re: #257 Quoth the raven, Covfefe.

Why? What’s their rationale? What possible reason could they have for not spending money on vital 21st-century infrastructure?

Some Republican lawmakers are skeptical. AT&T, one of the largest internet service providers in the state, says it already has 980,000 strand miles of fiber in Kentucky and has no plans to partner with Kentucky Wired. But Brown said the network, despite its delays, has “early interest from a diverse group of potential customers.”

Republican Sen. Chris McDaniel, chairman of the Senate budget committee, said it’s not likely the state would have to pay anything if it ends the project, calling the people that bought and sold the bonds “sophisticated shysters.”

“The fact is, from the day the ink was dry on the first contract, this project has been nothing but a series of delays and cost overruns,” McDaniel said. “Throwing good money after bad on this boondoggle is not something I’m going to participate in.”

Announced in 2015 as a partnership between then-Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and Republican U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, Kentucky Wired was heralded as a first-of-its kind public-private partnership that would be the catalyst for the revitalization of an Appalachian economy devastated by the decline of the coal industry. The state would partner with the private sector to build the infrastructure required for high-speed internet service and then lease the network to companies that would sell broadband access to homes and businesses.

Rogers and others considered the investment similar to the federal government building a system of interstate highways, saying it would attract new businesses and turn the Appalachian portions of Kentucky into “silicon holler.”

The project was supposed to have been finished by fall 2016. But today, the network has 708 miles of cable in place out of the 3,000 miles needed to reach all 120 counties. The delays have already forced taxpayers to reimburse contractors for $8 million in unexpected costs. Facing up to another $30 million worth of delays, the Kentucky Communications Network Authority has asked the state legislature for authority to borrow up to $110 million. So far, lawmakers have refused to consider that request.

Those costs have prompted McDaniel to declare the project the “21st century version of the Big Dig,” a reference to a notorious road project in Boston that took more than a decade to complete and cost twice as much as planned.

The Kentucky GOP failed to achieve instant gratification so they want to take their ball and go home…