What to do with a tax refund
According to CNN, the Senate just passed the economic stimulus package passed by the House (plus some changes). Passage is expected to be 'swift'.
We've already discussed what our $1200 is going to be used for. It'll be used to pay for an unfunded federal mandate: a digital TV.
In case you hadn't heard, the FCC is forcing over the air television broadcasts to go all digital real soon now. HD TV is a digital signal, and is the one remaining reason households have TV antennas in this modern era of cable and satellite TV. What the feds are not doing is paying for new TVs, instead they gave the TV stations long enough to get there that 'market forces' would force the change.
And it kind of has. A lot of my friends have HD TV now. The 'early adopters' out there, who plonked down $2000+ for a TV, may need to upgrade though. Those people who still have analog TVs can use a converter box to switch the signals. Those of us with cable or satellite TV already have one, and we won't even notice the change.
We're still using the same 27" CRT we bought in December of 1998. Works great, and fits in the entertainment center. This federal windfall is something we can use to upgrade it, though. It'll pay for the TV and part of a new entertainment center since the current one won't support the now-default widescreen form-factor. See us, stimulating the economy of two countries!
Addendum: It would appear that the Feds ARE subsidizing some of the conversion.
We've already discussed what our $1200 is going to be used for. It'll be used to pay for an unfunded federal mandate: a digital TV.
In case you hadn't heard, the FCC is forcing over the air television broadcasts to go all digital real soon now. HD TV is a digital signal, and is the one remaining reason households have TV antennas in this modern era of cable and satellite TV. What the feds are not doing is paying for new TVs, instead they gave the TV stations long enough to get there that 'market forces' would force the change.
And it kind of has. A lot of my friends have HD TV now. The 'early adopters' out there, who plonked down $2000+ for a TV, may need to upgrade though. Those people who still have analog TVs can use a converter box to switch the signals. Those of us with cable or satellite TV already have one, and we won't even notice the change.
We're still using the same 27" CRT we bought in December of 1998. Works great, and fits in the entertainment center. This federal windfall is something we can use to upgrade it, though. It'll pay for the TV and part of a new entertainment center since the current one won't support the now-default widescreen form-factor. See us, stimulating the economy of two countries!
Addendum: It would appear that the Feds ARE subsidizing some of the conversion.
posted by Corwin at 2:32 PM
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