WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats in the House of Representatives proposed $650 million to continue the coupon program for the transition to digital television, according to a summary of the economic stimulus legislation released by Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday.
Congress mandated the February 17 switch to digital television, which will affect some 20 million consumers who do not already use the technology. Owners of older television sets receiving over-the-air signals must buy converter boxes, replace their TVs with digital models, or subscribe to satellite or digital cable service.
But the government has said it had run out of $40 discount coupons for consumers to help pay for converter boxes needed to keep their sets from going blank, leading to calls for delaying the analog switch-off and for more money in the economic stimulus package for the program.
They have been advertising this switch for at least 2 years, and yet their are dummies among us who haven't bothered to go buy a converter box and apparently won't buy one until the government gives them $40. That's a sad commentary on the state of the country these days.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment