How the Sausage was Made: An Inside Look at the BEAD Program w/ James Erwin || EP 1417

James Erwin joins Josh to discuss his experiences working on the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program as a staffer for Senator Susan Collins on Capitol Hill. They discuss how this massive bill and others like it get created, the near impossibility of creating a one size fits all bill that works for all the different states. Also, the different priorities of the Republican and Democrat Senators and staffers that turned a straightforward state block-grant program into a contradictory labyrinth of competing interests. Then ultimately, how the Biden administration attempted to hijack the program during its implementation. James' article in National Review: https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/11/bidens-broadband-bust/ Follow James work at Americans for Tax Reform: https://atr.org/ Follow James on X: https://x.com/erwin1854?s=21&t=S8JoQpY3m4n6bFrTo8tLrg

(01:17) James Erwin's Background and Career Path

(04:08) Experiences on Capitol Hill

(04:36) Legislative Process and Staff Roles

(11:45) Conflicting Priorities in Legislation

(13:24) Republican and Democratic Agendas

(15:49) Impact of Government-Owned Networks

(23:46) Starlink and the Need for Competition

(24:13) Republican and Democrat Approaches to Broadband Policy

(24:34) Lobbyists and Career Paths in Politics

(26:30) Libertarian Perspective on Government and Business

(31:23) Challenges of a National Broadband Policy

(33:31) The Impact of Price Controls on Broadband

(41:40) Current State of the Broadband Bill

(44:38) Final Thoughts and Call to Action