(UnitedVoice.com) – A Republican senator is causing raised eyebrows after praising a new federal spending bill. The law authorizes over $40 billion for high-speed broadband expansion, and he says it’s good news for his state. If that’s the case, critics are asking, why did he vote against it?
Narrator: He voted AGAINST broadband https://t.co/DnjFsxWl0g
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) June 27, 2023
On June 27, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) posted a tweet praising a $1.4-billion federal funding package to expand broadband access in his state. He said the internet service is “vital for the success of our rural communities and for our entire economy” and added that it’s “Great to see Alabama receive crucial funds.”
The money is being distributed under the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program, which was passed in November 2021 as part of a bipartisan infrastructure bill. In total, it allocates $42.5 billion for broadband expansion in all US states and territories. The $1.4 billion Tuberville referred to is Alabama’s share of that funding. There’s only one problem –- when the bill went through the Senate, Tuberville voted against it.
When the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act came to a vote in the Senate on November 15, 2021, 69 senators voted in favor of it, but 30 Republicans voted against it. Tuberville was one of them. There were valid reasons for opposing the bill. Although it was radically scaled down from the amount of money Biden originally wanted to spend, it was still a huge increase in the national debt and a burden for future taxpayers.
Was the bill necessary for the US economy? That’s up for debate, and a majority of Republican senators believed it wasn’t. Tuberville can’t be criticized for voting against a massive expansion of government spending — but going on to praise that spending when it arrives in his state was a serious blunder. If he’d kept quiet, he would just have been another Republican who put sound finances ahead of reckless spending. Now, he looks inconsistent. Unsurprisingly, that’s now being pointed out to him.
Copyright 2023, UnitedVoice.com
