worldbefree
04-28-2004, 02:11 PM
So the Shrub could preserve everyone's right to have inexpensive high speed internet access. Talk about screwed up priorities.
Bush Seeks More High-Speed Internet Access, Tax Ban
Mon Apr 26, 4:08 PM ET Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Jeremy Pelofsky
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Monday urged the U.S. Congress to make Internet access permanently tax free and to reduce regulations so high-speed access can be universally available by 2007.
Bush complained that the United States was ranked 10th in the deployment of broadband, or high-speed access. To help boost that rank, he signed an order for the government to make it easier for broadband facilities to be built on federal land.
"If you want broadband access throughout the society, Congress must ban taxes on access," Bush told the American Association of Community Colleges annual convention. "Clear out the underbrush of regulation and we'll get the spread of broadband technology and America will be better for it."
Bush's broadband push coincides with debate beginning in the U.S. Senate on whether to renew or make permanent a ban that bars taxes on Internet access. Lawmakers are split on whether a ban would boost innovation and the roll-out of new technologies or deprive states and local governments of much needed funds.
The campaign of Bush's Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) of Massachusetts, criticized the president for failing to make the tax ban part of previous tax cut packages.
Further, said Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, "The Bush broadband policies don't do anything to provide the new resources that will be needed to deploy broadband in rural and urban areas and they are not addressing the regulatory barriers that prevent deployment."
Already there are some 23.5 million high-speed Internet lines in service as of June 30, 2003, mostly serving American homes and small businesses, according to the latest government data available.
About 13.7 million consumers receive their service from cable companies, which can cost at least $40 a month, while 7.7 million customers get broadband from telephone carriers via digital subscriber lines (DSL) and pay about $30 per month.
The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) has tried to reduce regulations on broadband but with mixed success.
Bush also touted a plan for every American to establish an electronic medical record over the next 10 years that would be available for doctors to review wherever a person seeks medical attention.
"These old methods of keeping records are real threats to patients and their safety and are incredibly costly," Bush said. "Modern technology hasn't caught up with a major aspect of health care and we have to change that."
He pledged Americans would retain privacy of their records. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous and Andy Sullivan)
Bush Seeks More High-Speed Internet Access, Tax Ban
Mon Apr 26, 4:08 PM ET Add Technology - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Jeremy Pelofsky
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - President Bush (news - web sites) on Monday urged the U.S. Congress to make Internet access permanently tax free and to reduce regulations so high-speed access can be universally available by 2007.
Bush complained that the United States was ranked 10th in the deployment of broadband, or high-speed access. To help boost that rank, he signed an order for the government to make it easier for broadband facilities to be built on federal land.
"If you want broadband access throughout the society, Congress must ban taxes on access," Bush told the American Association of Community Colleges annual convention. "Clear out the underbrush of regulation and we'll get the spread of broadband technology and America will be better for it."
Bush's broadband push coincides with debate beginning in the U.S. Senate on whether to renew or make permanent a ban that bars taxes on Internet access. Lawmakers are split on whether a ban would boost innovation and the roll-out of new technologies or deprive states and local governments of much needed funds.
The campaign of Bush's Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites) of Massachusetts, criticized the president for failing to make the tax ban part of previous tax cut packages.
Further, said Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter, "The Bush broadband policies don't do anything to provide the new resources that will be needed to deploy broadband in rural and urban areas and they are not addressing the regulatory barriers that prevent deployment."
Already there are some 23.5 million high-speed Internet lines in service as of June 30, 2003, mostly serving American homes and small businesses, according to the latest government data available.
About 13.7 million consumers receive their service from cable companies, which can cost at least $40 a month, while 7.7 million customers get broadband from telephone carriers via digital subscriber lines (DSL) and pay about $30 per month.
The Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites) has tried to reduce regulations on broadband but with mixed success.
Bush also touted a plan for every American to establish an electronic medical record over the next 10 years that would be available for doctors to review wherever a person seeks medical attention.
"These old methods of keeping records are real threats to patients and their safety and are incredibly costly," Bush said. "Modern technology hasn't caught up with a major aspect of health care and we have to change that."
He pledged Americans would retain privacy of their records. (Additional reporting by Adam Entous and Andy Sullivan)