FCC Chairman Ajit Pai

In case you were wondering, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai hasn't limited his attacks on our democracy to ending the open internet and allowing the takeover of local media by Sinclair Broadcasting, a far-right corporation hell-bent on brain-washing the public with its Trumpian message. No, there's a lot more evil in Pai than just that. Like how he's destroying Lifeline, a program—and I am not joking—begun by President Ronald Reagan to ensure low-income Americans have access to telecommunications. It started with land lines, became cellphones, and now includes broadband or wireless access. On this one, though, even big telecom is against him.

The vast majority of Lifeline recipients get their service through MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators), who resell major carriers networks through a wide variety of tailored packages targeted at people too poor for the big companies to bother with. Now, Trump's FCC chairman, Ajit Pai, wants to force Lifeline users to buy access from the big telcos, a move even those very same telcos think is bananas. And as a group of US 10 US senators have pointed out, Pai offered no evidence to support his contention that MNVOs strangle broadband investment (the FCC is only allowed to act on the basis of documented evidence), and Pai's proposal would eliminate the plans used by more than 70% of Lifeline recipients.

Sprint and Verizon have both weighed in against his proposal, with Sprint saying that eliminating the resellers "could have a significant impact on participation in the Lifeline program." Verizon says it "would be highly disruptive to existing Lifeline beneficiaries and is at odds with the Commission's goal of supporting affordable voice telephony and high-speed broadband for low-income households."

When Verizon is doing a better job of looking out for poor people than the FCC chairman, you know the guy is fucked up. He apparently remains committed to doing it, however.