Because TV is an Essential Right to be Safeguarded for All Americans...

...we have this:

Millions of $40 government coupons become available Tuesday to help low-tech television owners buy special converter boxes for older TVs that might not work after the switch to digital broadcasting.

The networks are switching their over-the-air broadcasts from analog to digital signals, which will make some older TVs into very bulky paperweights.

The good news: You can get a brand-new digital TV at Best Buy for $139.

More good news: If that's too rich for your blood, you can continue using your old TV by buying a converter for fifty to seventy dollars.

The bad news: the federal government wants to help pay for the converters. Or, less euphemistically, it wants to force people who
(a) have already upgraded or
(b) don't watch TV
to pay for people to keep their old TV sets.

Yes, Congress has set aside $1.5 billion for 33.5 million of these $40 coupons. That's $1.34 billion in coupons and another $160 million for "other expenses" -- i.e., to establish the bureaucracy that will administer the coupons.

That's the equivalent of 10,791,367 of those TVs from Best Buy -- and 1,151,079 of those TVs are just for the administration costs.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration will allow two coupons per household, so this could -- in theory -- affect over 16 million households.*

Let's do a little math: 1.5 billion dollars divided among 16 million households = $93.75 per household. This government program will actually cost more than if we just gave each of the affected households one converter box -- but forces that cost onto the other 93% of the population that has already upgraded or doesn't watch TV.

I want to know what part of managing the radio frequency spectrum requires the US government to pay for a private citizen's choice to not upgrade his equipment.

What else could we do with that $1.5 billion? I say we should let citizens spend it for themselves. They'll often spend extra money on luxury goods like TV sets. And when they invest in new TVs, they'll be investing in the production of the latest-and-greatest technology instead of dead-on-arrival converters for old technology.

This is a clear case in which limited government would result in less-limited technology.

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* That's 7% of the total US households in 2005, and 14% of the "total television households" in the nation (112.8 million per the Nielsen Co.).

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