One more step towards socialism. Mandatory $15/month internet access for poor people

[stokes]

"why are these people poor?"

They are poor because being poor pays well, they choose to be leeches.

 

[Steal2B]

I pay $60 per month for internet access in my house. The system-suckers will now get what I get for 1/4 of the price.

Not for long. The fix is already in for the providers to raise your and my rates to cover the 75% discount the privileged class gets. So the system suckered will be getting what you get for 1/5 of the price or less.

 

[Catskillkid]

Why should a private business be required to run and maintain 30 miles of coaxial just because you decided to live in the middle of nowhere? Even at market cost that's a massive loss, let alone a mandated $15 a month. It can easily cost over $10,000 per mile to run coaxial cable by the time you pay lawyers, right of ways, buy the cable, pay for needed machinery like bucket trucks / trenchers, worker labor, etc.

All that privacy comes with trade offs, maybe not having access to high speed data is one of them.

In my particular case it's not 30 miles. It's less than 1 (probably about 1/3 mile). Literally the next road over has it but mine does not.

And I'd gladly (well maybe not gladly) pay the market rate.

 

[fresch]

How can they be identified, being too poor to be able to get one.

 

[libertysnake]

They are poor because being poor pays well, they choose to be leeches.

That may be part of the answer, but we can't afford superficial simplistic answers anymore. It's easy to say "racism", "circumstance", or even "laziness" are the causes, but we have to go deeper(tm). We need to start asking questions such as, but not limited to:

• Why have our schools failed these people despite nearly unlimited money?
• What cultures of people are in poverty, and does culture have a role?
• What methods are actually effective at helping a person overcome poverty themselves?

These are some of the deep questions we need to be investigating.

Politicians have failed us. If politicians are too inept to lead, we shall lead. We The People need to look into these questions, and demand accountability where it is due.

 

[Darth]

I don't even think the government should be providing the necessities of life, far less than this, which has nothing whatsoever to do with necessities.

Department of government controlled water, HQ: Flint MI.

 

[spat]

I don't even think the government should be providing the necessities of life, far less than this, which has nothing whatsoever to do with necessities.

Department of government controlled water, HQ: Flint MI.

If you want less poverty, don't make it so comfortable.

 

[Darth]

If you want less poverty, don't make it so comfortable.

And don't create it by stealing the money from everyone.

 

[Bigfoot]

My favorite day of the year is the paystub I get that says "you have no more FICA to pay this year." Fuckers.

Hi stranger ... It's been awhile...

 

[BDinPutnam]

Hi stranger ... It's been awhile...

Someone has to pay for all this... 60-80 hour weeks since February.

 

[TEOTWAWKI inc.]

If you want less poverty, don't make it so comfortable.

100%

I have been poor twice, and neither time was comfortable at all, but that is probably because I didn't take all kinds of free everything. My choices were heat or food many times, not a giant tv AND someone else needs to provide the rest. Most cases of poverty is from a lifetime of poor choices.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Of course they are using their stimulus for a nice cruise, not to get ahead on finances.

May her ship have to turn back while out at sea because of a false positive test. Let her then self isolate at port for 2 weeks.

 

[Dr. Evil]

That may be part of the answer, but we can't afford superficial simplistic answers anymore. It's easy to say "racism", "circumstance", or even "laziness" are the causes, but we have to go deeper(tm). We need to start asking questions such as, but not limited to:

• Why have our schools failed these people despite nearly unlimited money?
• What cultures of people are in poverty, and does culture have a role?
• What methods are actually effective at helping a person overcome poverty themselves?

These are some of the deep questions we need to be investigating.

Politicians have failed us. If politicians are too inept to lead, we shall lead. We The People need to look into these questions, and demand accountability where it is due.

I have always said:

1. Lack of personal responsibility.
2. Breakdown of the family unit.

I'll add another one:

3. Politicians that want to keep people on their knees, divided, broken emotionally/financially/physically and dependent.

 

[Acer-m14]

did FUAC specify the Data Rate and usage in this or it up to the internet provider .. you know FUAC leaves things out of things lol ..

internet provider .. 15 a month if they qualify .. ok .. you get high speed for 100 megabytes then your down to 300 baud ..

 

[SonOfSun]

In my particular case it's not 30 miles. It's less than 1 (probably about 1/3 mile). Literally the next road over has it but mine does not.

And I'd gladly (well maybe not gladly) pay the market rate.

For cable companies to install they typically want to pass 30-35 homes per mile of cable at least. In NY the PSC requires them to offer if they pass 35 homes per cable mile, but Charter typically will build out at 30, especially if it's not a dual service area (ie. no competing Verizon, etc.). One customer for 1/3rd of a mile isn't economically viable for the company to foot the bill on. That being said, I bet if you offered to pay the construction cost they'd install it. Probably would be in the $12,000-$18,000 range.

You're probably thinking that sounds high, but it's not as simple as just running a really long RG11 wire. Assuming nobody around you has service, you will need to have the cable plant extended to get service. I'm also assuming it's all your land, you're giving them the green light, and there are no right of ways to acquire. It costs about $9 a foot to run a plant extension and you need the plant within ~300 feet of your home. Essentially you would need your own dedicated trunk line, which is very expensive.

 

[libertysnake]

I have always said:

1. Lack of personal responsibility.
2. Breakdown of the family unit.

I'll add another one:

3. Politicians that want to keep people on their knees, divided, broken emotionally/financially/physically and dependent.

I don't think there is anything I can say with absolute certainty, but it does seem like #3 is true or at least partially true from what I'm observing. If politicians really wanted to drill down and find the root cause, and expose it, of poverty... they would. The fact we haven't found it makes me think there is both power and profitability in leaving it unsolved.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I don't think there is anything I can say with absolute certainty, but it does seem like #3 is true or at least partially true from what I'm observing. If politicians really wanted to drill down and find the root cause, and expose it, of poverty... they would. The fact we haven't found it makes me think there is both power and profitability in leaving it unsolved.

Parenting and understanding morality and that we aren't guaranteed anything but life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Knowing where your kids are, who they are hanging out with, teaching them ethics and responsibility.

From an upbringing it comes down to what people VALUE. You can go into the poorest neighborhoods and find some of the nicest cars, satellite TV, the latest iPhone, etc. but they don't pay their electric bill.

 

[Uninformed and Compliant]

Huh.
Does someone in that household have a 'bama-phone?
Then it's got internet. And they don't get $15/mo to the house.

 

[libertysnake]

Parenting and understanding morality and that we aren't guaranteed anything but life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Knowing where your kids are, who they are hanging out with, teaching them ethics and responsibility.

From an upbringing it comes down to what people VALUE. You can go into the poorest neighborhoods and find some of the nicest cars, satellite TV, the latest iPhone, etc. but they don't pay their electric bill.

I mean, I don't disagree. My neighbors, each stimulus check, still don't pay their HOA fees but have plenty of money for weed somehow.

 

[spat]

did FUAC specify the Data Rate and usage in this or it up to the internet provider .. you know FUAC leaves things out of things lol ..

internet provider .. 15 a month if they qualify .. ok .. you get high speed for 100 megabytes then your down to 300 baud ..

The problem is that it doesn't really save your ISP much to throttle your speed unless you're one of a very small number of subscribers who use a metric crap ton of data.

Once they've installed the equipment and cabling to support service at your house there's not really a good reason to slow you below 5-10Mb. If you're in a very sparsely populated area that gets even less beneficial for them since the handful of users on your equipment is likely well below it's capacity.

There are exceptions of course, but this is generally true.

 

[GOPerfect]

It's a good call, socialism or otherwise. Internet access is a necessity in this day and age.
At 25 Mbps, it's hardly an extravagant service being provided. I'm in favor of the law.

So, you are okay with the Government forcing a private business to charge what this Government entity says?

By the way, good to see you posting again, been a while.

 

[GOPerfect]

My real thought...

Screw the poor. Screw the lessors in society.

To some, I am well off, to others I am the poor.

I want nothing for free, or a mandated lower price!

If I cannot afford it, I do not get it.

Holy shit! This is freaken simple.

 

[Rap]

So, you are okay with the Government forcing a private business to charge what this Government entity says?

By the way, good to see you posting again, been a while.

Thanks, old habits die hard .

Your question is a good one. My short answer is "yes" with some qualifications.

Here are the groups this legislation targets: "To qualify, the household must be eligible for the National School Lunch Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, Medicaid, the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption, the Disability Rent Increase Exemption, or is a recipient of an affordability benefit from a utility."

I'm a tax payer who receives no direct benefit from any of those programs. However, I see the provision of *vital* services to all citizens as a government function. Under Covid-19 rules, we have been compelled to operate more and more via the Internet, which already played an outsized role in our lives. Someone upthread compared its importance to that of electricity when we learned to harness it. I think that's an apt comparison. Society now runs on the Internet.

The government itself creating a telco and directly providing subsidized Internet access would come at a greater cost to tax payers than the price increases consumers will see as a result of this legislation. Market forces will compel the Internet service providers to operate as efficiently as possible.

 

[TEOTWAWKI inc.]

Thanks, old habits die hard .

Your question is a good one. My short answer is "yes" with some qualifications.

Here are the groups this legislation targets: "To qualify, the household must be eligible for the National School Lunch Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, Medicaid, the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption, the Disability Rent Increase Exemption, or is a recipient of an affordability benefit from a utility."

I'm a tax payer who receives no direct benefit from any of those programs. However, I see the provision of *vital* services to all citizens as a government function. Under Covid-19 rules, we have been compelled to operate more and more via the Internet, which already played an outsized role in our lives. Someone upthread compared its importance to that of electricity when we learned to harness it. I think that's an apt comparison. Society now runs on the Internet.

The government itself creating a telco and directly providing subsidized Internet access would come at a greater cost to tax payers than the price increases consumers will see as a result of this legislation. Market forces will compel the Internet service providers to operate as efficiently as possible.

Society runs on facebook, amazon, and netflix. None of these are essential.

All I see with this is another increased cost to me with no increased benefit. If someone "needs" internet service, they should find a way to pay for it, same as I do.

Next time you stop for gas and see someone put $5 in their tank, just fill it up the rest of the way for them. At least it would be your choice instead of the gas station or the government making you do it.

And, why $15/month instead of say, $18/month? Why 10 rounds instead of 12? Why 6' apart or 25% occupancy?

 

[Robin]

I love the smell of a little socialism in the morning, you know, burning buildings and such, smells like communism!
Robin Kilgore

 

[nortatoga]

There is usually free Wi Fi at the public library.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Thanks, old habits die hard .

Your question is a good one. My short answer is "yes" with some qualifications.

Here are the groups this legislation targets: "To qualify, the household must be eligible for the National School Lunch Program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, Medicaid, the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption, the Disability Rent Increase Exemption, or is a recipient of an affordability benefit from a utility."

I'm a tax payer who receives no direct benefit from any of those programs. However, I see the provision of *vital* services to all citizens as a government function. Under Covid-19 rules, we have been compelled to operate more and more via the Internet, which already played an outsized role in our lives. Someone upthread compared its importance to that of electricity when we learned to harness it. I think that's an apt comparison. Society now runs on the Internet.

The government itself creating a telco and directly providing subsidized Internet access would come at a greater cost to tax payers than the price increases consumers will see as a result of this legislation. Market forces will compel the Internet service providers to operate as efficiently as possible.

Told this story but it bares repeating here.

A few years ago I was shipping something out at a UPS facility near me. A lady pulls up in a big Mercedes and parks right outside the door where there wasn't a spot. She comes in to pick up a few boxes. Very well dressed, nice jewelry, etc.. She was picking up a number of pairs of Uggs boots. Probably about $200 a pair. The UPS employee asks for some form of ID. The lady whips out her EBT/SNAP card. When she left the employee and I just looked at each other and shook our heads. The employee said the woman who just left had a nicer car than she did and she has to work 2 jobs.

 

[fresch]

If only we all could have a chip implanted that could get 5g and the government could then check on, health, gunshot locations,etc., it could all be free!

 

[TEOTWAWKI inc.]

There is usually free Wi Fi at the public library.

We will have to subsidize Uber to get people there. People deserve better than public transportation.

 

[TEOTWAWKI inc.]

If only we all could have a chip implanted that could get 5g and the government could then check on, health, gunshot locations,etc., it could all be free!

Nobody will go for it.