By Jim McCarthy Feb 17, 2009 3 comments

Perhaps the Worst Use of Money Ever…

As you might know, I’m not a fan of a so-called “arts bailout” or “arts stimulus.”

But I do find it a little hard to get upset by the paltry $50 million given to arts organizations in the now-signed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Not because that’s not real money and not because I think it’s going to be used effectively, but because of this:


“President Barack Obama is expected Tuesday to sign the economic stimulus package that containts $650 million for the coupon program and associated DTV education and outreach efforts.”

$650 million for those little boxes that convert your analog TV into a digital TV.  Seriously?

Would it be so bad to ask people, the few who both use terrestrial antennas and still care about watching TV, to plunk down $30 to buy a converter box?

Compared to this, throwing money at the arts business looks positively Jeffersonian!

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Reddit
  • Twitter
  • Yahoo! Buzz

3 Comments

  • canli tv izle
    December 4th, 2010

    Howdy! I have just found an page – tv izle, I think You could visit it too!

  • Felipe Blankenberg
    December 6th, 2010

    Amazing article. Did you study the related piece in the Huffington Post some time again? It seems that increasingly more mainstream media are paying attention to this. I hope your website gets more and more subscribers as this problem gets much more coverage, as it is a great resource.

  • Lauren Dezeeuw
    December 7th, 2010

    This is this kind of a fantastic useful resource that you’re offering and also you give it absent free of charge. I love seeing internet websites that understand the worth of providing a quality resource free of charge. It?s the old what goes about arrives around routine.