[Pikamax]

I checked out the page and I got this spam image to put in,

[mtbopfuyn]

What the hey? And it says, “stop spam read books”???

So, is there really a government coupon or not? Why is the government giving away my tax dollars again?

[KarlInOhio]

If the federales are only distributing a limited number of coupons, maybe we could save them money by requesting and then not using them. Each unused coupon would be $40 the feds don't spend.

Off to request a couple coupons.

[rabidralph]

How can someone own a TV and not be able to come up with 40-70 dollars for the set-top box? Maybe they should start saving now? This is ridiculous. If they just cut out the purchase of two cartons of cigarettes, they’ll have the money for the set-top box.

[Moonman62]

The coupons expire in three months and so far there are no boxes on the market.

[Kickass Conservative]

“The giveaway basically works under the honour system.”

Yeah, that will work. Wonder if you have to prove you’re a citizen to get the coupon. SARCASM with extreme prejudice.

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Has anyone gotten a coupon yet? I keep getting "unexpected error" messages with a return to the home screen. It looks like the fix is in!

Regards,
GtG

[Ratblaster]

I tried several times. The response words have a lot of Middle Eastern references. Methinks that the site has been hacked.

[firewalk]

bttt

[Yaelle]

This must be for illegals. Lower income Americans have better TVs than I do.

[Alouette]

“Israeli Responsibility”

[Hot Tabasco]

So I get my coupons, go to an electronics store and buy whatever I want using the coupons. The merchant simply redeems them with the govt. for his payment. Sounds simple enough unless the govt is going to require additional proof from the merchant that a converter box was actually sold...........if thats the case, thats going to be a heck of a lot of paperwork for the govt. agency assigned to this.

[Think free or die]

I tried it online twice and failed both times. Then I called the phone number in the article and it went through smoothly using an automated system. I can’t say I liked the fact that when I called on my home phone, my address and name were already linked to my phone number - a bit too much “big brother” for my taste. It was quick and easy though.

[savedbygrace]

The U.S. Congress, in ordering the transition to digital broadcasting, set aside $1.5 billion for the coupon program, which will fund 33.5 million coupons and other costs.

33.5 million times $40 is $1.34 billion.

And the other $160 million was, oh I don't know, PORK?

[LongTimeMILurker]

Think of all the pollution that the disposal of NTSC TVs that no longer work will create. This transition has disaster written all over it, in many many ways. The converters are presently way too expensive. The coupon limitation is ridiculous, when you think about how much money was wasted on NTSC TVs over the years that still work but are trashed and will be trashed. It’s like throwing money away. How much does it cost to make the tuner section of an HDTV set? That’s what we should get the converters for. The 40 dollar coupon won’t come close. And I still say NTSC isn’t that bad a standard. BTW, I own an HDTV with a digital tuner, and a converter that stopped working that I paid 300 dollars for a few years ago. Any volunteers to fix it for the cost of shipping and handling?

[The Electrician]

When health care and education costs are subsidized with “free money” by the government, prices tend to rise because of the availability of additional money chasing those goods. Is that going to happen to the price of the converter boxes, or is some other law (of economics) counteracting that tendency? Perhaps there will be too much competition among the (Chinese) manufacturers to permit the price to rise.

[SunkenCiv]

“israeli responsibility” was the phrase to type in? Condi running this operation?

Anyway, pingworthy?

[visualops]

The site is fine, but I got an error in Firefox so used IE with no problem earlier today. They send you the coupon when then boxes go on the market, they then are good for a limited time. The boxes will supposedly run $70-90. So the coupons will be a big help to those of us who can't afford a new TV or for whom the box will be expensive. So those of you who request a coupon who already have a digital TV and don't need it are___________.

[The Louiswu]

http://www.dtv2009.gov/

the site seems to be tied up, I cannot get on. Anyone else having this problem?