President Biden’s broadband plan favors Republicans who voted against him | Opinion
What a difference math makes.
California looks like a clear winner from President Joe Biden’s latest initiative: the Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
Unveiled June 26 and designed to connect 8.5 million households and small businesses to high-speed internet by 2030, BEAD allocates more money to California — $1.86 billion — than any other state except Texas, which is getting 78% more despite having 25% fewer people.
But second out of 50 is good, right?
Not if you know how to divide.
Money doesn’t go to states. It goes to humans who live in states. And the absolute value of total dollars means nothing without taking into account the number of people receiving those benefits.
Once you divide how much states will receive from Biden’s plan by their populations, Californians aren’t second. We’re 45th, getting only $47.15 per person.
Want to guess who’s getting a lot more from Biden? People who voted against him.
Of the 10 states receiving the most per capita, eight voted for Donald Trump. Alaskans are each getting $1,386 in benefits. That’s over 29 times what Californians will get. West Virginians, Wyomingites and Montanans are scoring big, taking more than 12 times Californians’ shares.
Biden’s plan doesn’t just ignore California, a state which has, for years, paid more in federal taxes than it has received in benefits. It spurns states whose residents supported him the most. Of the 10 states receiving the least per capita, eight voted for Biden, including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
Why help Americans in Republican states the most?
That’s certainly where need is, just not demand.
Republicans represent the poorest states, and Big Business won’t justify building expensive infrastructure for the poor, especially ones spread thinly over big areas. Accordingly, broadband companies, such as Verizon, Comcast and AT&T, have ignored them.
President Biden is using California’s taxes to fix holes in the market left unfilled by Big Biz, ostensibly Republicans’ BFF.
While Biden’s $773-billion Inflation Reduction Act’s per capita distribution is still obscure — even the Council of State Governments doesn’t break it down — the president’s two largest legislative achievements disproportionately benefit Republican states over Democratic ones.
BEAD is, after all, part of a bigger bill: the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The $1-trillion-plus bipartisan deal appears like a great deal for California, which will get more money than any other state. But do some simple math again, and that great deal looks rotten. California is among the bottom 10 states in benefits per capita, getting $1,127 per person. Meanwhile, Alaskans are getting $6,722 each; Wyomingites and Montanans are getting $4,472 and $3,560, respectively. In fact, Californians will get fewer benefits from that infrastructure bill than Texans, Kansans and Utahites.
Despite the fact that not a single Republican voted for Biden’s $1.9-trillion American Rescue Plan, “Republican-leaning states are due to get a disproportionate share of many of its benefits,” according to Reuters’ 2021 analysis of its major elements. “States that voted for former President Donald Trump … are due to get a larger amount of education and child-care aid per resident than those that backed Biden.”
Per Reuters, residents of Republican-leaning states got “larger stimulus checks and tax breaks as well.”
So, Californians, with a friend like this in the White House, who needs a Republican?
This story was originally published August 28, 2023 at 6:00 AM.