Republican committee members approved $125 million in borrowing for broadband expansion, along with $4 million over the biennium for broadband expansion grants.
Based on a standard 2.5% interest rate for a 20-year bond, the Republican proposal, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates the bonding will cost an additional $35 million in interest.
Evers proposed spending about $200 million over the biennium on broadband expansion efforts.
The state Public Service Commission first began awarding broadband expansion grants about eight years ago and has awarded a total of $78 million so far to 279 projects.
Three reasons it’s dumb:
- Why borrow the money and pay interest when there is available cash?
- Programs like this are built for corruption and graft. Let’s see… government handing out massive grants to select companies to build a commercially unviable infrastructure? Who is deciding the winners and losers in that discussion?
- While an argument can be made that it is in the public interest for the government to fund broadband expansion, technology is once again outpacing public policy. Ubiquitous broadband options like Starlink are getting close to viable and will likely be widely available before this infrastructure is built. Instead of giving a big corporation a grant for tens of millions of dollars to run fiber to a farmer in Shanagolden that will be available in four years, we could spend nothing and that same farmer might have gig service in a year anyway. I expect that we are about to lay a lot of fiber that will remain underutilized forever.
Owen,
Check out WB News article from yesterday.
Spirited conversation about my comments on Kewaskum FB Chatter page.
You were right!
Market has already solved Chevy to Mercedes broadband problem.
http://Www.starlink.com
Huge shout out to James Stern for making me aware.
Interesting amount of people, mostly liberals, who think it is their divine right to have taxpayers pay for a Chevy to Mercedes internet upgrade for themselves.
Might also look into the history of the Jackson Telecom Utility. After spending a bunch of money, the Village Jackson of Jackson found itself with a white elephant.
I was getting a fair amount of criticism by local libs for opposing this in WB News.
I summoned my favorite local Bernie supporters, who I know are against awful corporate pork to join conversation, figuring they would agree in my opposition to this corporate welfare. You know what?
THE BERNIE SUPPORTERS LOVE WHAT JFC REPUBLICANS HAVE DONE HERE!
When radical leftist socialists love your actions, you are no longer on the conservative side!!!!!!
You were spot on in your comments, Kevin.
“It’s all a waste of time and money,” Kewaskum Village President Kevin Scheunemann said. “No question about it, it’s pork through and through. Shame on Republicans for approving this.”
Scheunemann added that internet access and speed are not much of an issue in Kewaskum, despite what some may think. He said that Kewaskum has many internet providers already, so from a Kewaskum perspective, internet access is not a top priority for residents.
The village president also said internet access should be an issue for private companies to solve, not the state government.
“I don’t know why my taxpayers have to pay for something that doesn’t concern them,” Scheunemann said. “I hope [Republican lawmakers] come to their senses.”
Unusual change in position by k. He is all for spending my tax money on his religious schools, and was all in favor of the whole state paying for foxconn, the biggest boondoggle in state history.
Nord,
Foxconn does not get anything if they do not meet development goals. So what are you crying about?
Religious schools SAVE taxpayers money because voucher costs 1/2 of what public school spends per student. A simple “thank you” would suffice.
You should thank me for being such a fountain of commen sense putting up with crazy liberals wrecking everything policy wise, like yourself.
k:
foxconn got bushels of $$ from the state and locals for real estate, infrastructure, engineering, planning, etc. You really need to pay attention.
If your religious schools are so cheap to operate, why do they need state funding at all?
If we all followed your “commen sense”, we would still be living in caves.
Foxconn immediately SPENT bushels of $$ on building buildings, LeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeRoy. Maybe you don’t know that building buildings costs money. After all, working for the State dulls the mind.
The religious schools do NOT need the State funding, dumbass. The funding is provided for the STUDENT whose parents cannot come up with the cash.
There. Be educated, troll.
Sure they did, dud. But that isn’t what k claimed. Look it up.
If they don’t need it, why isn’t tuition free? But the state still spends it on religious school students.
Geez, you are slow.
And another dumbass troll comment by the Pervert Boy Le Roi.
Just curious mar, what makes you so smart AND relevant? It surely isn’t your vocabulary, your self-awareness, your debating skills, nor your insight? What makes so endowed?
Because I am not you or a liberal. I don’t support liberal judges who watch babies being raped, I was right about the Chinese virus and you were wrong, you support dumbasses like Senile Joe and the fake doctor Fauci, I comment on things, a lot of the times, the first post on Owen’s post, I’ll take my degree and work experience over you any say, I am not a troll or a coward, I don’t get called as a liar like you by other people, I don’t lie about life experiences like you do, and my dogs and cats love me while your dog is embarrassed with you.
“What makes so endowed?”
I’ll take my endowment over yours any day.
Ah, I get it now, you just like to brag about stuff you can’t, or won’t, prove, like all your claims above. Or make false claims about anyone that has the nerve to disagree with the mighty mar.
Insecure, narcissistic, and willing to use bluster over substance. There, I summed you up in a lot less space.
You’ve have been wrong so many times in the past year and a half, caught lying almost as much, and posed as a troll 99% of the time and defend a pervert judge who enjoys watching babies being raped, who now sits in jail praying for a plea deal.
Not a very good record, not even for a No Nothing.
Nord,
So you support state buying everyone Mercedes internet?
How entitled are you?
k:
Broadband access has been identified all across northern WI by business owners, economic development agencies, and educational institutions as a major need for further economic development in the less urban parts of the state. Just as the “state” has built and maintained transportation facilities for over a century, broadband/internet access is a critical part of modern day economic development. State and local government spent upwards of a billion $$ upfront on infrastructure for Foxconn, yet you whine about internet access in rural parts of the state. What a petty and narrow-minded person you are.
More false claims, mar. You have that down pat.
Delusions, hallucinations, drug trips and watching movies with a pervert judge, that’s you in a nutshell, Pervert Boy Le Roi.
You are on a roll there, mar. All false, all your delusions. Don’t you have anything of substance?
How can I have substance with you when you don’t bring anything to the table?
You’re a troll who is uneducated, lies, lies about yourself, is wrong so may times and you are a very hateful person.
But I will call you out Pervert Boy Le Roi because are not a good person.
Your response gives a clear view of your abilities, actually inabilities, to give a cogent answer. No one expected more.
>Your response gives a clear view of your abilities, actually inabilities, to give a cogent answer. No one expected more.
And yet you typed this…
>”Broadband access has been identified all across northern WI by business owners, economic development agencies, and educational institutions as a major need for further economic development in the less urban parts of the state.”
Either you didn’t read or you didn’t comprehend point #3 from Owen… Warm oatmeal with brown sugar, I don’t think so Dummy.
No j, I understood his comment and disagree, as do the folks that are folks that are far more knowledgeable on the subject than you, I, k , or Owen regarding the issue in rural WI. But I did chose to call him names or make feeble attempts to insult him. But if that makes you feel more manly, go for it. Doesn’t bother me one bit.
Sorry for the duplicate “folks that are”. My apologies.
>But I did chose to call him names or make feeble attempts to insult him.
Do you apologize for that too Dummy? All you do on here is insult and call names, just because you’re such a pussy that you won’t do it to Owen means nothing… it changes nothing.
And you can say that you understood his comment and disagree, as do folk that are “far more” knowledgeable, but you can’t prove it – mostly because you don’t know what Owen’s or my knowledge is on the subject. You’re the least knowledgeable person here, regarding anything other than trolling, it’s actually quite boring.
didn’t
as do the folks that are folks that are far more knowledgeable on the subject than you, I, k , or Owen regarding the issue in rural WI.
I suspect that Owen has FAR more understanding of broadband issues than you do, pal.
But that’s secondary.
Please provide the arguments made in favor of broadband spending by those ‘far more knowledgeable’ on the matter. Citations,. too.
When you choose not to capitalize names of people you hate, Le Roi, you are calling them names.
Just another lie from you.
It’s official.
When Nord loves what a republicans do. Republicans are definitely on the wrong side!!!!
All the local liberals are cheering this corporate pork.
What are alleged Republicans doing?
No mar, it doesn’t. It means I have chosen not to waste my time using the shift key when addressing someone of your ilk. Not once have I called you a pervert, or would you prefer Pervert?
Leroy is lazy.
It is Mr. Le Roi to you, j.
And the word you are looking for is “efficient”.
“efficient”.
“Close enough for government work” in today’s vernacular. In a disparaging way.
Close-enough-for-government-work meaning:
(idiomatic, humorous, disparaging, slang) Not worth investing additional time on perfecting this thing.
https://www.yourdictionary.com/close-enough-for-government-work
You’re so hateful Pervert Boy Le Roi. It’s the weekend. Having a conjugal visit with your pervert friend, the judge who watches babies being raped, who is sitting in jail crying for a plea deal.
BTW, maybe if you came out and condemned the judgeike you condemn President Trump, I might not call you Pervert Boy Le Roi.
“It’s the weekend “
BTW, it sure isn’t the weekend right now. What calendar do you use? Or do you know how to use one?
It’s my weekend, asshole. Some people actually work weekends and have days off in the middle of the week.
What an uneducated asshole.
There you go again, making up your own definitions for words in common usage. To normal folk, the weekend is, like, the end of the week, whereas today is the middle of the week.
Glad to see you found gainful employment.
Spoken like a true government uneducated employee.
Yeah, some of us work weekends, as a government employee who was a special education appointment to a government job, I understand your stupity.
I bet your job in the special education government position was to stand by a tree in the forest to make sure it was still standing at the end of the day. Or maybe counting the ants that come out of an ant hill, but that might be tough for you Le Roi, because there are more than 3 ants coming out of an ant hill.
Or perhaps the WI government put you in charge of cleaning toilets in the state parks. Perhaps they employed you to count snipes in the forest.
Or perhaps you were employed with cleaning the toilets in state parks.
Oh Le Roi, you are so pathetic. An uneducated government servant, as you claim.
How pathetic your life has been.