Posted 1:35 PM

Free broadband for everyone!

Both the president and the house of representatives have come down heavily in favor of banning taxes on broadband connections. Now the senate, oddly cast as the last voice of reason, faces a Last-Ditch Battle over the issue.

Previously the president (and every other politician looking to be elected - see if John Kerry doesn't speak up later this week) has come down just as hard in favor of universal broadband access. No one, though, has suggested a way to pay for universal broadband access. Personally I'd rather have universal cell phone access first - out in the less populated areas, a working phone is much more necessary to my survival than the possibility of tapping in to the net with my PC. But in order to get that coverage it's going to be necessary to subsidize it either as payments to commercial agencies to pay them for their effort as directly installed government bureaucratic construction organization. Either way its going to take tax receipts to pay for it. Rather than expand any existing taxes, why not simply add a buck a month to existing broadband bills? The money raised would go a long way towards providing communication to every nook and cranny of the country.