Free Broadband Internet in Public Housing.

@ossobuco,

im sorry osso.

I quoted you because you made a good point about who will NOT want to speak up about being in a bad situation. And i am one of those people. So I plucked your words to help make my point.
Not because I was trying to tell you to go some where, or argue with you.

1 Reply

@dlowan,

I did.
Snort, nothing is cheap enough..

1 Reply

@shewolfnm,

Oh, sniff, don't be sorry, be yourself talking back and forth. I always am, what a brat.
Anyway, I understand, and got your point.

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@ehBeth,

Quote:

Phoenix32890 wrote:
Then when I go into Wal-Mart.............................

Quote:

look - you're at it again

O.K. Wal-Mart is a hot button issue. I had a feeling that it would get a reaction as soon as I wrote it.

I have one near me. It ticks me off when I see a person paying with food stamps, at the same time talking on a Smartphone or Blackberry.

5 Replies

@Phoenix32890,

I'll grant the some portion of welfare usage is scamming. I don't know anything about that, except that examples have been made for many decades. I'm not anti anti-scams.

So, cut out welfare. That'll save money and cut out hope.

We'll have to buy land for burial grounds.

1 Reply

@Phoenix32890,

Did you ever read your sigline in terms of your own premises and prejudices? Why is it not equally plausible that the smartphone is provided by a job - one that requires the person be available 24/7, but doesn't pay enough to support his family? Or, why is it not equally plausible that the person bought the smartphone while employed, has since lost his/her job and now qualifies for food stamps? You assume an awful lot about the people you see around you. I think it's quite likely that your premises and presumptions are wrong.

As to the topic of the discussion --- I can't see how providing high speed internet service in public housing projects can be anything other than a net benefit. Sure, there will be some who will use it to do things you'd rather not support, but the positive influence it can have on kids trying to succeed in school more than outweighs the downside.

0 Replies

@ossobuco,

Right. Good answer, osso. And let's get rid of social security and medicare while we're at it. Particularly for those who are collecting spousal benefits. After all... what did they ever do to deserve public assistance?

I certainly hope my sarcasm is obvious.

2 Replies

@Phoenix32890,

Phoenix32890 wrote:

Quote:
Phoenix32890 wrote:
Then when I go into Wal-Mart.............................

Quote:
look - you're at it again

O.K. Wal-Mart is a hot button issue. I had a feeling that it would get a reaction as soon as I wrote it.

I have one near me. It ticks me off when I see a person paying with food stamps, at the same time talking on a Smartphone or Blackberry.

Adding to JPB's response from my own experience, the absolute bare minimum basic land line telephone service is $20 a month. Double that monthly cost for all the additional fees and taxes they add on to the bill. Alternatively, I can buy a cell phone for a one-time expense of $25 and then use a pre-pay plan for $10 a month. So, rather than paying nearly $40 a month, after that initial outlay of $25 I've cut my monthly expenses by $30.

Judging people's need for public assistance to keep food on the table by their use of a cell phone while at Walmart is doing so out of ignorance of reality.

2 Replies

I think the plan is brilliant. I think more of this should be done. I can think of so many reasons this is a great idea, limiting content is stupid though. Once the infrastructure is in place this can be expanded and hopefully free wi-fi will be common place.
Some of you have very sad ideas about the poor. Many of these people you sneer at are working poor. They work at places or do jobs you probably sneer at too. Why begrudge these people a hand up or a moment or two indulging themselves on facebook or whatever. Why should the poor have nothing but drudgery. Some of you are very very cold.

0 Replies

@ehBeth,

ehBeth wrote:

roger wrote:

So, what's the matter with dialup? I use it. It's good for a2k, it's good for chats if that's your interest. What it is not so good for is downloading videos. On a good day, a 5 minute video takes over 30 minutes to load. Is downloading videos one of our necessities now?

No, our library system is inadequate for more than checking email. They allow 30 minutes per day. That's about 10 minutes more than required to navagate to your own mail system, log in, and read the messages.

if you're looking for work, 30 minutes a day is not enough. At least that was my experience about 2 years ago when I was looking for work.

I don't suppose I should disagree. That's exactly what I just said.

Oh yes. Dialup is slower than broadband. That's something I live with, and work around. Again, I very seldom load videos and it has yet to cost me a job.

The difference between dial up and no internet at all is the difference between and old, functional car and no car at all. The difference between broadband and dial up is the difference between my 2003 Focus and someone else's 2011 BMW. Meanwhile, I don't live in public housing, I do continue to pay for slow connection and I find myself wondering why I'm expected to pay for someone else's fast and "free" broadband.

3 Replies

@roger,

Quote:

Meanwhile, I don't live in public housing, I do continue to pay for slow connection and I find myself wondering why I'm expected to pay for someone else's fast and "free" broadband.

In a lot of cases, it is the best and most often only opportunity the kids growing up in those public housing structures will have to better themselves and get out of the system so your taxes won't have to support them later in life. As Shewolf said, there isn't much you can't learn by searching the internet. In the long run, it is far less costly to the public's tax dollar to pay less than $100 a month per public housing unit for internet access to knowledge (especially if it is shared by a family of two or more) than it will be to pay for the food stamps, medicade and welfare support to maintain each of the individuals in those housing units for a good portion of their lives.

Your tax dollars also pay for someone else's access to books in public libraries (even though they are becoming obsolete due to budget cutbacks). Even though you probably have many shelves full of books in your home and don't use libraries, you are paying for the building that houses those libraries, as well as the books and library staff. Imagine how many tax dollars could be saved and how many educations could be enriched by the small bit of funding for the internet access to those same books online.

0 Replies

@JPB,

I can't collect spousal benefits until 1920, if then. I'll be well underground or in the sea.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

1920? you have a way-back machine?

1 Reply

@JPB,

I have sarcasm antennae.

0 Replies

@Butrflynet,

Quote:

Judging people's need for public assistance to keep food on the table by their use of a cell phone while at Walmart is doing so out of ignorance of reality.

Did not write cellphone. If you reread my post, I was referring to expensive Smartphones and Blackberries, chock full of "apps". Personally, I think that cellphones (especially prepaid cellphones) are an economical way to go.

Quote:

Your tax dollars also pay for someone else's access to books in public libraries

Anyone can access a public library. The people I feel most compassion for are the working poor. They don't qualify for various benefits, while people who are on welfare do. There is something very inequitable about that.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

I did.
Snort, nothing is cheap enough..

I just wondered if you used very specific wording you might attract some of our computer glitterati?

0 Replies

@Butrflynet,

My cell phone costs $13.00 a month, for safety, from my pov. My Quest phone and dsl comes to approaching seventy in total, out of my league, but I see no significantly better answer, which is why I whine here on a2k. (I'll be quiet one way or another soon).

I'm not being tight, I have to sell stuff to pay for this.

0 Replies

@Ragman,

Snort - 2020.

0 Replies

@Phoenix32890,

Quote:

O.K. Wal-Mart is a hot button issue. I had a feeling that it would get a reaction as soon as I wrote it.

I have one near me. It ticks me off when I see a person paying with food stamps, at the same time talking on a Smartphone or Blackberry.

How can you tell they are on "food stamps", what they issue looks just like a credit/debit card and it's impossible to see what it is unless you look very close. I hear stories like this all the time and they just don't pan out. The best is when people tell me the they see such people drive away in luxury cars. In my state if you are on food assistance you are limited to car that is blue booked at under $2,400, yet the urban myth of the Welfare Queen in the Cadillac (or using a Blackberry) continues.

Without going into great detail, I was recently hired by a big city bank executive to create what he refers to as fairytale garden for his two daughters complete with water slide and natural pool. It's going to cost a lot of money. I know for a fact he has made his millions because of the housing bubble and foreclosure. I assume he is not going to jail because the laws are written in his favor and he has a good lawyer/accountant, but if anyone is cheating the system I think it is more likely a savvy business person than some poor soul who probably dropped out of high school and had a kid too soon.

Back to the original question - will free internet in public housing be abused?- possibly, but no more than it is abused by people who pay a little for it monthly but take advantage of loop holes on their taxes, can afford good lawyers, and know how to milk a system that favors the rich.

0 Replies

@roger,

Grrrr, while you happily pay for endless war.

I know, I sound like Jtt.

But really, our money goes to farsical use, and you question this possible one?

1 Reply

Free Broadband Internet in Public Housing.

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