Telecom's rattling tin cup

[Commentary] Asking a corporate CEO if he'll take money from the government is like asking a five-year-old if he wants to eat ice cream. About 90 percent of the time, the answer will be "Sure." Congress may allocate some of the to-be-determined-but-maybe-$500 billion in economic stimulus money to universal broadband access. We don't know the details yet, but if you are discomforted by this coming on the heels of the bailout of the financial sector and a looming "or else" bailout for the U.S. automobile industry, I don't blame you. We're rushing to throw money at a problem without discussing the underlying cause of the problem - the fundamental change of the phone company from a (relatively) benevolent monopoly to profit-maximizing private entity. On top of that problem, we have a paradigm shift in universal access, which has broadened from affordable voice access to affordable broadband access. Let's set some reasonable goals and expectations along with proper accountability and financial penalties for underperformance - say, if you fail to complete a build-out on time or don't meet the promise of expanded coverage to an area.