V-chip requirement another example of federal meddling

Thursday, Feb. 29, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Well, surprise, surprise, voters, every television already comes with three versions of the V-chip, the channel selector, the on-and-off switch and, most important, the parents who control it, if they care to.

See, the fallacy of the V-chip is, someone has to program it to eliminate what he or she doesn't want his child to see. So the parents who discipline their children now are the people who will take the time to program the chip, and the people who don't care about what their child watches now won't take the time to program the chip, assuming they'll buy a TV with the chip in it.

Oh, by the way, the V-chip will add $50 to $100 to the cost of a television, and, yes, the V-chip law mandates that all new TV sets will have it in by a certain date.

So, once again, we all have to pay to bring up children whose parents don't care about them or don't want to take the time to discipline them to not watch "offensive" shows on TV. Remember, the Clinton administration knows what's good for you voters. You don't have a mind of your own, nor do you on Election Day.

Jim Stolfi