Jon Stewart got a harsh lesson on government inefficiency in a now-viral video in which journalist Ezra Klein carefully explained the grueling process of applying for funding under former President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan.
The pair spoke in particular about a $42 billion national program to invest in broadband under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which Biden signed into law in November 2021.
Klein points out that well over three years after the fact, the results were just shy of spectacular. A massive $42 billion program was launched, and nary a person was connected to the Internet.
“By the end of 2024, three (of 56 states and jurisdictions that applied) have gotten to the end of the process,” Klein explained. “They were trying.”
“End of the process, meaning they’ve actioned it? They’ve built it?” a hopeful Stewart replies.
“No, no,…
