth $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill passed last month, includes&nbsp;<span>$350 billion for state and local governments, with the option to spend some or potentially all of those funds on broadband infrastructure. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/117th-congress\/house-bill\/1319\/text\">bill<\/a> states that the&nbsp;$219.8 billion for states and $130.2 billion for localities, split evenly between cities and counties, can be used for assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits or for \u201cnecessary investments\u201d in water, sewer, or broadband infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It remains unclear how much of the bill\u2019s&nbsp;aid to states&nbsp;will ultimately be set aside for broadband, but some states are already looking at devoting substantial amounts of their federal relief dollars to building and enhancing their broadband infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe\u2019re talking about a massive overbuilding of government-run broadband whether or not the community is unserved or underserved. It just lets them spend it with no guardrails,\u201d Tom&nbsp;Schatz, president of the government watchdog Citizens Against Government Waste, said in an interview with The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In Montana, for example, Republican governor Greg Gianforte&nbsp;has proposed putting $350 million of the $910 million his state received from last month\u2019s coronavirus relief bill toward broadband infrastructure. As much as $500 million in relief funds could potentially be put toward the effort, <a href=\"https:\/\/missoulacurrent.com\/montana-today\/2021\/03\/broadband-montana-legislature\/\">according<\/a> to one state lawmaker.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Biden has proposed tacking another&nbsp;<span class=\"link\">$100 billion&nbsp;<\/span>for broadband onto his <span class=\"link\">$2.25 trillion infrastructure package. The massive infrastructure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2021\/03\/31\/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan\/\">plan<\/a>&nbsp;gives preference to government-run broadband networks and makes it unlikely that providers that turn a profit will be able to access the funds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>We have been down this road before. Biden appears to be taking up the mantle of his former boss, who approved federal funding for broadband infrastructure as part of his economic stimulus plan amid the throes of the Great Recession.<\/p>\n<p>In February 2009, former President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a $787 billion stimulus <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/111th-congress\/house-bill\/1\/text\">package<\/a>&nbsp;that included $7.2 billion for broadband grant and loan programs.<\/p>\n<p>The purpose of Obama\u2019s broadband stimulus funding was to provide reliable high-speed Internet access&nbsp;to Americans in unserved and underserved areas of the country as well as to stimulate&nbsp;economic growth and job creation, the bill stated.&nbsp;More than a decade later, the Obama administration\u2019s investments in broadband&nbsp;have turned out to be largely disastrous after a small federal agency, the&nbsp;Rural Utilities Service (RUS), was found to have mismanaged billions of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>Of the broadband funds in the Obama stimulus, $4.7 billion was set to be distributed through the \u201cBroadband Technology Opportunities Program,\u201d run by the Commerce Department\u2019s National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The other $2.5 billion was the purview of the Agriculture Department, under which the RUS&nbsp;operates. Both funding blocks were grossly mismanaged.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, Jonathan Adelstein, the administrator of the&nbsp;RUS at the time, promised that the agency would use the federal stimulus money to connect nearly seven million rural Americans.<\/p>\n<p>That never happened. Instead, a Politico <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/07\/broadband-coverage-rural-area-fund-mishandled-120601\">investigation<\/a> found that by the summer of 2015, about half of the nearly 300 broadband projects RUS approved thanks to stimulus funding had not yet drawn down all of their awarded funds. More than 40 of the projects had never even begun. Additionally, the broadband projects already underway at the time were fast approaching a September 2015 deadline to draw down all of their cash or they would have to forfeit up to $277 million in federal funds that had not yet been spent, essentially wasting the stimulus funds.<\/p>\n<p>The RUS ended up spending at least $3 billion on the broadband program, making many <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2015\/07\/broadband-coverage-rural-area-fund-mishandled-120601\">expensive errors<\/a> along the way. The agency at some points built infrastructure for high-speed Internet in well-populated areas rather than in the rural areas it was meant to focus on. At other points, the RUS refused to make any loans, and some projects failed due to poor management.<\/p>\n<p>Even prior to the Obama administration, some government broadband projects had proven ill-started and costly.<\/p>\n<p>In Utah, for example, Google stepped in to essentially bail out the city of Provo\u2019s failed experiment in government-run broadband,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/google-buying-39m-fiber-utah-1-193528420--finance.html\">paying<\/a> the&nbsp;Provo City Council just&nbsp;$1 for the city\u2019s&nbsp;fiber-optic network, which the government spent $39 million building in 2004. Even with Google\u2019s purchase, Provo was still obligated to pay off its construction&nbsp;loans.<\/p>\n<p>City officials said the network had become unsustainable. Residents of the small city south of&nbsp;Salt Lake City had been paying $5.35 a month on their utility bills whether they used the internet service or not. The city was requiring a $700 activation fee for basic internet service; Google Fiber lowered that fee to $30.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cOnce the government invests, what is their incentive to upgrade? Plus you\u2019ve got maintenance,\u201d Schatz remarked. \u201cHaving the government do it is just going to be a waste of money \u2026 It\u2019s a business the government has no business being involved in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Some states have already allocated money for broadband projects from the $150 billion Democrats negotiated for states and localities in the CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package Congress approved in March of last year. The federal relief, which Republicans panned as \u201cbailout\u201d cash for Democrat-run states and cities, was intended, ostensibly, for unexpected pandemic-related costs.<\/p>\n<p>There is also limited transparency around the recent coronavirus fiscal aid to states and localities. The Obama administration attempted to provide some accountability for stimulus funds through its now-archived Recovery.gov website. The CARES Act&nbsp;established a special inspector general and other supplemental oversight, but the exact destinations of much of the pandemic relief remain fuzzy.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, about a trillion dollars in federal aid has not yet been spent, <a href=\"https:\/\/republicans-oversight.house.gov\/blog\/waste-watch\/\">according<\/a> to policy experts and Republicans on the&nbsp;House Oversight and Reform Committee.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s not physically possible to spend this much money this quickly in an efficient and cost-effective manner,\u201d Schatz remarked. \u201cEven for the federal government, this is a lot of money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a&nbsp;<\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><i>member<\/i><\/a><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the latest page President Biden has taken from the Obama playbook, the administration is investing eye-popping dollar amounts into government-run broadband infrastructure, reviving a multi-billion-dollar effort that sputtered and &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2312241,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2051.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Revives Obama Broadband Boondoggle","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-427561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/fb_image-2051.jpeg?w=1200&h=800&ixlib=react-9.0.3","fifu_image_alt":"Biden Revives Obama Broadband Boondoggle","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2312241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}