The newspaper in Lynchburg, Virginia, has called for a 1930s-style commitment to the wiring of rural America for broadband internet access. The News & Advance, in an editorial, recalls how Franklin Roosevelt bypassed the private power companies and wired rural America through electric cooperatives.

"Today, affordable broadband Internet access is as crucial to 21st century economic development as affordable electricity was in the 1930s," the editorial continues. " Unbelievably, the federal government — the level at which policy of such scope is formulated — has no vision or plan for making true broadband Internet accessible across the country....That has to change."

The paper points out that Japan, South Korea and France all have faster internet systems than the U.S. and that fast internet access would "bring a multitude of benefits to rural America." Clearly this is going to be an issue in the upcoming presidential campaign. So, candidates, get ready with an answer before you go to Lynchburg.