“US President George W. Bush has urged Congress to slap a permanent ban on the taxes consumers pay for high-speed Internet connections, reports Associated Press. Bush has set 2007 as a deadline for providing speedy Internet access to every American home, and has acknowledged that America is lagging in getting broadband available nationwide,” Warwick Ashford reports for ITWeb.
“To encourage the spread of this technology, Bush says the users should not be taxed, and that the government should take steps to encourage the spread of competitive services,” Ashford reports. Full article here.
“Bush is [also] announcing that the Energy Department has selected partners for more than $350 million in new research projects to remove roadblocks to developing hydrogen fuel technology. The projects will address the problem of storing hydrogen on vehicles; increasing consumers’ knowledge about hydrogen energy and making hydrogen fuel cells that are both durable and affordable,” Deb Riechmann reports for The Associated Press. “Bush also is setting a goal for most Americans to have electronic health records within 10 years. Paper ones, he says, can lead to errors, inefficiencies and poor communication among doctors and nurses. To help reach the goal, the president is creating a national health information technology coordinator, a sub-Cabinet-level position.”
Riechmann reports, “On broadband, the name for the high-speed Internet connections over phone, cable and satellites, Bush said in a speech last week that America is ‘lagging a little bit.’ To encourage more broadband connections, he believes users should not be taxed, and that the government should encourage competition among providers. Bush has already signed into a law a two-year extension of the Internet Access Tax moratorium, which expired last fall. Now, he’s calling on Congress to pass legislation that would extend the moratorium to broadband and make it permanent. The House has passed a moratorium on user taxes levied against consumers who subscribe to broadband; the Senate is scheduled to address the issue this week.”
Full article here.
Go Bush!!!
Does Bush know what a computer is?
C’mon, let’s try to stem the tide of politics in this forum quickly today. As you guys know, I’m not a Bush supporter, but let’s not bash the guy here for this. Can we play nicely today?
I think this is by far the most hilarious thing I have ever heard. As of the end of 2002, over 400,000 US homes are without running water. However, broadband connections are a must. Talk about priorities.
This is not a political comment…just a general observation from me:
Although I’m all for no new taxes I don’t understand this. Really?!?! If he has such a hard on for not taxing broadband internet connections because he wants to encourage the spread of broadband then why not expand the ban to tv, cable and satellite? People are entitled to be informed. We don’t pay tax for a newspaper do we? We pay for the each service as a whole so why do they need to be taxed if they are the way people acquire their information? Broadband is no different then the other services, it’s just a different way we acquire our information, really!
Well Ace, if you’re so concerned, log off MDN and go do some volunteer work at the Boys and Girls Club.
twelveightyone:
Apparently, Bush is an avid Mac user.
I’m with you Jimbo.
So do Americans not pay tax on their broadband connections then? I pay (and if I’m honest then claim back) 17.5% on mine in the UK.
Yes, let’s play nice today. This is GOOD, regardless of politics.
not going to happen, it’s just not. good politics, but it’s not going to happen.
If W wants to get it right, he should add in a ban on state and local taxation also. Where I live they are taxing everything but air and raising every tax that exists. “The power to tax is the power to destroy”.
No, we’d still have to pay for the service but won’t get taxed on it.
Ace, no matter what the government does, some people cannot be helped. There will always be a faction of people who fit the third-world category.
If the US wants to stay competitive with the rest of the world, we need easy and cheap access to broadband internet. Face it, the internet has become an integral part of our lives and President Bush has made a good call on this one.
My water does not run, it FLOWS. Should I complain?
Where is the “any” key?
Non-cynical assessment: a good thing
Cynical assessment: an easy commitment to make when you’re looking at the second of your two terms, and the guy who comes after you is the guy who’s really going to pay.
Real-world assessment: it really benefits telecoms companies and upper-middle income families.
This is great. Where I live (way out in rural america) there isn’t a company that offers broadband. Hopefully, I will at least have access to such a service thanks to Bush.
There’s a bill up for renewal this year that allows state and local taxation on internet transactions only for companies that are in that state. That’s why you only pay CA state taxes on a purchase from a CA based company if you live in CA.
If that bill isn’t renewed, all companies that sell over the internet will be liable for taxes to more than eight thousand taxing authorities. That will kill all but the biggest corporations doing business on the internet. I haven’t heard a peep out of anybody on that one and I bet we never will. Certain folks are hoping that that bill quitly expires without anyone noticing. So – over in the right hand we’re talking about something really enticing like no internet tax while in the left hand theres a gun pointed at the collective heads of small businesses all over the country
MCCFR, how the hell does this help upper income families more than anyone else? they would have broadband with or without a tax. This should middle income brackets who are on the fence of paying $30 to $50 a month for broadband instead of $20 for AOL. And of course it will help TELCOMs, they sell broadband, less tax and more people will buy, of course with no TELCOMs, who would you be buying your broadband from? Think before you immediatly complain about the rich and big business
What is “broadband?” Is that a female music group? If it ain’t Billy Ray Cyrus, I ain’t listnin’.
MCCFR:
I find your cynical assessment relatively weak. If Bush is re-elected, 2007 is firmly within his term of Presidency. If it doesn’t happen, there will be no finger pointing at another President. If he were doing what you seem to think he is, he would have set the date to 2009 or 2010, setting the date in the next guys term. That way, if it succeeds, he gets the credit. If it fails, it’s the other guys fault since he dropped the ball when he took office. Bush is actually putting it somewhere where he could actually be responsible for it failing to come to be. Rather upstanding, if you ask me. If only more Presidents did that.
Here’s another spin…
Since Winblows has such a large market share, it’s software if full of holes, and most Winblows users are clueless about security, “Broadband in every home” sounds like a nice way for the government to monitor its citizens every move on the web, especially with the rampant malware and spyware that exists on PCs and Winblows. Sounds like a nice way for Big Brother to poke his nose in without the average Joe even knowing it (probably already happening).
Glad I use a Mac…
So does Bush…!
whoa there, Buffy, take a moment and chill out before responding to the next post…
Great stuff, reminds me of the country leader that pushed for the development Volkswagen….but I don’t think he is really remembered for that.