by
MANDEL
NGAN/AFP
via
Getty
Images)
Back
in
May we
noted
how Trump
illegally
declared
he
was
unilaterally
destroying
the
$2.75
billion Digital
Equity
Act,
lying
repeatedly
that
the
law
was
“racist”
and
“unconstitutional.”
The law,
passed
as
part
of
the
infrastructure
bill,
was
slated
to
bring
millions
in
new
broadband
grants
and
digital
literacy
tools,
education,
and
training
to
Americans
(of
all
kinds).
The
bill
helped
everybody
(including
Trump-supporting
rural
veterans
and
rural
residents),
but
because
Trump’s
team
seemed
to
assume
that
the
word
equity
meant
“help
minorities,”
the
program
was
the
brutal
victim
of
our
mad,
incoherent,
con
man
king
and
his
army
of
mindless
earlobe
nibblers.
Back
in
June,
a
coalition
of
20
states sued
the
Trump
administration,
correctly
stating
that
it’s
illegal
for
the
administration
to
unilaterally
dismantle
an
act
of
Congress
and
freeze
and
repurpose
funding
that
had
already
been
allotted.
That
case
is
winding
through
the
court
system,
but
the
damage
has
already
been
done
to
countless
traditionally
underfunded
programs
and
organizations
that
had been
told
they
were
getting
the
money.
This
week
the
National
Digital
Inclusivity
Alliance
(NDIA) filed
another
lawsuit
against
the
government,
again
(correctly) noting that
the
freezing
of
the
funds
is
illegal
and
violates
the
separation
of
powers
between
the
executive
and
legislative
branches
as
outlined
in
the
Constitution.
The
NDIA
was
poised
to
receive
one
of
the
biggest
chunks
of
Act
funding;
a
$25.7
million
grant
it
was
going
to
use
to
help
connect
people
to
the
Internet
via
13
programs
across
11
states.
Not
only
via
direct
access
to
affordable
physical
equipment,
but
digital
literacy
training
for
seniors
and
vets
to
gain
access
to
online
education,
health
care,
and
other
essential
services:
“NDIA
is
taking
the
extraordinary
step
of
suing
the
federal
government
for
the
30,000
people
who
were
counting
on
our
Digital
Navigator
+
program
to
help
guide
them
through
submitting
job
applications,
accessing
telehealth,
attending
classes,
and
staying
safe
online.
Thousands
more
across
the
country
stood
to
benefit
from
Digital
Equity
Act
grants
through
other
trusted
community
organizations.
Let’s
be
very
clear,
the
Digital
Equity
Act
is
not
unconstitutional
nor
racist,
it
passed
with
overwhelming
bipartisan
support
to
ensure
the
United
States
can
compete
in
today’s
modern
economy.”
There’s
a
long
list
of
groups
that
were
also
planning
to
use
this
funding
to
help
their
communities
navigate
things
like
the
rising
number
of
online
scams
that tend
to
disproportionately
target
the
elderly.
They’re
all
now
shit
out
of
luck
because
of
a
bunch
of
weird
racist
zealots
(who
like
to
pretend
they’re
saving
taxpayer
money
with
one
hand,
while setting
it
on
fire
with
the
other).
A
driving
motivation
behind
these
attacks
on
online
equity
isn’t
“saving
money,”
it’s
dismantling
government
efforts
to
do
anything
about
the
problems
created
by consolidated
corporate
power.
That
means lobotomizing
the
FCC.
It
means killing
programs
that
gave
school
kids
free
Wi-Fi.
It
means
undermining
efforts
to
protect
U.S.
citizens
(in
red
or
blue
states
alike)
from fraud
and
robocall
hell.
Meanwhile,
Trump
continues
to
insist
his
random-ass
butchery
of
government
is
only
“impacting
Democrats”:
I’m
not
sure
whose
going
to
correct
the
misconceptions
of
freshly-fucked
Trump
supporters
in
red
states,
since Republicans
also
effectively
lobotomized
whatever
was
left
of
local
news via
a
frontal
assault
on
media
consolidation
limits.
I
was
not
previously
aware
that
the
President
of
the
United
States
could
unilaterally
destroy
an
act
of
Congress,
freeze
funding
for
beneficial
bipartisan
programs,
lie
about
the
impact
repeatedly,
and
face
absolutely
zero
repercussions
whatsoever.
Consider
me
properly
informed.
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