Your Turn: Call for Broadband Action

[Commentary] With people losing their jobs, their homes, their retirement, with the costs of health care and higher education continuing to rise above the ability of many Americans to pay, with global climate change threatening our world, why should high-speed Internet access be a priority? Because universal, affordable broadband is more than an end in itself; it is also a means to spur economic growth, boost the competitiveness of the United States in the global economy, and enable all our citizens to reach for the American Dream in the Digital Age. President-elect Obama has now announced that building out broadband will be part of his impending economic stimulus package - the largest public works construction program since the inception of the interstate highway system a half century ago. The Benton Foundation applauds the President-elect's commitment to improving our information infrastructure. But that commitment to broadband deployment does not negate the need for a National Broadband Strategy. To the contrary, it makes it compelling for the new Obama Administration, immediately upon taking office, to take the lead in crafting a well-conceived and thoughtful NBS. Today, I ask you to let President-elect Obama know that you support our call. Here's how you can help. Please visit change.org, the official web site of the Office of President-elect Obama, and leave your comments at the Technology Agenda.