John catches the broadband stealing "Hammer"

Tom DeLay, absconds broadband bits... and transfers them
to wealthy Texas homeowners in his district.

John Robb links an article reporting that a large percentage of US rural broadband funds have ended up funding connections for high net worth homes in Tom DeLay's district. hmmm.. imagine that from "the hammer".

Early this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced its latest round of funding for rural broadband projects, a program aimed at bringing farms, ranches and other rural communities onto the Net. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman praised the loans as part of President Bush's efforts to bring broadband "to every home in America by the year 2007."
According to the USDA official, the agency is having a hard time finding people to take the $2.2 billion in funding available this year. But it turned out that almost a quarter of the money was going to a company that serves high-end, master-planned suburbs just outside of Houston, with homes costing up to $1 million...