Tax-Funded Handout: Free WiFi

Ali Meyer:

Looks like California taxpayers may have one more thing to pay for on their list.  State Sen. Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, is attempting to pass SCR 6, which will provide free Internet service for at least 10 years to those living in state affordable housing.  The concurrent resolution will be heard this Wednesday in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The language of the resolution states that “Only 48 percent of Californians who are renters have a broadband subscription in their home and of the 35 percent of Americans who do not have broadband service in the home, 36 percent cite cost as the primary reason, making this barrier the most common reason.”

Interesting.  More than half of people who actually pay rent cannot afford it or choose not to buy it.  Yet this resolution asks them to fund someone else’s Internet connection.

Outrageous.

The resolution claims that the Internet “strengthens communities, opens new markets for business, offers new workforce development opportunities, and inspires individuals towards entrepreneurship.”  Taxpayers are already paying for a service to help those living in affordable housing access the Internet: the public library.

Who’s to say that accessing the Internet will have an impact on renters’ productivity and job-search utility?  Who’s to say these renters won’t spend their time viewing pornography, stalking on Facebook or playing games instead?

Providing an Internet connection won’t make people productive. The type of person that wants to use the Internet for job search inquiries is the type of person that will walk their derriere to the public library and read the classifieds and use the Internet there.

If SCR 6 actually comes into existence, I might just cancel my current Internet subscription and sit outside the subsidized housing to catch that free wifi.  Just an idea for all you taxpayers out there.

July 11, 2011