[opendtv] Re: Digital age 'may mean no TV for poor' [UK]
- From: "John Shutt" <shuttj@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 21 Sep 2004 17:40:29 -0400
I believe the current license fee for a colo(u)r television is 121 gbp.
The current license fee is collected by a private agency on behalf of the
BBC. It does not go directly into the government coffers, and any break on
the license fee would have to be made up by the government or else the Beeb
would have a serious operating fund shortfall.
If one wanted to offer a government subsidized STB to the poor, then it
could offer a 30 gbp break on the license fee for 3 years to everybody.
That way the early adopters aren't penalized for buying early.
In any case, if you wish to be fair to the poor, then eliminate the TV
license fee altogether, which is a regressive tax, and replace it with a
progressive income tax. (In other words, bump the income tax rates by a
fraction of a percentage to pay for the Beeb.) Low or no income families
pay no income tax, and therefore would pay no license fee. Higher income
families would pay according to their ability.
It'll never happen.
John Shutt
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Willkie" <johnwillkie@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 1:04 PM
Subject: [opendtv] Re: Digital age 'may mean no TV for poor' [UK]
> Well, then, you'll just have to stop collecting the licence fee from those
> folk.
>
> (Do the math, idiots: give them a 99 pound (or less) STB, or forsake a 175
> pound annual licence fee.) This is the government arguing with itself,
> and
> using the public prints to scare people in the process.
>
> John Willkie
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
