What Can We Do — What SHOULD We Do — for Our Country?
Here's my latest blog post about positive moves we can make to rebuild our notion of citizenship in the U.S. What Can We Do — What SHOULD We Do — for Our Country?
Radical Centrism Papers: Remaking Citizenship I
“Ask not what your country can do for you… Ask what YOU can do for your country!” So John F Kennedy inspired us almost 60 years ago in his electrifying inaugural address. But since the idealism he unleashed with that statement, it seems we’ve been just been doing a lot of forgetting. Politicians, presidents, political parties, preachers and…
WEBCAST 19 FEV - ISOC-RDC - Masterclass l'sur le service universel: "Connecter de nouveaux usagers"
Le mercredi 19 février 2025 de 9h00 à 13h00 WAT (08h00 à 12h00 UTC), le Chapitre de la RDC de l’Internet Society (ISOC-RDC) présente une masterclass sur le service universel : “Connecter de nouveaux usagers”, explorant comment le service universel peut promouvoir l’inclusion numérique. L’événement se tiendra à l’Amphithéâtre de l’INRB (Nouveau Bâtiment), Kinshasa.
PROGRAMME (Toutes les heures…
Congress needs to create a solution that reflects how Americans actually use telecommunications services rather than how we once did.
In a new article for Nextgov, Congressman Rick Boucher, IIA Honorary Chair, says Congress should provide general fund monies for universal service, completely replacing USF's reliance on a "tax" on dwindling telephone revenues, as broadband is more essential today than ever before. It's time for Congress to take action to close the Digital Divide and ensure broadband connectivity for all Americans!
Universal Service | Federal Communications Commission
Universal service is the principle that all Americans should have access to communications services. Universal service is also the name of a fund and the category of FCC programs and policies to implement this principle. Universal service is a cornerstone of the law that established the FCC, the Communications Act of 1934. Since that time, universal service policies have helped make telephone service ubiquitous, even in remote rural areas. Today, the FCC recognizes high-speed Internet as the 21st Century’s
Source: Universal Service | Federal Communications Commission
So, to put it another way… here is yet another example to pile onto the thousands of others where the fucking US Government has (a long time ago) figured out how to utterly screw the american taxpayer out of even more.
Oh yes, I know it’s beyond laughable, but every time I read of another example of how free-enterprise, or – lets just say any Tom, Dick or Harry could get something done, the bastards in Government look at it and say, “oh, fuck no man, we are going to own this shit… we can jump in here and completely take this over, and build yet another gigantic bureaucracy around it where we can put more cats on the Government payroll, charge fees, taxes, contrived services… oh yeah, we’re going to fuck everyone really good on this one…”
Universal Service | Federal Communications Commission was originally published on HANDS UP! DON'T SHOOT!
FCC Must Fix Broken Lifeline Program before Expanding It
WASHINGTON D.C. — Yesterday, TechFreedom filed comments urging the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to go back to the drawing board before expanding the Universal Service Fund’s (USF) Lifeline program to cover broadband. The FCC has proposed allowing low-income consumers to spend its $9.25/month Lifeline subsidy on either broadband Internet access or telephone service. Given the enormous number of people eligible for Lifeline (34% of American households), this could dramatically expand the size of the program. Any increase in Lifeline spending will be funded by charging all subscribers higher USF fees on telecom services — which now include broadband under the FCC’s Title II reclassification.
“Lifeline is a broken, bloated program, funded by the most regressive tax in America,” said Berin Szoka, President of TechFreedom. “The program needs to be refocused on its most basic goal: bringing phone service to those who otherwise wouldn’t have it. In March, the GAO found that 91% of Lifeline enrollees would have subscribed to phone services even without the subsidies. That’s hardly surprising, given that a shocking 34% of Americans are now eligible for Lifeline subsidies. But it means the FCC isn’t focusing resources on those who truly would not have access to phone services without Lifeline. If the FCC spent Lifeline money more wisely, it could cover basic broadband service without increasing the size of the program — which means, without raising telephone and broadband taxes on those just above Lifeline’s eligibility threshold.”
“Lifeline is the only USF program without a budget or any cap; there is simply no excuse for this,” said Tom Struble, Policy Counsel at TechFreedom. “Even more inexcusable is the FCC’s push to expand the program without first addressing inherently economic questions, most notably: How should the Commission subsidize users who wouldn’t buy the service without hurting those who can barely afford to do so? It’s hard to think of a clearer case where careful cost-benefit analysis would better advance social justice than here — to make sure Lifeline isn’t robbing poor Peter to pay slightly poorer Paul. We urge the FCC to go back to the drawing board, revise its proposal, and issue a further proposal for comment before proceeding to a final order.”
We can be reached for comment at [email protected]. See more of our work on Universal Service, including:
“Broadband Subsidies for Some, Broadband Taxes for Everyone,” a statement from TechFreedom on Lifeline expansion
FCC Lifeline Reform a Good Start but Storm Clouds Loom,” a statement from TechFreedom
Broadband Subsidies for Some, Broadband Taxes for Everyone
WASHINGTON D.C. — At a briefing this morning, the FCC announced that FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler plans to expand the Universal Service Fund’s Lifeline program, allowing low-income consumers to spend the program’s $9.25/month subsidy on broadband Internet or telephone service. Wheeler will circulate a draft proposal today, to be voted on at the Commission’s June 18 meeting. Any increase in Lifeline spending will be funded by increased USF fees on telecom services — which will soon include broadband itself.
“The FCC is dodging the obvious: expanding Lifeline means new broadband taxes and higher taxes overall on telecom services,” said Berin Szoka, President of TechFreedom. “The FCC made broadband taxes inevitable when it reclassified broadband as a telecom service — it’s just a question of the FCC’s Joint Board finding the least awkward time to make it official. USF taxes are the most regressive taxes in America, so families just above the eligibility threshold will suffer most.”
“As long as we’re going to have a Universal Service Fund, extending Lifeline to support broadband adoption makes sense — but not if the FCC creates a new entitlement program that will continue to grow in size,”continued Szoka, noting that Lifeline spending grew 25.9% annually from 2008 to 2012, from $819 million to $2.19 billion. “Total Lifeline spending needs to be capped to minimize the need for new taxes, with subsidies prioritized for the poorest Americans. And if the goal is to bring non-adopters online, rather than to subsidize those who already pay for broadband, the data suggest the problem isn’t primarily affordability, but digital literacy and perceived relevance of the Internet. Those aren’t problems subsidies can solve.”
“Lifeline is the only USF program without a budget or any cap,” explained Szoka. “That means USF fees will automatically increase each year to meet increased demand. The FCC says its Notice will ask whether ‘this is the right time to have a budget’ for the program and insists Lifeline won’t grow in size because the amount of the subsidy won’t change and because of minimum service requirements. Basic arithmetic suggests the program will grow:
Annual spending will grow by $111/year for every household that signs up for the first time.
The FCC’s minimum service requirements will mean the service plans will be more, not less, expensive over time. And it’s naive to think there won’t be political pressure for the FCC to raise the subsidy to fund more of the cost of faster broadband.
Once established as permanent, elastic entitlement, the FCC will always be lobbied to expand eligibility and to allow multiple recipients (for wireless service) per household.
The idea that Lifeline recipients might have to bear any part of the cost of service seems to embarrass the FCC. But until 2007, Lifeline never provided completely free service. President Reagan created the program to offer discounts for basic phone service, not free service. The difference is crucial: without skin in the game, fraud, waste and abuse are inevitable.”
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We can be reached for comment at [email protected]. See more of our work on Universal Service and Title II, including:
“FCC Lifeline Reform a Good Start but Storm Clouds Loom,” a statement from TechFreedom
Highlights from legal and policy comments on Title II filed by TechFreedom and the International Center for Law & Economics on net neutrality, and our reply comments
