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The article discusses U.S. Federal Communication Commission (F.C.C.) chairman Tom Wheeler's efforts to change Lifeline, a subsidy program that aids low-income people with their phone bills in order to apply to broadband Internet access as well. Topics addressed include the importance of Internet in the lives of low-income Americans, as well as critics of the Lifeline program.

Reports that the U.S. President George W. Bush administration has proposed reducing the value of subsidized-housing vouchers given to poor New York City residents in 2005, with even bigger cuts planned for some urban New England areas. How the proposal is based on a disputed new formula; Potential impact on poor families, who will be forced to pay hundreds of extra dollars per month in rent; Overview of the Section 8 program, which will be affected; Rationale for changing the Section 8 program, according to the housing secretary, Alphonso Jackson; Issue of fair market rents; Observation of some housing groups that many predominantly Democratic states, including New York and Massachusetts, fare poorly under the new proposals, while Republican states tend to benefit; Outlook.