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spamd
Premium
join:2001-04-22
Rockford, IL | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail Can't wait until Feb 17 gets here. So we can stop wasting money and time on this issue. | |
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AMDUSER
Premium
join:2003-05-28
Earth
clubs: | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail I've got a better idea, how about we turn off the analog right now. If they haven't prepared by now, the people with analog OTA probably will not be ready come Febuary. | |
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ropeguru
Premium
join:2001-01-25
Bridgeport, WV
clubs:
 ·VOIPo
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by AMDUSER  :I've got a better idea, how about we turn off the analog right now. If they haven't prepared by now, the people with analog OTA probably will not be ready come Febuary. Agreed.. Cause if they cannot afford a $49 set top box, then maybe they need to be out working and not sitting around watching TV. | |
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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail Says the person not on a fixed income...which is really what the program was suppose to help with. | |
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Juke Box
Free From Marketing
Premium
join:2001-01-29
Bar & Grill
 ·Comcast
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail It has nothing to do with fixed income or not. It has to do with the goberment wanting to to take all the analogue signals for their selves. The point is that every American that watches tv or not will have to switch. Period.
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If you are having half as much fun as I am, then I must be having twice the fun than you are. Do The Math! | |
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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
1 edit | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by Juke Box :It has to do with the goberment wanting to to take all the analogue signals for their selves. First of all, it's there analog bandwidth to begin with ultimately. And if they were taking it for themselves, why would they auction it back off, to others? A better technology came about (DTV) and they are making use of it. Without them doing this, the analog spectrum would continued to be use forever as there would be no incentive for stations to switch.
The point is that every American that watches tv or not will have to switch. Period. Well, if they don't watch TV, they don't exactly have anything to switch.
And for the ones that do... Cable TV and Satellite have 65m customers. Dish Network has about 13.7m and DirecTV right around 20m. So that makes about 98.7m subscribers out of approximiately 112m households or 88%. Those subscribers would NOT need converter boxes unless they had a TV that was not hooked up.
I'm not saying that you can only benefit from the program if you are on fixed income. My reply was to the post by ropeguru that says that if people can't afford a $49 STB that they need to be out working and not sitting around watching TV.
I'm not going to have sympathy for some DINK that is bitching and complaining that he isn't getting his $50 discount on his home entertainment center's 5th tuner. But for the elderly widow that is barely scraping by on a monthly social security check and would need to decide between food, medicines, or a $50 cable box, that is what I beleive this program really should have been for. | |
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ropeguru
Premium
join:2001-01-25
Bridgeport, WV
clubs: | Then it should have denied all those people not on fixed incomes the coupons. | |
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| | | | k1ll3rdr4g0n
join:2005-03-19
Homer Glen, IL
| said by cdru :Says the person not on a fixed income...which is really what the program was suppose to help with. I think anyone here can afford $50. Credit cards anyone...
Oh..umm...sorry  .
But really, ropeguru does have a point, $50 for a box that lets you watch TV and should last you years doesn't cost you that much is pretty good. Consider the cost of a DVR or a cable set-top box. Plus you get more channels, and clearer, with DTV, so its kinda a no brainier. If you really can't afford $50, talk to your neighbors to see if they will loan you money, setup an outreach program, do something...just don't complain about it. Don't make the problem worse, always work towards the solution to the problem and you will go far. | |
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John Galt
Forward, March
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
 ·CenturyLink
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by tschmidt :Coupon program is not taxpayer funded.As part of the digital TV transition FCC auctioned UHF channels 52-69. Auction generated billions in revenue. To compensate people for making analog TV obsolete a small portion of this revenue is being used to fund the coupon program. /tom What Tom said...
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A is A | |
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| | keyboard5684
join:2001-08-01
Youngsville, PA | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail All I got out of that was...
"SMALL portion of this revenue" | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| said by tschmidt :Coupon program is not taxpayer funded. If that is true (I don't believe that anything touched by Uncle Sam costs taxpayers nothing), then the buyers of the spectrum should have run the coupon program themselves, or better yet, just give the money to the companies making the boxes so they could be sold for less to begin with, instead of going through this coupon crap.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! | |
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USF Victim
@comcast.net
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by pnh102 :.... snip ..., then the buyers of the spectrum should have run the coupon program themselves, or better yet, just give the money to the companies making the boxes so they could be sold for less to begin with, instead of going through this coupon crap. OMG, NO NO NO! The telcos bought most of the spectrum. They would have raped the public harder than the government. | |
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| | fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20 | Oh cool! you're a comedian today too! lol
AT&T trusted to run a program that benefits the competition? hah! Seriously.. I am normally thinking the way you do.. but this one is way hard for me to support you on. | |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail Well it sounds like a great idea to me. We give AT&T the $80 per household. Let AT&T run the program, selling the boxes for the $9.99 difference in price between the "coupon" and the retail price. Then they can tack on a "box service fee", a "digital transition recovery fee", and a "paper billing fee", along with some taxes and a USF fee, bringing the customer's total back up to $49.99.
They can then use the surplus of funds to buy the next FCC head and commissioners the way they have with Martin, ensuring "consumer friendly" regulation for years to come.
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Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/2x 2048Mb G.Skill/Seagate 750.10/EVGA 8800GT's SLI/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler | |
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| axus
join:2001-06-18
Washington, DC | That's like arguing that spending money from your checking account is different than spending money from your savings account | |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26
·Embarq
| said by tschmidt :Coupon program is not taxpayer funded. As part of the digital TV transition FCC auctioned UHF channels 52-69. Auction generated billions in revenue. To compensate people for making analog TV obsolete a small portion of this revenue is being used to fund the coupon program. You have evidently interjected mitigating fact into a topic worthy of hate speak.
Housekeeping has been alerted.
** Disregard the quoted message and continue berating your fellow human beings **
Thank you
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BinaryXtreme
join:2004-04-20
Sparks, NV
·Charter Pipeline
| I totally agree. Isn't television entertainment? Why not government coupons for me to go to the movies and play miniature golf. Oh yes, bowling and golf certificates should be mandatory too. Not to mention that this is pretty clear. If you can't understand the conversion, let me give you some advice.
1. Turn off your television.
2. Unplug it from the wall.
3. Get a rubber mallet.
4. Start bashing yourself in the head with the mallet. That is your new free form of entertainment. Also, don't worry about any brain damage from the head blows because it really doesn't make a difference when one has no thought process to begin with. | |
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Titus Pullo
I came, I saw, I slept
join:2004-06-26 | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail I have a New Years Resolution for you.
Read. The. Linked. Article. Before. Posting. Drivel.
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BinaryXtreme
join:2004-04-20
Sparks, NV | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail That's why this is posted. The problem is either you don't know how or just regret to see who I responded to so stop your drivel. | |
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disconnected
@sbcglobal.net
| said by BinaryXtreme :I totally agree. Isn't television entertainment? Why not government coupons for me to go to the movies and play miniature golf. Oh yes, bowling and golf certificates should be mandatory too. Not to mention that this is pretty clear. If you can't understand the conversion, let me give you some advice. 1. Turn off your television. 2. Unplug it from the wall. 3. Get a rubber mallet. 4. Start bashing yourself in the head with the mallet. That is your new free form of entertainment. Also, don't worry about any brain damage from the head blows because it really doesn't make a difference when one has no thought process to begin with. But don't you get it? Television is the primary means by which the government controls its subjects through big media propaganda. They can't afford to lose that segment of the population who watches TV, because they are the most impressionable and trusting of the government to do right in its infinite wisdom.  | |
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BinaryXtreme
join:2004-04-20
Sparks, NV | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail So true. | |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| said by pnh102 :Since when is it the taxpayers' responsibility to guarantee peoples' "right" to watch TV anyway? If people who watch TV care enough about the long-overdue DTV transition, they can go take care of this themselves. No taxpayer $ were used for this. Maybe next time getting some FACTS before posting stupidity would be good. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by BF69 :No taxpayer $ were used for this. Maybe next time getting some FACTS before posting stupidity would be good. Yes, you should.
If you bothered to read the article, which clearly you didn't, because you posted this idiocy, you would have learned that the government is being asked to pump more money into the program. Where does government get its money from?
I'll type it real slow so you understand... the government gets its money from taxpayers.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! | |
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BK
join:2001-09-10
Wheaton, IL | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail Umm.. maybe you should do a little research...
The money came from auctioning off spectrum to companies. So definitely not taxpayers. | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by BK :Umm.. maybe you should do a little research... The money came from auctioning off spectrum to companies. So definitely not taxpayers. Again.
The linked article is stating that the government is being asked to pour more money into this program over and beyond what was original provided by the companies to pay for the coupons.
Again.
The government gets its money from taxpayers.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! | |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: This Program Deserves To Fail He's just ignorant of the issue. The auction raised $19.6 billion of which $1.34 bill was used for coupons. Even another $1 bil would be NOTHING. especially considering the government was only expecting to get $10 bil in the first place. | |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| said by pnh102 :said by BF69 :No taxpayer $ were used for this. Maybe next time getting some FACTS before posting stupidity would be good. Yes, you should. If you bothered to read the article, which clearly you didn't, because you posted this idiocy, you would have learned that the government is being asked to pump more money into the program. Where does government get its money from? I'll type it real slow so you understand... the government gets its money from taxpayers. Boy even more stupidity.
A) it has been PROVEN that the money for these coupons are NOT taxpayer funded.
B) The extra money will come from the same source as the original funds.
just how more stupid do you want to make yourself look.
please do RESEARCH before posting.
Also I find the people that whine the most about taxpayer dollars hardly pay any taxes at all, if any. | |
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whocares
Premium
join:2003-07-26
..
| Since when is it the taxpayers' responsibility to guarantee peoples' "right" to watch TV anyway?
MAYBE someone can tell me, WHEN did watching a tv or even local channels BECOME A RIGHT that people in the USA have?
watching or owning a tv is not a necessity item,(like food,water,rct)
jazzy
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That being kind is more important than being right.
but some people think they are never wrong
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tschmidt
Premium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
 ·Hollis Hosting
·Verizon Online DSL
·Fairpoint Communic..
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by whocares :MAYBE someone can tell me, WHEN did watching a tv or even local channels BECOME A RIGHT that people in the USA have? That is not the right we are talking about, but I assume you know that and were making a rhetorical comment.
Might want to check out the 5th amendment. I've highlighted the relevant section.
quote:
Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
»www.usconstitution.net/const.html
/tom | |
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| Necronomikro
join:2005-09-01
| said by whocares :Since when is it the taxpayers' responsibility to guarantee peoples' "right" to watch TV anyway? MAYBE someone can tell me, WHEN did watching a tv or even local channels BECOME A RIGHT that people in the USA have? watching or owning a tv is not a necessity item,(like food,water,rct) jazzy Government auctioned off spectrum, making private property effectively worthless. As a compensation, they are 'fixing' some of them, using the money earned from the sale to give converter boxes to users. | |
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Dogfather
Premium
join:2007-12-26
Laguna Hills, CA
2 edits | It's the government's responsibility since it's the gov't "breaking" their TV's and same gov't who made nearly $20B off of spectrum auctions. They can kick in a few more bucks from the DTV auction revenues for coupons. | |
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fiberguy
My views are my own.
Premium
join:2005-05-20
| Why? .. becuase THE PEOPLE own the frequency and it's about time the people actually get to share in the profits of a sale of something we all own.
FAR better to go into the people's hands when the guv forces many people's property obsolete at the stroke of a pen.
Besides, we all bitch about unfunded mandates, we finally get one that's funded and people bitch?
Damn if you do, damn if you don't eh?
By the way, your first line contradicts:
"Since when is it the taxpayers' responsibility to guarantee peoples' "right" to watch TV anyway?"
WE THE PEOPLE are not only the taxpayers, but we the people are also the government, and last I checked, OTA television IS a right to all people.
You also try to then justify your issue by saying it's a timing issue that if you haven't prepared by now then basically "screw you" then..
Your anger in this issue dominates your ability to be rational.
At some point, the government needs to stop consuming the people's resources. This is one program that is a good start. They used the money from the sales to fund this.. I think it's perfectly fine what they did in this case.
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goalieskates
join:2004-09-12
Knoxville, TN
·Knology
·Comcast
| said by pnh102 :Since when is it the taxpayers' responsibility to guarantee peoples' "right" to watch TV anyway? If people who watch TV care enough about the long-overdue DTV transition, they can go take care of this themselves. Since the taxpayers who were perfectly satisfied with tv as it was were forced to give up perfectly working sets. You mandate change, you make it possible.
The government made an enormous profit on this deal, it wasn't done out of kindness. And I doubt very much you care about "the taxpayers". | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by goalieskates :Since the taxpayers who were perfectly satisfied with tv as it was were forced to give up perfectly working sets. You mandate change, you make it possible. Oh poo. Technology changes. On another thread, it is being claimed that AT&T is dumping part of its EDGE service in favor of 3G. Should the government (or AT&T for that matter) be required to subsidize new 3G phones for the affected users?
What about when we dumped AMPS last year? Why was there no massive government coupon program to get the last of the AMPS users to newer cell phones?
If TV is that important to someone, they will upgrade, on their own. If you can afford to own a TV, you can afford to pay the full price of a converter box.
I also take this angle, as pointed out on The Simpsons awhile back: "TV Networks give you thousands of hours of entertainment for free, what do they owe you?"
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! | |
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Camelot One
Premium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Sarasota, FL
clubs:
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by pnh102 :Yes, AT&T should absolutely be required to subsidize new 3G phones for those who signed - and are still under - contracts with the older phones. --
Intel Q6600 @3400Mhz/GA-EP35-DS3P/2x 2048Mb G.Skill/Seagate 750.10/EVGA 8800GT's SLI/Silverstone 850W/Custom water cooler | |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| said by pnh102 :Since when is it the taxpayers' responsibility to guarantee peoples' "right" to watch TV anyway? If people who watch TV care enough about the long-overdue DTV transition, they can go take care of this themselves. the cellphone companies should be funding this because they're what this move to digital is all about.
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When I gez aju zavateh na nalechoo more new yonooz tonigh molinigh - Ken Lee | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| Re: This Program Deserves To Fail said by RR Conductor :Man, you should move to Somalia, where they have no pesky government programs to annoy, of course, you'll have to deal with being shot at, starved and other nice things. Funny you mention that. There never seems to be a cop around when you need one, unless it is to give you a traffic ticket.
I know that policing is not a federal responsibility, but the fact that the government is being asked to pay for entertainment (be it in the form of expanded TV coupon subsidies, stadiums, etc.) while government services that should be provided suffer say a lot about spending priorities in this country.
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Blagojevich / Madoff 2012! | |
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burgessms
join:2002-05-29
Los Angeles, CA
| said by pnh102 :Since when is it the taxpayers' responsibility to guarantee peoples' "right" to watch TV anyway? If people who watch TV care enough about the long-overdue DTV transition, they can go take care of this themselves. Since the gummiment decided to change the pre-existing scheme, and not have it be backwards compatible. Like adding color to TV, or stereo to FM. The gummiment is makeing a bundle from the airwave auction, and so they should actually pay the whole bill to convert my existing built in TV. I'm glad they will cover a good chunk of it with the coupon. | |
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This Program Deserves To Fail
