Digital TV bill could face new vote, thanks to typo
February 9th, 2006The ink is barely dry on the digital TV transition plan signed by the president yesterday, but already we have word of a potential setback.
Because of a “clerical error,” the House and Senate passed slightly different versions of the budget reconciliation bill, according to Reuters. The affected portion was unrelated to digital television, but the DTV plan was part of the budget bill.
While such glitches are usually handled quietly, this time the Democrats may try to force a re-vote. Democratic lawmakers who are unhappy with GOP spending cuts affecting the poor may seize the opportunity to voice their displeasure. (Consumer subsidies for digital-to-analog converters, which fall short of covering all affected TVs, have also drawn Democratic complaints.) However, the vote may be limited to “a narrow part of the [budget] bill—not the entire measure,” The Hill reports.
Merrilee says:
March 17th, 2007 at 2:29 am
The reason for the switch to Digital has to do with profits for Electronics Co.’s selling new TV’s to poor people or $200.00 converter boxes as well as the sale of high priced bandwidth’s by the government.