Biden’s BEAD Act Disaster Leaves Even Radical Liberals Speechless
DOGE was formed to identify and eliminate government waste, but in some cases, the scale and stench are so great that no intricate sleuthing is required. In fact, in some cases not only can leftists not defend the pissing away of taxpayer money, but they are also left speechless by the sheer scale of the recklessness.
Jon Stewart, the host of Comedy Central, said yesterday that he was left “speechless” after another liberal, New York Times columnist Ezra Klein explained the hoops people are required to jump through to implement the Biden administration’s rural broadband proposal known as the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment program (BEAD).
The $40 billion broadband project has not initiated any projects in the three years since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) was signed by Biden in 2021. Klein tediously went through the 14-step process that states must follow to access the rural broadband funding. The process left Stewart stunned.
“Step 12: States must run a competitive sub-granting process,” Klein explained to Stewart almost five minutes into his outline of Biden’s fiasco.
Stewart responded with, “Oh my f*cking God, that’s step 12… after all this has been done?”
“Yeah, none of that could have happened along the way here. We have now lost 17 more applicants, so now 30 of 56 have completed step 12.”
As Klein continued to explain the process, he reached the last two steps. These involved states submitting proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which would then review the proposals before granting approval for the programs to proceed. Klein noted that only three out of 56 jurisdictions had reached step 13, prompting a loud groan from Stewart.
“I’m speechless, Ezra” Stewart said. “Honestly, like it’s, uh, far worse than I could have imagined. But the fact that they amputated their own legs on this is what’s so stunning.”
The Biden administration included a ridiculous number of regulatory requirements in the plan, such as mandating participating internet service providers to engage in green initiatives and employing union workers, along with other stipulations that were detailed in the 98-page document.
Last September, Republican South Dakota Sen. John Thune posted this on X:
“In 2021, Kamala Harris became the ‘Broadband Czar.’ Three years and $42 billion later, not one person has been connected to the internet under the BEAD program.”
The BEAD debacle is being compared to another Biden fiasco. The Biden-Harris administration’s electric vehicle (EV) charger expansion initiative has built only seven stations, despite the $7.5 billion allocated to it in November 2021.
The expansion program for EV chargers has faced delays due to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements. The Department of Transportation stated that applicants must engage in “intentional outreach to underserved communities” by organizing, … (wait for it) … “neighborhood block parties.”
The bottom line is this. Between these two Biden disasters, there is essentially almost $50 billion unaccounted for. Some people are sleeping very comfortably tonight, thanks to American taxpayers, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they have high-speed internet.
