Ted "Bridge To Nowhere" Stevens' Latest Boondoggle

Steve_MB · February 28, 2006, 10:17pm

New broadband taxes may be on the horizon, if an influential senator and his like-minded colleagues get their way:

At a Tuesday hearing convened by the Senate Commerce Committee, several senators from largely rural states called for expansion of the Universal Service Fund (USF), a multibillion-dollar pool of money that’s currently used to subsidize telecommunications services in rural and other high-cost areas, schools and libraries.

Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican who counts himself among the fund’s staunch supporters, said Tuesday that “without Universal Service, just having a dial tone would average about $200 per month” for many residents in his home state…

Stevens, for one, said he thinks all “communications” services, which he defined for reporters after the hearing as “transmitting knowledge from one person to another,” should be forced to pay into the USF. “I believe fax is a communication, I think e-mail is a communication, and I do believe they all should contribute,” he said…

What toy is this joker going to want the taxpayers to buy next? A daily ferry to the North Pole? A yellow brick road for the Iditarod? A bridge to a completely uninhabited island?

Bryan_Ekers · February 28, 2006, 10:37pm

Well, the main purpose of a senator is to parasitically weasel trough-slop for his/her state at the expense of the 49 others, if I may mix metaphors with abandon. I don’t find Stevens’ actions in this case particularly unusual, especially considering the many economic disadvantages of his state, but I’ve no doubt his plan calls for oodles of Federal money so some rich-guy constituent of his can overcharge ridiculous amounts for tech infrastructure that works no better than a bunch of $50 mini-dishes.