Suppose you asked an employer building factories in Mexico, China, and South Korea rather than the U.S., “How come you’re not building the factory here?” Perhaps the answer would be “I’m concerned that my workers won’t watch enough television. They might spend their evenings learning new skills, reading books, or volunteering.” In that case, Barack Obama is coming to the rescue of our economy by proposing a delay in our conversion to digital TV (nytimes story).
God forbid that an American would wake up one morning, turn on the television, and find out that there was no longer a broadcast analog signal. If he wanted to continue to watch, he would have to order cable, get a new TV, or buy a conversion box without a subsidy from the Federales (we have apparently spent $1.3 billion so far so that people can keep running their old power-hogging CRT televisions; now the budgeted funds for conversion box coupons have run out).
It is comforting to know that our incoming president wants to ensure that as many Americans as possible waste as much time and electricity as possible watching old analog CRTs.
[I’m almost embarrassed that I didn’t add this important initiative to my economic recovery plan.]
[The government-issued coupons are for $40. The converter boxes are $60-77 at Amazon.com. All of this is to achieve the effect of having a crummy CRT-based TV with a digital tuner, which Walmart will sell you brand-new all in one box for $115 without government intervention. Should you wish to enter the LCD flat-panel age, that starts at $228 at Walmart.]
It’s worse than you stated. Regarding TV’s, get this (from the news)…
“Circuit City Stores [in bankruptcy] asked the FCC to cancel its $712,000 fine for not labeling analog-only TVs…”
And Obama wants to delay the digital-conversion? Are there any left-hands in DC that know what the right-hands are doing?
One small quibble… Where you said.. “immigration that encourages high earners” to which I would add *that cannot be educated/placed by America* e.g. if there is a shortage of MD’s in America, then fix the “MD creation process” here. Importation of (in this case) MD’s exacerbates America’s problem.
Overall Grade-A for your Economic Recovery Plan 🙂
The decision actually hurts the digital TV business & emphasises his universal broadband plan. If the universal broadband plan is to succeed, your government needs to command more IPTV investment & less DTV investment. The trick with the command economy is to recognize what business falls into the central plan & what you should avoid.