Their lack of planning

[Saniflush]

is my fucking problem?????

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Obama-asks-delay-digital-TV/story.aspx?guid={335EBF8F-A0C6-420D-BCE3-C4BC8006D3E3}

Obama asks for delay in digital TV switch
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
Last update: 4:15 p.m. EST Jan. 8, 2009
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The incoming Obama administration on Thursday asked Congress to postpone the nationwide switch to digital television, saying too many Americans would lose their TV signals if the change takes place as planned in mid-February.
John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama's transition team, sent a letter to top lawmakers in the House and Senate requesting the delay until later in 2009. He said the government has not provided enough financial support and consumer information to make the planned switch.
"We have discovered major difficulties in the preparation for the February 17 conversion," Podesta wrote.
On Feb. 17, U.S. broadcasters are slated to switch from decades-old analog signals to digital transmission. Customers without satellite or cable hookups would lose the ability to receive over-the-air channels unless they connected a converter box to their TVs. The boxes convert digital signals to analog on older TV sets.
The federal government allotted about $1.5 billion for coupons to subsidize the purchase of converter boxes, but it's already run out of the $40 vouchers. More customers requested the coupons than the government expected and consumers have not been put on a waiting list. See here for more information.
Converter boxes sell for $50 or more in retail stores. Prices are eventually expected to fall but it could take awhile.
Critics also say the Bush administration has mishandled the transition, leaving millions of consumers in the dark about the planned switch. On Wednesday, the nonprofit group Consumers Union urged lawmakers to postpone the digital transition.
The decision by the president-elect's team to weigh in suggests a delay is increasingly likely. Leading lawmakers in the ruling Democratic Party such as Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., have already indicated a willingness to push back the digital switchover.
One alternative is to inject more money into the coupon program, but Consumers Union said there's not enough time ahead of the Feb. 17 date.
Some Republicans immediately voice objections. "Ditching the deadline and slathering on more millions of taxpayer dollars, however, is just panic," said Joe Barton, R-Texas
Digital broadcasts deliver a superior picture compared to analog and are ideally suited for high-definition televisions. Millions of consumers have purchased HDTVs over the past five years.
Cable and satellite boxes also convert analog signals to digital, so most cable and satellite customers do not need a converter box.

Truly amazing.  Let's not teach the people that wait till the last minute a lesson.  Bunch of fucking ardtards.

[Tarheel]

I actually have some cousins who live up in Pilot Mountain (North Carolina...yes, it is a real place) who have known about this digital switch for more than a year and still have yet to get a converter box...they refuse to get satellite and don't have cable in their area yet (as amazing as that sounds...it is still very rural and bucolic there).

[AUTiger1]

is my fucking problem?????

Truly amazing.  Let's not teach the people that wait till the last minute a lesson.  Bunch of fucking ardtards.

Of course it's your problem, you seem to be a responsible, gainfully employed, educated adult. 

He said the government has not provided enough financial support and consumer information to make the planned switch.

WTF, seriously?  Damn.........so is that what part of my taxes are going for?  So some bastard doesn't have the money to buy a converter box and now the government is going to pay for it or at least part of it.  Piss on that!  Shit, whilst we are at it, just let the government buy a HDTV for everyone?  Why not?  Lets give all the worthless tards out there anything they want, we might as well, b/c we are soon heading there.  Since when did watching TV become a right that should be provided to you by the government instead of the privilege it is?

[Saniflush]

Of course it's your problem, you seem to be a responsible, gainfully employed, educated adult. 

WTF, seriously?  Damn.........so is that what part of my taxes are going for?  So some bastard doesn't have the money to buy a converter box and now the government is going to pay for it or at least part of it.  Piss on that!  Shit, whilst we are at it, just let the government buy a HDTV for everyone?  Why not?  Lets give all the worthless tards out there anything they want, we might as well, b/c we are soon heading there.  Since when did watching TV become a right that should be provided to you by the government instead of the privilege it is?

It cost the fuckers a $20 spot to get one with the gubment coupon.  Once again, their lack of planning is not my problem.  TV is a luxury item. 

[AUTiger1]

It cost the fuckers a $20 spot to get one with the gubment coupon.  Once again, their lack of planning is not my problem.  TV is a luxury item. 

No it's not your problem, or Tarheels, mine, or anyone else's but their own.  What sickens me is the fact that instead of it being their own fault, be it, not buying a converter box on time, or from getting a loan that people know they have no business getting, it will be the folks like us that will be called upon to cough up more tax money to keep on helping them.   I have no issues helping those in need, and I have no real issue with the government helping those in need, but the lazy bastards that refuse help themselves I couldn't give two shits less about. 

If you can't afford $20 for a converter box, then honestly you need not watch TV until you can save up and afford one.

***Note, Those in need to me = those that are busting their ass and still struggle to make it.

[Tarheel]

No it's not your problem, or Tarheels, mine, or anyone else's but their own.  What sickens me is the fact that instead of it being their own fault, be it, not buying a converter box on time, or from getting a loan that people know they have no business getting, it will be the folks like us that will be called upon to cough up more tax money to keep on helping them.   I have no issues helping those in need, and I have no real issue with the government helping those in need, but the lazy bastards that refuse help themselves I couldn't give two shits less about. 

If you can't afford $20 for a converter box, then honestly you need not watch TV until you can save up and afford one.

***Note, Those in need to me = those that are busting their ass and still struggle to make it.

That describes my cousins who live in "Mt. Pilot".

If Congress hadn't stuck their fucking communal noses into "mandating technology changes" this issue would have solved itself in due time with no cost to the taxpayer...and consumers could upgrade at their own expense and in their own time; rather like the changes from Betamax to VHS to DVD to Blu-Ray to digital streaming for example.  Fucking Congress caused this issue and now, as it always seems, we all have to pay for it.

[Saniflush]

That describes my cousins who live in "Mt. Pilot".

If Congress hadn't stuck their fucking communal noses into "mandating technology changes" this issue would have solved itself in due time with no cost to the taxpayer...and consumers could upgrade at their own expense and in their own time; rather like the changes from Betamax to VHS to DVD to Blu-Ray to digital streaming for example.  Fucking Congress caused this issue and now, as it always seems, we all have to pay for it.

Congress caused the situation because there is all that bandwidth that they have been GIVING away for almost 70 years when they could sell/rent it to cell phone companies now.

[GarMan]

Don't you guys get it?  "Government is the answer!" 

Lose your job?  "Government is the answer!"
Lose your house?  "Government is the answer!"
Mismanage a multi-billion dollar company into the ground?  "Government is the answer!"
Sign up for a mortgage you can't afford?  "Government is the answer!"
Smell somebody's stinky tobacco smoke?  "Government is the answer!"
Cut your finger?  "Government is the answer!"
Shit yourself?  "Government is the answer!"
Need to blow your nose?  "Government is the answer!"
Need to wipe your butt?  "Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"

I hate fucking Democrats (aka Socialists)... 

[AUTiger1]

Don't you guys get it?  "Government is the answer!" 

Lose your job?  "Government is the answer!"
Lose your house?  "Government is the answer!"
Mismanage a multi-billion dollar company into the ground?  "Government is the answer!"
Sign up for a mortgage you can't afford?  "Government is the answer!"
Smell somebody's stinky tobacco smoke?  "Government is the answer!"
Cut your finger?  "Government is the answer!"
Shit yourself?  "Government is the answer!"
Need to blow your nose?  "Government is the answer!"
Need to wipe your butt?  "Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"
"Government is the answer!"

I hate fucking Democrats (aka Socialists)... 

I am right there with you.  I have issues with anyone who thinks that I am not smart enough to take care of my own money so they think they need to take it from me and decide what is best for it.  I also have issues with taking something that I have worked hard for and then just giving it to someone else.  Pisses me off to no end.  How many things has the government got involved with and pissed away that the private sector has taken and made it work?  The days of the old "dixiecrats" (who are still democrats, but still had a conservative bone or two left, notice I said a and two there) are over, they ended when McGovern came in along with his co-horts and pushed them out at the convention in 1968 (I think that was the year).  Ever since then they have been heading more and more left and the people are willing to follow them.  Why is beyond me, I just can't wrap my head around that way of thinking.

*Edit*  Tarheel or someone else, can you confirm 1968 being the year, that was when McGovern sought the party nomination after JFK was assassinated and LBJ was not running, and they decided to reform the party, correct?  Was a little before my time.

[ggraf71]

I don't understand "the Obama" blaming Bush for "leaving customers in the dark" about the switch. I swear I've been seeing those fucking conversion commercials for at least a year or two.

[AUTiger1]

I don't understand "the Obama" blaming Bush for "leaving customers in the dark" about the switch. I swear I've been seeing those fucking conversion commercials for at least a year or two.

You have, I know that 19, 31, 48 and 54 in Huntsville have been running them for at least a year.  My dad freaked out and called my brother and I wanting to know if he was going to have to cough up $$$ for a new TV.

[Tarheel]

I am right there with you.  I have issues with anyone who thinks that I am not smart enough to take care of my own money so they think they need to take it from me and decide what is best for it.  I also have issues with taking something that I have worked hard for and then just giving it to someone else.  Pisses me off to no end.  How many things has the government got involved with and pissed away that the private sector has taken and made it work?  The days of the old "dixiecrats" (who are still democrats, but still had a conservative bone or two left, notice I said a and two there) are over, they ended when McGovern came in along with his co-horts and pushed them out at the convention in 1968 (I think that was the year).  Ever since then they have been heading more and more left and the people are willing to follow them.  Why is beyond me, I just can't wrap my head around that way of thinking.

*Edit*  Tarheel or someone else, can you confirm 1968 being the year, that was when McGovern sought the party nomination after JFK was assassinated and LBJ was not running, and they decided to reform the party, correct?  Was a little before my time.

That was the year.  McGovern was compelled to run and McCarthy also ran that year as did then VP Hubert Humphrey (who won the nomination but lost the general election to Richard Nixon).  That was the convention that saw a major riot between the Chicago Police and Vietnam war protesters while the convention was underway (the good ole days...Democrats socialists on parade and in political disarray).

And, yes, at that convention a commission was established to "reform" the Democrat Party...the beginning of the road to socialism; which is what they are now in all but name (to paraphrase from Shakespeare..."a rose by any other name should smell as shitty".)

[Greaseyweasel]

I voted for Obama butI say flip the switch.
It won't take but a day or two for them to figure out how to get ahold of one of those boxes.
TV is their religion.

[RWS]

fuck me like a squirrel......so you're telling me that we've known about the switch for about 2 years now and in that time some folks couldn't muster up $40 to buy one of these boxes? i'm going to go out on a limb and say that if you can afford the internet and you can afford a computer to go onto the website to register for one of these coupons, you can probably afford to spend $40 over a two year time span. they need to be quick about this shit and not put it off......the public safety sector would love to have clearer radio signals and better frequencies.

[GarMan]

To be brutally honest, government shouldn't even have a fucking say in this.  Technology should be driven by industry and market conditions.  It's that populist/progressive ideology held by Democrats that throttles our society and prevents us from achieving the next great technological advancement.  This thing has already been postponed too many times, but The Obama and the rest of the Democratic Socialists will see to it that our nation's lowest common denominators continue to be coddled, nursed and stroked at everyone else’s expense.  Here come the Trillion Dollar deficits!  The Tax-and-Spenders are back, and this time, they have a chip on their shoulder and a cob up their ass! 

[GarMan]

I voted for Obama butI say flip the switch.

That oxymoron makes you an absolute MORON!  Admission is the first step to recovery... 

[Greaseyweasel]

Sorry G-man but to not have voted for a legitimate change would have been an admission of insanity.

[GarMan]

Sorry G-man but to not have voted for a legitimate change would have been an admission of insanity.

Change is one thing, but "change" for the worse?  I mean seriously, what "change" do you really expect?  I think we pretty much know what type of "change" is coming, and this situation is just another perfect example.  Here come more bailouts...  Here come 600,000 new government jobs with no revenue to pay for them...  Here come the Trillion Dollar deficits "for years to come"...  Here comes a bunch of old Clinton administration rejects to fill roles on the "new" Obama administration...  Here comes "Government is the answer!" to every single one of our personal, social and economic issues...  It's the Nanny-State, brought to you by elitist Democratic Socialists who know what's better for you, than you can possibly imagine. 

Government is NEVER the answer, and it's proven time and time again. 

[AUTiger1]

To be brutally honest, government shouldn't even have a fucking say in this.  Technology should be driven by industry and market conditions.  It's that populist/progressive ideology held by Democrats that throttles our society and prevents us from achieving the next great technological advancement. This thing has already been postponed too many times, but The Obama and the rest of the Democratic Socialists will see to it that our nation's lowest common denominators continue to be coddled, nursed and stroked at everyone else’s expense.  Here come the Trillion Dollar deficits!  The Tax-and-Spenders are back, and this time, they have a chip on their shoulder and a cob up their ass! 

Why is it so hard for some people to figure out that every time the government gets involved with something that it totally gets fucked up.  Let the free market determine things.   Well said GarMan.

Sorry G-man but to not have voted for a legitimate change would have been an admission of insanity.

Seriously dude, what legitimate change are we talking here?  The higher taxes we will all have to pay, the $500 million he is taking from NASA to federalize day care, the defense budget that he and his co-horts are planning on slashing by 40 to 60%.   Yeah, sounds like a good change to me, lets cut jobs at NASA, lets cut military spending so that our troops will not have the proper equipment, not to mention the thousands of jobs that contractors will lose.  John McCain was the weakest candidate I can remember and probably the weakest of all time, but to say that he was a 3rd term of Bush is stupid and laughable at best.  John McCain only supported Bush on the War and his tax cuts for the most part.  "2 fuckings things and he is Bush the 3rd term."  Fuck that, McCain was an enviro hippie, just like Obama, which people are too stupid to realize that the cap and trade legislation that both were for, not to mention the mandidates they are going to enforce are going to bankrupt us harder and faster than war in Iraq, Afghanistan's, SS spending, or a piss poor Medicare Rx plan.

I hated McCain as a candidate, and I would have had to fight against him like hell as well.  I just wouldn't have had to fought as hard and that his plan was better for me than this change that everyone else was voting for.

Have you seen the spending that the man wants to do?  The numbers don't add up, we have a deficit to pay back and he wants to spend gobs of money.  He has to get that money somewhere and it is going to come from our asses getting taxed to death (along with other cuts in shit that is going to cause more problems).  I just hope that history really does repeat itself in this case.  If he fucks things up as bad as Jimmah Carter, as I think he will, then hopefully I will only have to live through four years of hell before I get myself another Ronald Reagan. 

[Tarheel]

Sorry G-man but to not have voted for a legitimate change would have been an admission of insanity.

I don't need to add any more to what GarMan and AUTiger1 wrote but I'd like to paraphrase from a relevant quote from the great stock investor Sir John Templeton who once said "The four most dangerous words [in politics] are: 'This time it's different'"; which is similarly-themed to a famous quote from Reagan which you will find below.