Don't let stupid people make you think that if we weren't involved in a war that we'd magically be out of debt. What most people like to quote is the operating cost of x# of troops and all of that but here's the big problem. All those troops (the actives anyway) would be getting paid regardless so their cost isn't a war cost. Anyway, the gov't wastes money on way way way more things than a war. At least money to the war actually does something (agree with it or not our troops still have some pretty decent gear) as opposed to the billions of dollars we throw away on pet projects that benefit maybe a couple thousand people at most.
Of course they could solve all of that by stopping to give boat loads of money to other countries and world organizations when we don't even have our own country in order...
All of that being said there are way more important things than internet speed on the US importance list (SS, healthcare, mortgage stuff) so, yeah, the gov't intervening in internet speeds isn't going to happen. At least for a very, very, very, very long time.
Although I agree to many of your points, I think it's stupid of you to call people stupid when they believe that war is the cause of our debt. It certainly costs money to be at war. Unless you're a chief of staff, I don't think you know exactly where our money is going according to war.
We have less active duty troops during times of peace, so it is a little bit cheaper. But yes, we do spend a lot on things other than war (like hearings on steroids in baseball—which is obviously done to keep our minds off of important things like the war and economy).
Here's the strange thing. We have a war, which is supposed to fuel economy, and yet our economy is in a downturn.
All I know is, Clinton had outlined plans that would have paid off our debt before this decade is out. We began with 2 trillion and we're at 9. I'm pretty sure that war has a little to do with that. Without the war, we'd still be in debt no doubt. It's really the piss poor president, and piss poor government, that keeps us down. No one has any ideas on how to make this country what it was meant to be. If you ask me, we "let the terrorists win," already. Politicians look out for themselves instead of trying to do a good job. The Statue of Liberty—the symbol of our freedom—is no longer free to be entered. It takes two separate passes through security to even go on the pedestal, and there's nothing but a ferry ride between the two checkpoints. We're definitely in a sorry state of affairs. I hope that you at least see that.
I think another huge problem with us is that we're supposed to be the United States, but we're not really united. We really should be more of a national society. My state shouldn't have different traffic laws than any other. We shouldn't have different driver's licenses. Of course, I'd also like a VAT and an end to the IRS (as it's not actually a government institution and income tax isn't written in law). Now you probably think I'm crazy, but it's a lot better in Europe. One only has to look at how presidential elections are held in France, for example—it actually makes sense—or the state of healthcare in the US vs. other countries.
By the way, I wouldn't be surprised if California cracked down on telecoms for improperly advertising their speeds. California actually seems to want to protect it's consumers, unlike any other state in the union or the federal government.
We're really in a sad state. Of course we go through periods where everything the government does is stupid. And each country has it's own political follies. But really, I think we might be approaching an all time low, except compared to the great depression. But that also affected the rest of the world.
Anyway, how'd we get into this talk?
Our internet sucks, but it really doesn't matter because 10Mbps is overkill for most servers. That 3G iPhone better be out soon damnit. Maybe we'll get lucky and it'll be out tomorrow. One can dream.
