And the soaring spectrum prices may have a broader significance: They suggest that wireless service in most locations won’t be a realistic substitute for wired broadband Internet access, Mr. Moffett said: “It’s just not a realistic option.”
That may well be the best justification for why cable company share prices are so high: They provide an essential and, for the foreseeable future, irreplaceable service. That’s at least partly why President Obama issued a call last week for more municipal broadband services like those in Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Chattanooga, Tenn., which can provide viable alternatives. And it’s why pressures to regulate the cable companies are mounting.
That works out to about $6 in lost taxes for every $1 in cuts Congress made in reducing the I.R.S. budget another 3 percent this year, according to the Treasury Department.
The slashed budget is a victory for penny-wise-and-pound-foolish politicians. It amounts to payback demanded by House Republicans to penalize the I.R.S. for daring to scrutinize Tea Party operations that tried to claim exemptions under the tax code for nonpolitical groups. Democratic groups trying the same thing were also scrutinized.