Broadband in publicly funded housing?

[zodiac66]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4609864/

Sorry, broadband is a luxury and should not be paid with tax dollars of any sort. Basic phone service, heat and electric I can see lending a helping hand, but not for broadband. Hopefully, the debate will end in favor of the taxpayers not paying for broadband for the poor.

 

[MixedVariety]

Like someone else said, if they're so poor where does the computer come from to hook up to the internet? Or is that free, too?
Give 'em dailup, and that only under the proveable condition that they're using it to better their lives, such as job searching. Dialup is good enough for Monster.com and if they aren't gainfully employed, they have plenty of time for the pages to load up.
Beefing up to broadband can come later when they're earning enough money to pay for it themselves.

 

[Stevinator]

we seem to be in almost complete agreement here. although I don't think they deserve brondband I like to kep things lively..so It's opposite day! from here on out (in this thread...though perhaps I'l do this other places just to make life interesting...)I'm going to proclaim the opposite of what I really think...this way debate will continue ad nauseum. woot!

You are all capitalist pigs. you all sit in your big fancy houses nice and warm and comfortable, you won't even allow these desperately needy families the opportunity to rise up out of their terrible predictaments.

You act like being poor is the fault of the people with little money. how could you think that? the real reasopn there are poor people is greed. these folks are being subjugated by evil corporations and the top 1%. How can you expect them to get a job on dial-up? I think your cable is about 10 times as fast as dial-up (not sure), but that would mean for every 10 jobs you evil capitalists see online these needy familes would see only 1. One! You would find jobs 10 times faster. if you got to see that many more jobs of course you'd maintain your piles of ill gotten wealth. this is just another way for you to keep the working poor enslaved.

you know blacks are more likely to be low income than whites. so you must be racist. you bigot.

These americans are in NEED. they are worth just as much as you rich people. how dare you insinute that they are not ENTITLED to broadband when most of you admit to using it yourself. Do you think you're better to them, just because you have more money. I bet you didn't earn any of that money either. it was likely all given to you from your parents, and they from theirs. they prolly got it from the slaves they owned.

how do you sleep at night?

 

[Akira]

Like someone else said, if they're so poor where does the computer come from to hook up to the internet?

It's pretty easy to get older machines for next to nothing these days if you look in the right places.

 

[LunarSolaris]

There are also training programs available where older computers are given to people (and sometimes somewhat newer ones) as it relates to the careers they are training for.

As I said before, I'm not for government paying for a monthly service, but I'm for development of housing that at least has the capability. I have to imagine it isn't too expensive to equip housing with connections, but not the service.

Ironically Stevinator... some of your parody actually rings with some truth.

 

[Stevinator]

There are also training programs available where older computers are given to people (and sometimes somewhat newer ones) as it relates to the careers they are training for.

As I said before, I'm not for government paying for a monthly service, but I'm for development of housing that at least has the capability. I have to imagine it isn't too expensive to equip housing with connections, but not the service.

Ironically Stevinator... some of your parody actually rings with some truth.

i know...all great lies have a little truth mixed in. <shoot that was out of character>

Why shouldn't the government pay the monthly service? how are these people supposed to pay the exorbinant rates charged by evil greedy corporations. especially with bush's economic policies? you know he singlehandedly destroyed 3 million jobs, all by himself and with no help from al quaeda or enron. these people will not be able to find the jobs in the corner offices that they DESERVE. And why should they be forced to use old computers? old computers don't think as fast as normal computers! not only will they be surfing slower...but they'll be waitng longer between clicks!

these people are our forgotten brothers! They NEED you to support them. You upper 1%(everyone with a white-collar job) should be able to afford it, since you're wealth was all ill-gotten. can't you share a little of what you have? are you so stone hearted to not even give these poor folks a chance? you've robbed them of their job, their money and their pride, must you take their broadband too? Everyone is equal, and everyone should live equally! They should have the same computer you have...the same TV you have and the same secksy haircut you have too. don't worry...the government can afford it...we'll just raise taxes and give block grants to habitat for humanity. Remember, these people NEED us. If you don't help these people you must be some sort of dirty rotten right-wing extremist hack.

 

[DurfBarian]

By the way, Bush has pledged that no American will be without broadband by the year 2007. I'm going to assume "all Americans" includes "even those slimy welfare-slurping Democrat supporters in subsidized housing."

 

[Kore]

Like someone else said, if they're so poor where does the computer come from to hook up to the internet? Or is that free, too?
Give 'em dailup, and that only under the proveable condition that they're using it to better their lives, such as job searching. Dialup is good enough for Monster.com and if they aren't gainfully employed, they have plenty of time for the pages to load up.
Beefing up to broadband can come later when they're earning enough money to pay for it themselves.

For the computers: you can buy relatively recent (not cutting edge my any means but stuff people are just giving up for the new hot thing) computer bits for next to nothing from charity drives.

For dial up: actually, rethinking I don't think they should even get that. As has been mentioned there are public facilities already available that they can use and there are far better uses for the money.