Life, Liberty, and Television

We all have inherent rights. First are the God given inalienable rights that no government has the right to take away. Then come the civil rights, identified by this government as just. These rights do receive different definitions over time, hence the ability to amend the Constitution. One right we are now entitled to, according to the United States Congress, is the right to digital television channels.

George Will writes more extensively on this topic. He points out the cost of ensuring all Americans have the ability to receive digital channels by use of a converter box or a new television is approximately three billion tax payer dollars. This subsidy does not discriminate on the basis of income. A millionaire and “your Aunt Emma in her wee apartment” are both applicable for the same amount of money.

In the end, we have three billion dollars of pork to ensure a “right” that all Americans will receive television broadcasts in digital. Since two slight variations of this measure passed both the House and the Senate, it makes me wonder just where our country is headed.