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The humanitarian and economic crises caused by COVID-19 have made it impossible to deny our nation’s deep systemic inequalities. Among them is the fact that millions of people lack affordable high-speed internet and other essential communications services. The cost of broadband is so high and the ISPs’ policies are so discriminatory that even before this crisis began and millions lost their sources of income, more than one-fifth of households nationwide didn’t have home internet. This is unacceptable. Our lives and livelihoods are on the line. Please take a moment today to demand that the next stimulus package provide billions to get and keep people connected to broadband and phone services during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic crisis. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak only 56 percent of households making less than $20,000 had home broadband, with low-income Black and Hispanic households even less likely to have home internet than their low-income white counterparts. Our team has done the math: $25 billion would help 21 million struggling families afford broadband for two years. As unemployment numbers continue to skyrocket, it is absolutely vital that the federal government invest to get and keep people online during the COVID-19 pandemic and through the economic recovery that will follow. The health and safety of our communities depend on it. TAKE ACTION: Demand that Congress provide billions of dollars to get and keep people connected during this crisis. People need affordable broadband and phone service to access critical telehealth services, apply for unemployment benefits, get counted in the census, participate in distance learning, stay in touch with loved ones and so much more. Internet and phone access should be affordable public services — like water and electricity. It’s not enough for the line to run to your house. You have to be able to afford a connection. Congress has the power to get and keep people connected and it must take action. If you can stay home, please do, and stay safe. We need you and are grateful for you every day. We hope you and your loved ones are well. Heather freepress.net 
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Tuesday, April 14, 2020
The price of internet is too damn high
