[IP] Weekly column: Is it time for the federal e-rate program to die? [econ]
------ Forwarded Message
From: Declan McCullagh <declan@xxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 23:13:50 -0500
To: <politech@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [Politech] Weekly column: Is it time for the federal e-rate program
to die? [econ]
http://news.com.com/Cheaper+phone+bills+on+the+horizon/2010-1071_3-5626169.h
tml
Cheaper phone bills on the horizon?
March 21, 2005, 4:00 AM PT
By Declan McCullagh
Don't get too excited yet, but there's a chance your monthly telephone
bill will get a few dollars cheaper.
Some members of Congress have begun speculating whether a government
entitlement program riddled with waste and corruption and funded by
taxes on telecommunications companies should be terminated. If the
so-called E-rate program ended, the average phone bill would drop by $10
or more a year, an annual total of $2.25 billion.
Rep. Joe Barton, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce,
suggested at a hearing last week that the E-rate program had become a
billion-dollar boondoggle. "This committee has no choice but to develop
legislation to scrap the status quo and apply some common sense to the
E-rate program," the Texas Republican said.
[...remainder snipped...]
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