Trump nukes Biden’s broadband gimmick, saving taxpayers billions

President Trump has consistently applied one simple litmus test to any government program: Does it work?

If so — a rare occurrence — he keeps it. If not, he either ends it or reforms it. Intentions, noble or otherwise, count for nothing. Execution is everything.

For Americans, this is good news. For bureaucrats who enjoy wasting taxpayer dollars while pretending to serve the public, it’s a nightmare.

From zero to nowhere

If you need an example, just look at the Trump administration’s recent decision to overhaul the Biden administration’s ill-conceived Broadband Equity and Development program. As with anything with the word “equity” in the name, this program was a rat’s nest of inefficiency and corruption hiding beneath the rock of good intentions.

Democrats’ strategy has always been cronyism, not competition.

The program, launched in 2021, promised to provide $42 billion in subsidies to expand broadband internet in underdeveloped areas. This sounds good in theory, especially for rural voters who historically have voted for President Trump.

How many people did this program actually connect to the internet? Zero — yet another example of a government program that failed to execute on its lofty goals, wasting taxpayer dollars in the process.

The reasons for this failure are multifaceted. First, the program was burdened with woke mandates and entrenched political favoritism. Instead of targeting the most effective solution for rural areas, it prioritized fiber — literally the least efficient internet technology for rural residents — which can cost more than $100,000 per household. This made it impractical for rural America, where the internet infrastructure is desperately needed.

Meanwhile, the best solution — satellite internet, which can cost just a few hundred dollars per receiver — was passed over. Why would the Biden administration prioritize the more expensive, inefficient option? Simple: The fiber industry is aligned with pro-amnesty and diversity, equity, and inclusion agendas. The industry’s political ties to leftist causes won them a sweetheart deal at the expense of taxpayers and genuine competition.

The Trump administration took one look at this deal and decided enough was enough. It has since restored fair competition and saved taxpayer dollars. In the words of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the administration's new reforms will ensure the BEAD program “will deliver high-speed internet access efficiently on a technology-neutral basis, and at the right price.”

Screaming cronies

Predictably, the Democrats cried foul. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) led the charge, conveniently throwing out her anti-corporate bona fides and becoming the fiber industry’s best friend. She signed on to a letter with 21 House Democrats making the allegation that “any objective assessment of the technologies available to provide broadband would conclude that fiber optic technology far exceeds any other in its capability to provide future-proof speeds and network capacity.”

This claim is absurd — and not merely because most of the signatories are from big cities, completely ignorant as to what works in rural America.

RELATED: Wi-Fi is winning — so why is Congress still stuck in the 1990s?

  Photo by Shutthiphong Chandaeng via Getty Images

Don’t just take my word for it. Listen to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), or anyone who isn’t blinded by political favoritism or corporate cronyism.

Ocasio-Cortez’s letter is also a complete non sequitur. It would be one thing if the program had been destroyed — but it hasn’t. It’s simply been reformed to allow every potential internet provider to compete, unhinged by political agenda and favoritism. That’s it.

Trump restores the free market

If fiber and broadband really are superior, they should have no trouble winning in a fair competition. But they won’t, because their strategy has always been cronyism, not competition.

President Trump saw through that playbook, and with any luck, red states will follow suit. Only then will these industries be forced to wave the red flag, which has been their banner all along: the red flag of communist cronyism.