Bush's Broadband Liberalism

Reacting to President Bush's speech Friday in New Mexico, in which Dubya proposed a federal plan for nationwide broadband access by 2007 (presumably complete with tax subsidies), Right Thinking From the Left Coast concludes that "I hate to say it, but I'm beginning to see Michael Moore's point -- there is virtually no difference these days between the Republicans and the Democrats."

Well, on telecom policy Lee is certainly right, because the twin shibboleths of "universal service" and that elusive "digital divide" have merged into a new third-rail of technology policy. Politicians are as afraid to speak out on this issue as they are on Social Security, because it means political death. At the same time, in the U.S. we've got a telecom policy structure that is based on antiquated, baseless deviations from competitive markets (we don't subsidize TVs or VCRs, yet they've got higher, 95%+, penetration rates than broadband) and that buries hidden taxes in a morass of administrative rules implemented by bureaucrats advancing social policy in the name of economic regulation.

If you want a principled approach to technology policy, don't look to either the "blue" or "red" states, they're all the same temporizing, opportunistic chameleons.

 Posted by glenn