U.S. Sends Signal on Value of Television

While considering slashes in Medicaid and student loan programs, Congress is about to set aside up to $3 billion to help millions of Americans with old non-digital television sets buy converter boxes. Each converter box is expected to cost the government $40 to $60, but supporters of the legislation don't want to take any chances of being accused of denying Americans their right to a TV picture when broadcasting goes all digital. Depending on how much money is allocated, the funding would go to purchase as many as 60 million "set-top" electronic boxes to make it possible for old, broadcast-only TV sets to continue receiving a picture when the broadcasting industry converts to all-digital transmission as soon as the end of 2008. Conservative groups have criticized the proposed expenditure as a giveaway, but the TV provision has received less attention because it is included in deficit-reduction legislation that has generated an uproar in the House for its spending reductions in programs affecting the poor, such as Medicaid and food stamps. The GOP leadership yanked the budget bill from the floor on Thursday because leaders had failed to gather enough votes to pass it, and its outlook is now uncertain. Some of the House's spending cuts could be killed to make the bill more palatable, but there is no indication that the television provision is in jeopardy. The Senate has already passed its budget measure. James Gatusso, a technology expert at the Heritage Foundation, called it "a subsidy for old TV sets," and not the wisest use of federal money at a time of large deficits. Robert Bixby, executive director of the Concord Coalition, a budget-watchdog group, said that helping poor people buy converter boxes appears justified, but he added: "When the government subsidizes anything, it usually goes to people who don't need it. I suspect that will be the case here."
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