Government Money for TV
You may have heard that on February 17, 2009, all analog broadcasts of TV will cease. The FCC is requiring all broadcasters to go digital (and the EM spectrum frequencies freed up will be auctioned off). This doesn't affect cable or satellite subscribers. This only affects people who receive TV signals via an antenna. Those too poor or too cheap (or too smart) to pay for TV will have to buy a converter box for their analog sets. It's estimated that these boxes will retail for $50 to $70.
I guess Congress felt guilty that the government is mandating the switch. As such, money from the spectrum auction will be used to compensate people for the cost. Each household is entitled to two $40 vouchers. Everyone is eligible, though after the 22.25 million mark, only people who solely rely on antennas will be eligible. They'll be able to claim the remaining 11.25 million vouchers. There's are no other requirements for eligibility (other than having a street mailing address). Richie Rich can claim his two vouchers just as someone living in the 9th Ward of The Big Soggy.
So, 22.25 million plus 11.25 million gives us 33.5 million vouchers. Multiply that by $40 and you get $1.34 billion. Wow. Over a billion dollars available to make sure people keep watching TV. That's nothing short of amazing.
Did no one in our government see how ripe this program could be for abuse? While I don't believe that this program should've been created in the first place, how could a means test be excluded for consideration? Why should anyone with a taxable income of over $25,000/year get one of these? Of course, if you're too poor to afford cable or satellite TV, then you've got far more important things to worry about than being able to watch TV.
As much as I hate seeing the government spending more money when it's $9 trillion in debt, there are far better programs this money could've gone towards: Paying down the debt, repairing infrastructure, job training programs for all those whose jobs have gone overseas, healthcare for the uninsured, alternative energy research, and public transportation programs that will remove cars from the road. I'm sure that you can name a few yourself. I wish our government had. Instead, they decided we should keep watching TV.
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DED
I guess Congress felt guilty that the government is mandating the switch. As such, money from the spectrum auction will be used to compensate people for the cost. Each household is entitled to two $40 vouchers. Everyone is eligible, though after the 22.25 million mark, only people who solely rely on antennas will be eligible. They'll be able to claim the remaining 11.25 million vouchers. There's are no other requirements for eligibility (other than having a street mailing address). Richie Rich can claim his two vouchers just as someone living in the 9th Ward of The Big Soggy.
So, 22.25 million plus 11.25 million gives us 33.5 million vouchers. Multiply that by $40 and you get $1.34 billion. Wow. Over a billion dollars available to make sure people keep watching TV. That's nothing short of amazing.
Did no one in our government see how ripe this program could be for abuse? While I don't believe that this program should've been created in the first place, how could a means test be excluded for consideration? Why should anyone with a taxable income of over $25,000/year get one of these? Of course, if you're too poor to afford cable or satellite TV, then you've got far more important things to worry about than being able to watch TV.
As much as I hate seeing the government spending more money when it's $9 trillion in debt, there are far better programs this money could've gone towards: Paying down the debt, repairing infrastructure, job training programs for all those whose jobs have gone overseas, healthcare for the uninsured, alternative energy research, and public transportation programs that will remove cars from the road. I'm sure that you can name a few yourself. I wish our government had. Instead, they decided we should keep watching TV.
\_/
DED
Labels: government_waste
posted by DED at 5:07 PM
5 Comments:
Excellent report. Nothing scares the PTB, or so it seems, than the idea of folks tuning out of the great propaganda/corp/gov mill.
I should have written, nothing scares the PTB more than...
A country's gotta have its priorities, don't it?
I think this is one of the signs that an Empire is on the downward slope.
Edwardo: They don't call it "American Idol" for nothing.
Fairlane: One of many.
What is an "antenna"? :-)
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