Comedy Central host Jon Stewart said Thursday he was left “speechless” after New York Times columnist Ezra Klein outlined the lengthy process to implement the Biden administration’s rural broadband proposal.
The $40 billion broadband project had not started a single project in the three years since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) was signed in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden. Klein spent several minutes walking an increasingly incredulous Stewart through the 14-step process for states to get the rural broadband. (RELATED: ‘Accountability Is Coming’: Joni Ernst Sends Musk’s DOGE ‘A Trillion Dollars’ Worth Of Ideas To Gut Gov’t Spending)
WATCH:
“Step 12: States must run a competitive sub-granting process,” Klein said almost four and a half minutes into his outline of the ordeal.
“Oh my fucking God,” Stewart exclaimed as Klein continued explaining the process. “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,” Klein responded. “So now 30 of 56 have completed step 12.”
Klein continued to outline the process, through the last two steps, which involved states submitting proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and NTIA reviewing the proposals before giving the programs a go-ahead. Klein said only three of 56 jurisdictions had reached step 13 as Stewart groaned.
“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 many regulatory hurdles in the plan, including requiring participating internet service providers to take part in environmental initiatives, requiring the use of union workers among other requirements detailed in a 98-page document.
The Biden administration similarly paid over $7 billion dollars for a program that installed only seven chargers for electric vehicles as of April 2024.
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