2012 and Planet X News Blog

Almost a century ago, Presidential candidate Herbert Hoover promised “a chicken in every pot and a car in every backyard.” During this last election, candidate Barack Obama promised to make broadband Internet available to every American. His association with the computer industry in California’s Silicon Valley figured prominently in his campaign. Now that he has won, will he succeed where Hoover failed?

US drawing up national broadband plan

Staff Writers
Washington, AFP, April 9, 2009

Supporters of US presidential candidate Herbert Hoover famously pledged during the 1928 campaign that he would “put a chicken in every pot and a car in every backyard” if elected.

While Hoover failed, presiding instead over the Great Depression, President Barack Obama is determined to fulfill a similar campaign vow of his own, but one with a 21^st century twist – to put broadband in every home.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) kicked off the ambitious project on Wednesday, launching a process to come up with a “National Broadband Plan” to bring high-speed Internet access to every corner of the United States.

Robert McDowell, a Republican-appointed member of the FCC, warned, however, against over-regulation.

“In order to attract investors to fund the buildout of new networks, we must not engage in rulemakings that produce whimsical regulatory armitrage,” he said in a statement. “Rather, we must allow market players to succeed or fail on their own merits and not due to the government picking winners and losers.”

I’m not sure how that’s going to work, because that will mean that ISP’s will have to work together to reduce the cost of Internet access for everyone while increasing access speeds for everyone, and I don’t think that they will be willing to do that without government control. I hope I’m wrong, though. I suggest that readers of this article write to the FCC and tell them that you want better Internet access with lower cost.

Catch you on the Backside, Happy Easter and Passover!

Janice Manning
2012 and Planet X Bulletin