Our Founding Fathers would've been amazed at the technology of television.
But they would have been simply aghast at the fact that, in 2009, the federal government thinks it must help Americans finance their TVs.
Because analog broadcasts are set to end Feb. 17, when all broadcasts become digital -- rendering older TVs useless without cable, satellite TV or converter boxes -- Congress has taken it upon itself to subsidize the purchase of converters for Americans who request it.
Each household can ask Uncle Sam for two $40 coupons to enter the digital age.
Now comes word that the federal fund for the coupons is running out of money. It's authorized to hand out $1.34 billion in taxpayer funds for the converters, but has only $64 million left to issue by the March 31 deadline.
Pressure will be on the new Congress to appropriate even more money so Americans won't die of boredom by the thousands.
Can you believe this? That we've come so far from constitutional principles that the feds are now using taxpayer funds to keep two televisions in every home?
"By what authority is the Congress doing such a vile thing?" the Founders might ask. Well, we assume under the much-abused clause in which Congress can promote the "general welfare."
Surely they didn't mean this.
If the Constitution's authors could have one do-over, that clause would be it.
Comments
general welfare & the commerce clause are also the means by which the federal gov't entered the social engineering portion of public education when it forced desegregation in a haphazard manner that completely destroyed any chance of assimilation for black students and, eventually, contributed to the alienation felt by all blacks today. but if giving someone a television empowers them to watch the discovery and history channels, potentially bettering themselves, then i am all for it LOL
agreed bone, government has muffed every shot at social engineering. This $1.34 billion throw away program is typical.
The government is the one forcing the switch from analog to digital, which is why they feel compelled to offer the coupons for the digital boxes. There are still people out there who did not have cable or satellite. The government should do this if forcing people into something new they had no voice in.
good point, imdstuf, but in hard times wouldn't it have been smarter to send the viewers of free tv one coupon instead of two? In England, where ALL viewers pay a licensing fee, there is also a choice between cable service which you pay for and broadcast which is free. The primary difference is that on pay cable there are no commercials (adverts) but on free tv there are commercials. The abundance and quality of programming isn't all that different. Rupert Murdoch first offered this choice--good free tv but with commercials. Most viewers dropped cable like a bad habit. If our FCC wasn't bought & paid for, maybe we'd have such a choice in the US. Instead, most of us pay dearly for cable service WITH free commercials (lmao).
What's next...the Feds buying all Americans a 40 inch LCD television and satellite programming with top 100 choice? This gives new meaning to "promote the general welfare."
Most radio stations are in HD, and Congress didn't do a thing about that! So, why the mandate on TVs?
Congress and the FCC promote the general welfare of cable companies. There's no money in free tv (aside from the billion$ in ad revenue!) but why settle for that when you can have both--the ad money AND the subscriber fees? The little guy doesn't count. He doesn't have cable OR lobbyists. All he has is the airwaves (which we the people still own unless they too have just been privatized).
Augusa Chronicle - did you do any - any at all - researcy into shy the government is funding this change???????
Idiots. The government mandated the change from analog to digital. The government required the change. The government made the change. The government was going to make millions of citizens tvs obsolete.
They aren't giving out freebies for no reason. This is the Bush administration. They usually give out freebies only to big business, investment banks, and extraordinarily rich people who don't need freebies. And the Dems usually only give out freebies to the poor. So, shhhhh. I think all the pols screwed up their own philosophies here and, finally, something federal is going to a middle class person like me who usually doesn't get ANYTHING from the feds. I am neither rich enough nor poor enough. I pay my bills on time. I paid off my mortgage early. How stupid of me. I missed out on all the other freebies. So, please be quiet.
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