Trumplicans ‘Successfully’ Kill Program That Helped Poor Americans Afford Broadband
The FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), part of the 2021 infrastructure bill, provided 23+ million low-income households a $30 broadband discount every month. But the roughly 60 million Americans benefiting from the program are now facing much higher broadband bills because key Republicans — who routinely dole out billions of dollars on far dumber fare — refused to fund a $4-$7 billion extension.
There were several last ditch efforts to fund the program but none were successful, thanks largely to Trump loyalist and current House Speaker Mike Johnson, who refused to let any of those funding efforts get close to a vote.
It takes until the eighth paragraph in this CNN report on the death of the program before the author even acknowledges that Johnson and MAGA obstructionists killed the effort, and even then it’s framed in typical “he said, she said” fashion that frames Johnson’s obstructionism as possibly an opinion:
“Some US lawmakers proposed bipartisan legislation to extend the ACP in the months leading up to the deadline. But the bills languished in the face of inaction by Republican leaders who showed little interest in engaging with the issue. President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers have publicly blamed GOP leadership for allowing the ACP to end.
A spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.”
The program did see bipartisan support, and was popular among Americans struggling to make ends meet (something Ohio’s JD Vance was quick to realize). Even legislation averse telecom giants liked the program, given it basically gave them money to temporarily lower high broadband prices that wouldn’t be high in the first place if they hadn’t worked tirelessly to crush all competition and regulatory oversight.
The ACP wasn’t a permanent fix to the problem that is expensive broadband, but it was the closest we were going to get in a regulatory and policy environment where Democrats and Republicans alike utterly refuse to even acknowledge that regionally concentrated monopoly power is the reason U.S. broadband sucks (much less actually propose any solutions that challenge companies like AT&T and Comcast).
Key Trumplicans like Johnson claim they opposed the program because they were simply looking out for taxpayers. In reality they routinely dole out billions for far dumber fare (including billions in regulatory favors, subsidies and tax breaks to telecom giants like AT&T in exchange for absolutely nothing), and didn’t want Democrats getting credit for a popular program during an election season.