quote: WASHINGTON -- U.S. lawmakers are increasingly willing to contemplate bold action to get people to stop watching analog, over-the-airwaves television and switch to digital TV. How bold? They will consider a bill Wednesday that pays a $1 billion subsidy to make it happen.
Despite the potential backlash, lawmakers are starting to support the idea of a hard deadline that forces consumers off analog. Low-income households would get first priority under the subsidy program contemplated by McCain, but it's unclear how broadly the program would apply to everyone else.
According to the bill's text, the subsidy would amount to a small portion of the $30 billion to $70 billion the federal government expects to collect when it auctions off large portions of the analog TV spectrum to wireless companies.
By Michael Greb
What do you think?
Posted by comte (Member # 1354) on :
The bill that McCain wanted would force a certain amount of people to digital service, which would knock out their cable service. McCain figured that it would be unfair to cut off people's cable service who could not afford the necessary equipment to receive digital service, hence the subsidy.
I don't know that I agree with their idea of trying to force the transition to digital service, but it sounds perfectly reasonable to me that if this is what they intend to do, they would consider those that would be negatively impacted by their legislation.
Is it fair that non low-income people have to pay for their own equipment upgrades while low-income people do not? Is it fair that low-income people be forced from service they are currently able to afford to a new service that they will not be able to afford?
I think you could present reasonable arguments both ways to either question.
Posted by Lord (Member # 2465) on :
They dont really care if you have regular cable or digital cable, they want people off the waves. If you have regular cable then your fine they want the people with out cable who use rabbit ears and aluminum foil to get local stations out of the picture.