Teachout tells techies US needs universal broadband

KINGSTON – Democratic 19th congressional candidate Zephyr Teachout members of the Hudson Valley Tech Meet-Up Wednesday evening that developing broadband Internet service nationwide is the way to grow the economy.
Speaking to the techies at the Senate Garage in Kingston, Teachout wants to piggyback on a successful plan by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
“FDR, in 1936, with a Republican senator, pushed through this extraordinary bill, the Rural Electrification Action, electricity to every farmhouse; that was the premise,” she said. “Some people thought he was crazy. It lit up the country and was an incredible and important response to rid poverty and unemployment.  We need that right now with high-speed, affordable broadband to every farmhouse, to every garage, to every home, because that is the way to deal with our economic crisis.”
Teachout said the state’s plan to provide universal broadband service is a good start, but it will need help from the federal government.