We don’t need to subsidize internet service

Democrats want to take $80 billion from taxpayers to create a new Washington bureaucracy to shovel money to politicians who think they are qualified to run a broadband network. Funding, subsidizing or otherwise creating a government “competitor” does not work. The last time politicians tried to sell this to Americans they claimed state and municipal governments could build and run high-speed broadband profit-making centers. They tried and failed again and again. These massively subsidized efforts attracted corruption, often failed to deliver on promises, and were bailed out with even more taxpayer dollars. Google KentuckyWired or Provo. What about the 6% of Americans without fixed broadband? The Democrats are late to the game. Plenty of new high-speed competitors are lined up. The Federal Communications Commission under Ajit Pai has already approved satellite launches for next-generation satellite internet service and is on the cusp of approving the TV White Spaces Order. Both will bring a slew of new private competitors that cover the entire USA. Wanna bet on who will reach rural America first — the new satellite competitors or the plans of politicians?

[Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform]