The Editorial Board: Replacing old pipes, boosting broadband would be wins for WNY in Biden plan | Editorial

Expansion of the Internet pipeline

The digital divide has two main components. People living in urban or suburban areas may not be able to afford broadband services, while in rural areas there is often a lack of access because Internet service providers cannot justify the cost of cabling large areas of low population density.

Biden’s goal is to spend $ 100 billion to bring broadband to every home. Many details are not yet known, such as how the President’s promise to make Internet service affordable for all would be achieved.

It would be an exaggeration to compare this goal to when the Tennessee Valley Authority brought power to the southern states in the 1930s, but there are echoes of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his New Deal programs in Biden’s vision. And broadband means more than just accessing Netflix or Fortnite. The need for distance education during the pandemic has further exposed the gap between households who take broadband services for granted and families who have had to park near libraries or cafes to find wireless service.

Biden swings with a mega-spending proposal on the fences. Republicans oppose it, and some moderate Democrats will likely want to curb some of the biggest-price tag items.

Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell said last week that Republicans will go in lockstep against the plan as the highest corporate tax rate is set to rise from 21% to 28%. The rate was 35% before President Trump’s cuts, but we’ll hear how a 28% rate would be a job killer. However, the idea of ​​paying for new programs rather than just putting them on America’s tab, the federal debt, makes sense in a year when analysts expect economic activity to pick up again in many sectors once the pandemic restrictions are lifted. Friday’s government report that the US economy created 916,000 jobs in March only added to that optimism.

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