[1st-mile-nm] Senate to vote on broadband investment (fwd)

[Dale Carstensen]

Here is a message I just received from the Communications Workers
of America union's speedmatters project.  They run a speedtest
website, and if you use that and let them know your e-mail
address, you get on their mailing list.  One can certainly
find more information about both the CWA and speedmatters.org
by doing a search for "CWA speedmatters".

I'm not sure their point-of-view is exactly aligned with
either incumbent phone companies, or cable companies, or any
duopoly cabal.  But the wording of these messages tends to be
very diplomatic and I suspect legal staff has gone over it with
a find-tooth comb to avoid offending anyone at all, except maybe
Western Union and the Pony Express.

------- Forwarded Message

Date:    Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:31:23 GMT
To:      "" <dale at los-alamos.net>
From:    "Speed Matters" <speedmatters at cwa-union.org>
Subject: Senate to vote on broadband investment

Dear Speed Matters Activist,

We're getting closer to important new investments in high speed
Internet across America.

After hearing from thousands of Speed Matters activists like
you, the House of Representatives included funding for broadband
infrastructure in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The Senate is debating stimulus legislation this week. But you
know what can happen when Congress picks through a piece of
legislation -- some parts are added, some parts are removed, and
what finally passes can look very different from the original
version.

That's why the entire Speed Matters community must send a
strong, united message about the importance of broadband
investment -- for the sake of our Internet and for the sake of
our economy. Make your voice heard by contacting your Senators
right now:

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stimulus_senate_vote/3bsw8b84y7bi3ji3?

Broadband funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
is a good start on the road to universal high speed Internet
access, job creation, and economic growth. Every $5 billion in
broadband investment creates an additional 100,000 jobs -- and
provides the key infrastructure to keep our economy growing in
the long-term.

The Senate stimulus legislation couples flexible grant programs
with tax incentives to spur investment in rural areas and high
speed networks and encourage job growth. It also includes
funding for grants for broadband mapping, setting up community
technology teams, and other broadband community outreach
efforts. Together, these policies can solve the challenges of
expanding broadband access and adoption and upgrading networks
- -- all while giving a strong boost to our economy.

Universal, affordable broadband also helps us address other
pressing concerns, including health care, education, online job
search and job training, our environmental crisis, access for
people with disabilities, public safety, and civic
participation.

Make sure your Senators know about all these benefits of
broadband investment. Contact them today:

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/stimulus_senate_vote/3bsw8b84y7bi3ji3?

We've gotten this close to new broadband investment and hundreds
of thousands of good jobs -- we can't afford to let up now.

Sincerely, 

Beth Allen
speedmatters.org Online Mobilization Coordinator

To stop receiving email from Speed Matters, reply via email with
REMOVE as the subject line of your message or use the following
link: 
http://www.unionvoice.org/speedmatters/remove-domain-direct.tcl?ctx=center&nkey
=3bsw8b84y7bi3ji3&


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