IMO, Obama's opposition to the digital TV switch seems petty and ill timed. If

[CK_John]

he had a problem with it or the date why have we not heard about this before.

This was passed a long time ago and at the last minute trying to dump it because it may rain on your parade makes it look like you have control issues.

[BeyondGeography]

1. Fuck the switch

It was always a lame idea.

[EconomicLiberal]

3. Actually, it was a great idea.

It was just underfunded.

[BeyondGeography]

5. Which made it lame

Delaying it is a great idea. Taking rural folks' TV away from them in the bowels of a recession, even lamer.

[EconomicLiberal]

8. You said the switch was a lame idea.

Let's clarify here.

Do you think the switch is a bad idea, or the execution of the switch has been terrible?

[BeyondGeography]

20. Both, really

I love the flatties as much as anyone, but digitization is in no small part a scam to make people think their old TV's suck; another example of capitalism making people feel inadequate. In fact, they work just fine. I don't care about more entertainment options and being able to spot the cosmetic imperfections of Elizabeth Hasselbeck; TV programming was much stronger in many ways when we only had three networks, a few supporting local stations and public TV. Plus, it was all free...

[lame54]

44. It was hatched in the Bush era...

Why should we trust it?

[Bill McBlueState]

2. can you link to a news item?

A quick scan of LBN didn't reveal anything...

[Connie_Corleone]

4. Because they just ran out of money for the coupons.

Obama only wants to delay the date not stop it. Believe it or not, there are still a lot of people out there still confused about the switch.

Gee, I can't wait for Obama to say something else so I can be outraged some more.

[K Gardner]

14. Exactly.. thank you, Connie.

[Lilyeye]

16. Tell me about it. No matter what he does it seems like someone

will find something petty to bitch about.

[Renew Deal]

43. And a lot of people know nothing about it.

It hasn't exactly been publicized well.

[dionysus]

6. impeach the bastard

[ellacott]

7. Wow, I think this post is petty and ill timed

The program that distributes the coupons has run out of money and have placed people on a waiting list. There is no guarentee that these people will receive their coupon before 2/17/09. They also haven't decided on how they will deal with the number of people whose cards have expired. Many of the people who had their cards expire because the retailers in their area(most rural) didn't have the converter boxes in the stores for people to buy.

None of this was evident when this was originally passed.

My goodness, don't you folks read. Damn

[marimour]

30. of course it is petty

I just got my coupons that I ordered months ago and I haven't been able to find a converter box that wasn't 80+. All of the inexpensive ones are sold out. I think this poster just needs something to complain about. He should have picked something that was at least believable like a cabinet pick and not this crap.

[Avalux]

9. It was announced Wednesday that the money for conversion is gone.

Dumbasses in charge didn't do their job and request additional $$ in time, so if the switch happens as scheduled a lot of people get screwed.

Obama spoke out after the no money announcement was made. Now what do you have to say?

[shraby]

10. It's not a matter of "raining on a parade" it's a matter

of people not being able to afford a new t.v. or the box that enables the old one to receive signals because of the economy. "Food on the family" comes first.
Obama recognizes this and to take away people's access to news about what's going on in the world because their t.v. doesn't work anymore is flat out wrong.

[hexola]

23. I dont think we owe them a box anymore than we owe them a TV!

I just bought a 30 inch TOSHIBA TV at the goodwill...and 60 bucks for box at Circuit City...DTV $100.

[Connie_Corleone]

29. Good for you. But that's just your situation.

There are elderly people on fixed incomes and poor people who can't afford to pay full price for the box so they need the coupon.

A lot of people haven't bought a new TV in years and never got cable or satellite because of the price.

[yellowcanine]

11. I see it as an attempt to take one more burden off folks who are struggling.

Nothing petty about that. Don't see this as being about Obama at all. How do you get that out of it?

[Occam Bandage]

12. The conversion program ran out of money. He did not oppose the date earlier

because the conversion program looked like it was working fine.

God, people are dumb.

[K Gardner]

13. Good grief !! What a bunch of b/s. He's asking for a rollback on the date because

they've run out of boxes or coupons to help with buying the boxes, too many people are going to be unable to comply, etc..

He speaks out to try to help Americans because the CURRENT ADMIN. did not sufficiently plan.. and he has CONTROL ISSUES?

There's a lot of absurd b/s here these days, but this may take the cake.

[ellacott]

17. This definately takes the cake

[Fleshdancer]

15. I think the exact opposite

The government doesn't have enough money to fund the vouchers they promised. Why should the American people shell out more money during a recession for something that isn't truly necessary when the govt promised vouchers for everyone and then doesn't deliver on that promise?

It's been a long time since the poor and middle class Americans have been taken into consideration. Isn't this small example of change a good thing?

[JVS]

18. People should take this problem more seriously. If TV goes people are going to fucking flip out!

And I mean like Hippos or Ninjas!

[windbreeze]

22. Especially IF....it's the only form of entertainment they can afford...n/t

[hexola]

19. I get the feeling the coupon program didn't really work...

Delay the switch? That doesn't even make SENSE...!

I already get 25 OTA DTV channels...is Obama going to take them away? (sarcasm)

If anything might be delayed - its the shutdown of the analog systems...

The switch is on...

I know the govt regulates the airwaves...but the specturm has been sold - having the gear to access it should be the consumers problem to solve. I sure didn't need to screw around with a voucher to get DTV...any more than I need a voucher to buy a Blu-ray player.

DTV is great BTW...so is no cable bill.

Not sure what Obamas beef is here...if some people havent figured this out yet, they are far out of the mainstream of have other means of receiving TV and dont really care.

Maybe they dont want to go too far with the "free tv" model - and make the box work like a SatTV system...pay for access.

As long as it's primarily a vehicle for delivering advertising - it should be free.

[Occam Bandage]

21. If you read the thread, you might figure out what "Obama's beef" is. There's like a dozen posts

explaining it.

[ejpoeta]

24. he's not trying to dump it. he thinks it should be postponed

because people won't be ready. and the fact that the coupon program for the converter box ran out of money may have something to do with it. personally, i don't understand why anyone should force a switch. i happen to have satellite, so it won't affect me. unless i wanted to take a tv I have and hook it up to the antenna on the roof. so then i need to buy a new tv or a converter box. way to go! more things I have to upgrade. why can't they do both!! ok. i know. we weren't discussing what I think of the dtv switch. LOL!

[Uzybone]

25. The stupidity continues

I hope it doesn't get delayed but this is an incredibly foolish OP.

[bluestateguy]

26. I must express puzzlement with his opposition to the switch date

It has already been delayed once, and people had plenty of time to get the converter box coupons.

Didn't he always say in the campaign that we need to "turn off the TV set and put away the video games?"

[Connie_Corleone]

31. Obama was talking about parents. Some people don't have kids.

[ellacott]

33. Many people in rural communities got their coupons but couldn't buy a box

Because their local stores didn't have the converter boxes for sale. They haven't made a decision about re-issuing expired coupons. There are nearly 3 million expired coupons out there. All of them are not because the boxes were not available but that's still a lot of people that should get new coupons.

[onenote]

48. when was it delayed?

[ellacott]

49. It hasn't been delayed yet

It was just suggested by Obama along with some consumer groups.

[onenote]

50. I know, but the post I was responding to suggested that this would be the second delay

In one sense this would be the second delay, but not really. The 1997 Balanced Budget Act was set to establish an year end 2006 transition deadline. But an amendment offered at the last minute created a loophole under which the 2006 deadline wouldn't take effect unless 85 percent of all homes had access to digital television. If that provision had been interpreted to include homes that had cable or satellite and thus would be unaffected by the transition, the deadline might have been achievable by 2006. But confusion reigned and it was apparent that this deadline was not going to be met any time soon. So in 2005, Congress decided to impose a hard date: Feb 17. That date was chosen for a couple of reasons -- first it was a compromise between the date the Senate wanted (January 1) and the date the House wanted (April 1). Second, it put the transition at a point after the college bowl games and the Super Bowl, but before the NCAA Basketball tournament -- important considerations in terms of disrupting people's access to television.

But the government was slow off the mark in implementing efforts to inform the public about the transition and the coupon program has been badly run.

There are going to be problems no matter when the transition occurs, but if extending it minimizes those problems to some degree, its probably worth it.

From a political standpoint, the new administration has a goal of passing a lot of important bills by the President's Day recess. Having people freaking out about the transition in the run up to that date will be a huge distraction. Moreover, if the legislation passes, members will want to go home to their districts that weekend to discuss it -- not to discuss the digital transition. So putting it off allows everyone to focus on the bigger, more important issues of the day.

[ellacott]

53. Thanks for the background information

[Phx_Dem]

27. He doesn't have a problem with the switch, he has a problem

with the fact that the government has fucked it up and run out of money for additional converter boxes and subsidy coupons which rural and low-income people need. It would be appalling to effectively shut off the TVs for people in rural areas, and elderly people who haven't been able to purchase converter boxes because the government screwed up.

If boxes/coupons were available and people didn't bother to take action, I'd say that's their problem. But that's not the case as I understand it.

[phleshdef]

28. Aside from the fact that he has a damn good reason for it, how the hell does this effect you...

...or anyone else? Seriously. Where are the bad ramifications of wanting the date postponed. Does it just hurt your feelings or something?

My God, frickin' DU, I guess we really don't know what to do when our side is finally in control. So use to complaining that some of us will search for the most trivial, irrelevant non-issue garbage to fill the void I suppose.

[K Gardner]

32. Obama doesn't get a MINDLESS BLANK CHECK, yanno. ( Just mindless pile-ons, evidently.)

:sarcasm:

Oh, wait, that makes me a bully. Sorry.

[phleshdef]

34. How about a MINDFUL blank check, you big, nasty bully?

[K Gardner]

35. :-) hee hee.

[OwnedByFerrets]

36. This was a good decision to suggest postponing.

[gauguin57]

37. I wish he'd stop the switchover altogether. If my cable goes out some evening ...

... I want to still be able to watch the networks on my little black-and-white Sears antenna TV (with 13 VHF channels and a capability of getting a few more UHF channels out of the air). I'm not going to spend the money for a converter box for that little thing, but it's always been handy to use 1) when the cable goes out for some reason and 2) in rooms where I have no cable hookup.

[ellacott]

39. I never thought about that

I also have a little black and white tv because my power frequently goes out.

[high density]

45. The box is usually only about $10 after the coupons, so the cost argument is a non-starter

You've got to realize that most stations have two signals on the air now instead of just one. There is no reason for them to have to broadcast this way indefinitely to support old equipment. At some point obsolete technology has to be abandoned or else we'll never make progress in this country.

[rvablue]

47. I posted yesterday that I think this is going to prove to be an awful decision but it wasn't Obama's

it was Bush's and I don't think there is really much Obama could do to reverse it now.

And the OP is disingeneous....he's only delaying it because this decision is going to effect low income folks more than anyone and he wants to make sure the coupon program is fully funded before it goes through.

Funny, how Obama has to deal with this....isn't Bush still President....after giving the banks $700 billion you'd think he could make an executive decision to throw a little cash into this program....

[onenote]

52. the transition pre-dates bush

The current deadline -- Feb 17 2009 -- was adopted during chimpy's presidency -- in 2005 to be exact. However, in 1997, while Clinton was president, COngress passed legislation that ostensibly set year end 2006 as the deadline, although a last minute amendment created a loophole to that date that, until Congress stepped back in and set a hard date, threatened to leave the completion of the transition hanging indefinitely.

[DevonRex]

38. Guess you didn't hear they ran out of money for those coupons to help low income

folks and everybody else get the converter boxes. There are a lot of people who can't afford to pay full price for the boxes in this economy. Just look at all the lost jobs in teh last few months.

[last_texas_dem]

40. I think the whole mandated digital TV switch/conversion was unnecessary to begin with

I figure the industries involved must have a pretty powerful bunch of lobbyists. :tinfoilhat:

[high density]

41. I agree, the switch off of analog should go as planned

Stations currently have to keep two transmitters on line instead of just one. It's a waste of electricity and maintenance. Over the air TV watchers have had months and months to get the box coupons, and the date we have in February is already the result of delays. Six months is not going to change anything, other than the same procrastinating idiots yelling, "Wait, I still can't figure it out!"

[Renew Deal]

42. Why will it rain on his parade?

I don't get it. Now, will it be a problem for millions of people? Probably. If delaying it helps publicize the change, then they should do it.

[hlthe2b]

46. Are you nuts? They've totally mismanaged the program, out of $$

and there will be literally millions of lower income and rural Americans unable to access even emergency information via tv. They can't get the boxes because there are no more coupon funds to be had.

And, you make this an Obama "control issue"? Get a grip and take that elsewhere...:eyes:

[firedupdem]

51. Get your facts together. What opposition? No coupons and people

who are poor or in remote area's won't be able to see tv. How is it raining on his parade? mindless fucking post.