SC’s Government-Controlled Internets

Only in South Carolina can politicos mess-up something as awesome as “the Internets” – all in the name of supporting “education,” which is obviously something they’ve been successfully messing up for decades.

Anyway, a crowd of “community activists,” consultants and other self-described “do-gooders” got together this week at Benedict College to roll up their taxpayer-funded sleeves and get to work on that.

The main theme of their so-called “Broadband in Cities and Towns” conference?

Easy … figuring out just how government can screw up the Internet by using public “stimulus” money to castrate successful private sector providers.

Of course, that’s not what La Socialista and the rest of the government-snowed MSM will tell you happened, but that’s what’s going down.

The core of these boondogglers’ message is that government needs to be heavily involved in subsidizing and regulating the delivery of communication and Internet services.

Great.

In various flavors, this includes the exclusion of commercial tiered-services, government championing of favored technologies and even free universal statewide wireless access.

Rather than leaving existing commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to continue with their massive, privately-financed roll-out of fiber and wireless networks, they believe government ought to meddle in the process through regulations, subsidies, and the mythical public-private partnerships (as in taxpayer risk, bureaucrat profit).

Essentially, they’re advocating a government take-over all things IT for everyone in the State.

A single, government-controlled Internet, in other words.

Obviously, the single-provider system doesn’t have a great track record. Remember the no-service, no-options days of Ma’ Bell? She got the “ill communication” yo – to which even the Beastie Boys were wise.

But crappy choice and poor service doesn’t really matter when so much public money is at stake – and when there’s yet another opportunity for greedy bureaucrats to grow government at the expense of the private sector.

South Carolina already ranks 5th in the nation for having the most extensive wireless broadband coverage (according to CostQuest).

Fifth in the nation, people.

So obviously, increasing actual Internet access rates is not what these bureaucrats are trying to do.

Besides, (duh) our kids can’t read anyway. So print or Internet, what’s the difference?

There’s no social good being advanced here, just more government greed.

The real agenda is what’s going on all across the country – a taxpayer-funded drive to destroy the private sector market.

That’s why everyone at this “conference” heartily agreed that the gushing spigot of bailout money should help finance that destruction (not to mention line their own personal and institutional pockets).

The lust and ambition was barely sublimated as these insiders exchanged notes and traded detailed tips on how to bring home as-large-as-possible chunks of the $7.2 billion in federal bailout money that’s been slated for “broadband.”

Other presenters made that case that further “untold millions” from the broader $700 billion TARP bailout could be directed to socialized Internet projects if taxpayer-funded grant writers were creative enough.

Among those eagerly bellying up to the forthcoming teat of public money included bureaucrats from (surprise) the State Department of Education, Clemson University, contract hungry “researchers” from the Strom Thurmond Institute, and even some government-approved private companies who hope that public money will float their vague but tech-savvy-sounding business plans.

Anyone keeping tabs on the countless big-government agendas to “spur economic development” in South Carolina (endowed chairs, clusters, technology incubators, etc…) knows that the only impact from this type of communism is higher taxes to float the salaries of the consultants and technocrats that will be cashing-in on it.

We can’t afford that, but try telling that to somebody whose “expanding Internet access to poor kids.”

Remember, it’s all about the children. Especially poor black ones.

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