They Voted For You: Digital Delay

U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-2nd, helped defeat a Senate-passed bill that aimed to "delay the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting to June 12," The Associated Press reports.

Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-1st, and Nick Rahall, D-3rd, voted for the motion to suspend rules and take up the measure, but the 258-168 margin was not enough.

Republicans opposed to the bill argued that "postponing the transition from the current Feb. 17 deadline would confuse consumers," the AP article said. "The defeat is a setback for President Barack Obama and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who maintain that the Bush administration bungled efforts to ensure that all consumers -- particularly poor, rural and low-income Americans -- will be ready for next month's analog shut-off."

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill, said "a delay is the only way to ensure that millions of Americans don't see their television screens go dark next month," the article continues. "The Nielsen Co. estimates more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals still are not prepared for the transition."