DTV bill passes House by two votes
The final tally in the House today was 216 for and 214 against. Surprised? After hearing the details, you probably won't be, since this type of situation happens all the time. What we affectionately and informally call "the DTV bill" was actually a very small part of the Deficit Reduction Act, as it's officially known.
The DRA is a $39 billion approach to cutting the deficit, which has nothing to do with DTV, right? Actually, it does in a strange sort of way. Remember that the government plans to auction off some of the unused analog spectrum, so the estimated $10 billion raised by the auction helps on the income side of the equation. As far as expenses go, the bill allocates $1.5 billion for subsidies up to $80 towards each digital converter for the millions of analog sets still expected in 2009. Politics, politics, politics...
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