Musk Continues to Pocket American Tax Dollars

Billions in rural broadband funding could soon be funneled into Elon Musk’s pockets via Starlink despite its lower quality, unreliable service. This comes after Musk threw a tantrum to try and have a nearly 3 billion dollar contract with Verizon to update FAA systems rescinded and given to Starlink.

In a 1,100-plus-word email written by Evan Feinman, the director of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program (BEAD), warns that the rural US will suffer if Elon Musk usurps plans for broadband expansion.

“Stranding all or part of rural America with worse internet so that we can make the world’s richest man even richer is yet another in a long line of betrayals by Washington,” Feinman wrote in the email, addressing the fact that Starlink, much like many of Musk's ventures, "sucks and is also bad" (I'm paraphrasing here).

The former BEAD director added that he was “disappointed not to be able to see this project through” and warned that the administration should not change BEAD to “benefit technology that delivers slower speeds at higher costs to the household paying the bill”—referencing Musk’s satellite internet service, part of his astronautics company SpaceX.

“Reach out to your congressional delegation and reach out to the Trump Administration and tell them to strip out the needless requirements, but not to strip away from states the flexibility to get the best connections for their people,” Feinman continued.

In the past, BEAD has been the subject of bipartisan controversy for its prioritization of fiber projects, which provide higher speed and greater longevity, but also take longer to deploy and are more expensive. Man, America hates investing in lasting infrastructure.