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

[fresch]

Oh yes they would line up, just like chicomflu injections.

 

[Stuckinny]

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.

In most places ISPs have no competition. Efficient markets do not apply to a monopoly.

 

[spat]

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.

This is akin to saying "medical care is a right, so no hospital or doctor can charge more than $100 for a procedure".

You will quickly find that any expensive to perform procedure will simply not be offered, to anyone.

Price fixing is evil, it doesn't provide cheap products or services, it just leads to shortages and empty shelves.

Like most leftist ideas it will hurt the people it's intended to help, and drag the rest of us down too.

And no, "providing necessary services" is most definitely *not* a legitimate government function.

Government is for governing. That is promulgate and enforcing the rules necessary to ensure a free society. That is it. Government has no further legitimate function.

Anything else they do is not government, it is business conducted under the umbrella of the government's monopoly.

 

[Keyzard]

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.

IMHO, you could have simply said "Culture is the primary cause."

My mother's last teaching job before she retired was for the Dunkirk Public Schools......if you want to know why schools have failed people, go hang out in those buildings for a while. The stories she used to tell us enraged me to no end. If I ever spoke to or treated a teacher with so much disrespect as those "kids" do, my father would have kicked my ass (after the nuns got done with me, but that's another story).

We have generations who believe that they are "owed" something and have no respect for anyone else, much less themselves. And without self respect there is no pride in oneself, or work ethic. Add to that the fact that we reward people for being mediocre.......yeah, we're F'ed.......

 

[GOPerfect]

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.

True story, I see it all the time. I say something most times.

 

[spat]

IMHO, you could have simply said "Culture is the primary cause."

My mother's last teaching job before she retired was for the Dunkirk Public Schools......if you want to know why schools have failed people, go hang out in those buildings for a while. The stories she used to tell us enraged me to no end. If I ever spoke to or treated a teacher with so much disrespect as those "kids" do, my father would have kicked my ass (after the nuns got done with me, but that's another story).

We have generations who believe that they are "owed" something and have no respect for anyone else, much less themselves. And without self respect there is no pride in oneself, or work ethic. Add to that the fact that we reward people for being mediocre.......yeah, we're F'ed.......

Those are the lessons they should be teaching from kindergarten.

Nobody owes you shit. Now if you want lunch you'd better get busy gluing that macaroni to the construction paper.

 

[Rap]

This is akin to saying "medical care is a right, so no hospital or doctor can charge more than $100 for a procedure".

You will quickly find that any expensive to perform procedure will simply not be offered, to anyone.

That's a poor analogy. The legislation is not capping costs for all tiers of service, and anyone who wants/requires >25 Mbps (which is most households) will be paying market rate.

 

[spat]

That's a poor analogy. The legislation is not capping costs for all tiers of service, and anyone who wants/requires >25 Mbps (which is most households) will be paying market rate.

No, it is an apt analogy.

Price fixing is price fixing.

If the government mandated cars be sold for $100 you don't get to say "well, it's not price fixing because they can still charge whatever they want for a truck".

Oh, and the result of that little experiment would be no more cars for sale, at all.

 

[Rap]

In most places ISPs have no competition. Efficient markets do not apply to a monopoly.

If the established ISP(s) can't make the model work, someone will come along and take their place. Do you think that this legislation will bankrupt Time Warner/Spectrum?

 

[GOPerfect]

So, I actually see both sides of this.

The Government is the entity that shut down schools and forced these students to learn in their homes. There are many poor and low waged that cannot afford internet. They cannot afford a computer either. Are we the people going to be required to give all of the poors a computer and a printer and a scanner and supply them with the printer paper?

All here that have been here foe a minute knows that I have little to no empathy or sympathy for others. This holds true to a point with all of this. I have spent my entire life working hard, bettering my skills and making something out of myself. I did the tough things in life so I could provide for my family and self.

All Americans have the same opportunity to better themselves, if they chose not too, than to hell with them.

We sould not be in this need if the Local, State and Federal government did not shut down schools all across the fruited plains of the US.,

 

[GOPerfect]

If the established ISP(s) can't make the model work, someone will come along and take their place. Do you think that this legislation will bankrupt Time Warner/Spectrum?

No, but Time Warner and others should be allowed to charge whatever the people are willing to pay.

They should not be on the hook in their profits to sell a service cheaper than they want and the tax payers should not be forced to supplement these loses.

 

[stokes]

Time Warner/Spectrum wont lose a dime.Our bills will go up to cover anything over $15 these bloodsuckers use.Our taxes will already be paying the initial $15,so us lucky working stiffs pay twice.

 

[TEOTWAWKI inc.]

Been saying for years I would rather just be assigned a dependent. I could then at least make sure the parasite doesn't live better than the host. The government would still find a way to make us pay for the privilege.

 

[Apeman]

No, but Time Warner and others should be allowed to charge whatever the people are willing to pay.

They should not be on the hook in their profits to sell a service cheaper than they want and the tax payers should not be forced to supplement these loses.

I agree to a point. They're providing a service at a set price. You can pay it or not. The problem is that spectrum is the only option I have for internet that isn't satellite or dial up so I don't really have a choice if I want useable internet. I have to pay whatever they want to charge - and their prices just keep going up without better service. What really pisses me off is that they charge less for new customers than they do for someone thats been with them for 10 years.

 

[Apeman]

Here's another problem with all the free shit the states passes out. It's not hard to qualify for all these programs. They don't look at the household income. I've known quite a few people that get assistance because they live with someone they're not married to and they have kids and don't work but their boyfriend makes good money. Someone I work with makes at least $80K a year because he works overtime. He lives with his girlfriend and 3 kids who gets all kinds of free shit because they don't count his income.

Once people learn how to work the system they just sit back and enjoy life without working

 

[prambo]

I’d refuse to speak to her.

 

[nortatoga]

 

[prambo]

That may be part of the answer, but we can't afford superficial simplistic answers anymore.

It depends on what the definition of "we" is...the rising corporatist-fascist state makes that decision now - and those getting the freebies love it. The DemonRats and their fifth column Marxist running dogs love "simplistic answers" - it's easier to justify anything when the state sponsored answer is simplistic. It's purposeful and useful to statists.

Now that the majority of the populace is completely dumbed down and welded to the .Gov teat - the scamdemic established that - they'll never leave it until they die. And they'll leave behind even more ignorant morons who know nothing more, and don't have the will and/or learning to realize that there must be better way.

Anyone who works for what they have isn't included in the NYS.Gov definition of "we", unless it's tax time.

"We're all in this together"...until you're not - and the "not" category is primarily defined as anyone who works and takes pride in what their labors have allowed them to do.

 

[fresch]

Ahh, the old we.
Like the old definition of "is is" slick billy clinton

 

[prambo]

True story, I see it all the time. I say something most times.

I'd sugar the twat-waffle's gas tank.

 

[prambo]

I agree to a point. They're providing a service at a set price. You can pay it or not. The problem is that spectrum is the only option I have for internet that isn't satellite or dial up so I don't really have a choice if I want useable internet. I have to pay whatever they want to charge - and their prices just keep going up without better service. What really pisses me off is that they charge less for new customers than they do for someone thats been with them for 10 years.

Same here. When I got back to Syracuse from Kenya in 1993 the cable TV was Adelphia within the city proper. Time-Warner acquired Adelphia when they went tits-up. Then Time-Warner started acquiring a lot of service areas. Then Spectrum bought Time-Warner.

So, theoretically, I've been a Spectrum customer for almost 30 years of living in NYS, and keep getting butt-fucked every year with higher rates - and they never use any K-Y lube.

According to this article, there are only 3 cable internet companies in NYS (Cable Internet Providers and TV Companies in New York | BestNeighborhood.org). As far as I know Spectrum covers most of NYS, as the map in the following article seems to indicate - Spectrum Internet: Coverage & Availability Map | BroadbandNow

Interestingly, the latter article shows that Spectrum itself has a low income assistance program - https://www.spectrum.com/internet/s...irect=browse-content-spectrum-internet-assist

This is all The Princess throwing smoke -

1) nursing home deaths - still in Albany

2) "me too" accusations - still in Albany

3) and a myriad of other shady dealings, known and unknown

It's bribery and deflection.

 

[Stuckinny]

I'd sugar the twat-waffle's gas tank.

Sounds like a metaphore

 

[Saltwater60]

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.

I’ve seen this many times.

 

[spat]

In most places ISPs have no competition. Efficient markets do not apply to a monopoly.

In many cases that is the fault of government.

Regulatory capture is responsible for most of the "evils of capitalism".

Regulatory capture is socalism masquerading as capitalism, i.e. crony capitalism.

If it weren’t for government regulations raising the bar to entry in those markets another provider would quickly jump in to take their share of the profit.


The other side of that are very rural markets that are being served at well below cost. If you're nearest neighbors are miles away, your internet either needs to be wireless or very expensive. If you pay the same price as the guy in the 10 story apartment building, you can thank him for subsidizing you.

 

[Grimscale]

People deserve

No one "deserves" anything.
From the moment you pop outta your momma's hole you need to fight for everything. Your first breath, your first teat, all of it.

People EARN what they have. And if they want to be useless, lazy, assholes, they've EARNED the right to starve to death.

Fuck 'em all.

 

[TEOTWAWKI inc.]

No one "deserves" anything.
From the moment you pop outta your momma's hole you need to fight for everything. Your first breath, your first teat, all of it.

People EARN what they have. And if they want to be useless, lazy, assholes, they've EARNED the right to starve to death.

Fuck 'em all.

I hope you know I was being sarcastic, and it is taken out of context when you only quote two words.

The only word(and mindset) that is worse than 'deserve' is 'entitled'.

 

[Bob]

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!

What do you think was in the COVID jab?