In The News

In the news today, they discussed the Obama Spending Bill. Apparently, the Senate has given up de-porking the one that came to them from the House, and is now going to vote on one THEY came up with instead, that didn't have Obama pushing it.
Obama has made a statement saying that he's not averse to pruning out the unneeded stuff in the bill, but that his "stimulus package" must be approved soon because after all, his priorities are to quickly get tax relief for the middle class and job creation out there to us, the poor American Sheep.
Scuse me, Mr. Obama, which part of your stimulus package is about "tax relief for the middle class" or "job creation"? Is it the National Endowment for the Arts rider? The global warming research? Carbon-capture demonstration projects? No, it's not about tax relief, job creation or even "economic stimulus" to the American public. It's about railroading a bunch of pet projects through with the TITLE of "economic stimulus" and hoping that the Congress will be so afraid to look bad by not passing a bill labeled "Economic Stimulus" that they'll agree to anything. But, as one Congressman said, "The American People are figuring out what this bill is. It's not a Stimulus Package - it's a Spending Package."
Yes...yes we are.

Also in the news, they're also voting to delay the digital-TV rollout another 4 months. Evidently some people aren't prepared yet, so Congress wishes to give them 4 more months to prepare for it. Because, y'know, the MEDIA BLITZ of "get your digital converter or get cable or a dish by FEBRUARY OF 2009" for the past year and more wasn't enough. Apparently if they have been ignoring the warnings, news reports, and heck text scroll and crawlers plastered all over their favorite shows EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for the past year, giving them four more months to ignore the crawlers will make a huge difference, they will see the Error Of Their Ways and purchase a converter box.
Two thoughts on this:
1) Television is not a RIGHT. Get over it. If you can't watch your precious precious Oprah and Maury after the switch, then go buy a damn converter. Missed out on the coupons? Tough weasels - you had over a YEAR to apply for one of those, too. Sucks to be you. Listen to the radio. I'm sure Bob and Tom will fill all your intellectual needs.
2) The people who are not prepared by now, absolutely won't get the message in another 4 months. Some people simply won't bother until they are forced to by circumstance. Why screw up the people who are counting on those extra frequencies to be available in two weeks just for the sake of people who have been willfully ignoring the warnings, news stories, crawlers, etc. for the past year? The extra 4 months won't make a difference to them - they'll continue on, fat and happy, until their analog signal goes away. And then they'll either do something about it or learn to live without.