Philosophically, I believe API access should be public and freely available -- enabling developers to quickly build and test applications and provide value to the ecosystem, without having to deal with infrastructure woes

I agree with this with respect to developers for experimentation and initial development (what you call "building and testing"), but once something goes into deployment and significant usage, I believe projects and businesses should run their own nodes or at least pay their own way.

I don't support the public good model of running big expensive nodes which IMO actually hurt the ecosystem. The blockchain itself is a public good, but when it comes to accessing it, many businesses and projects could easily run their own nodes with the result being a more robust decentralized network. They don't and won't do this if get free service.

I feel the same way about Steemit's nodes. They should be closed down or have access limited to development purposes.

I would 100% support a smaller proposal that is narrowly focused on providing limited-capacity API support to individuals and developers for their own use.