Bipartisanship At The Cost Of Taxpayers


Show Notes

As Americans struggle to rebound from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to help the neediest first – the country’s largest cable companies. The latest episode of The Drill Down finds Peter Schweizer and co-host Eric Eggers using Latin to explain how that really works. Cui bono?

Congress is poised to give a $65 billion windfall to the cable and internet service industry as part of the $1 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, more commonly known as the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Among many other things, the mammoth bill would make permanent a temporary $30/month subsidy enacted during the quarantines for households making up to 135% of the poverty threshold for high-speed internet access, at an annual cost of $14.2 billion. The remainder, $42 billion, is for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program to fund expanding internet service into rural and underserved areas of the country.

On the podcast, Peter points out that between them, Comcast Corp, and Charter Communications control 70% of the high-speed internet access business, so an internet service subsidy given to people will land in their pockets about 70% of the time. Comcast, which consistently ranks in public opinion polls as the most hated company in the nation, spent $6.7 million lobbying Capitol Hill last year. Eric notes the company had its best revenue year ever in 2020.

But the massive bill doesn’t stop there. Washington will throw more than $42 billion at the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to dole out to “close the digital gap” and expand broadband service to areas it deems are underserved.

The measures were promoted by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), a non-profit group that seeks federal funds to close what it calls the “digital gap” in high-speed internet service in rural and poor areas. Angela Siefer, head of this group, used to work for the government agency that will oversee the grant program. Her organization’s board includes representatives from several nonprofit groups, such as the New York Public Library, and from Common Sense Media, a media and advocacy group founded by Jim Steyer, brother of DNC megadonor and 2020 presidential candidate Tom Steyer. NDIA’s recent conferences and events are sponsored by internet access giants such as Comcast, Spectrum, Google Fiber, and Verizon.

Early versions of the bill included funds for what’s called “municipal broadband services,” long opposed by the cable industry as treading on their business. Support for that idea was largely dropped from the bill that passed the Senate, which pleased the cable companies. “We are encouraged that the bipartisan infrastructure deal directly addresses two critical elements of reaching universal connectivity: dedicating funding first and foremost to those regions without any broadband service and providing financial assistance to help low-income Americans subscribe to this critical service,” said the National Cable Television Association.

The cable industry has made inroads elsewhere as well. In July, Biden nominated David L. Cohen as ambassador to Canada. Cohen works as a senior advisor to the CEO of Comcast, where he previously worked as the company’s chief lobbyist.

Cui bono? Cable companies.