You would think the goverment would have better things to do than interfere with television programming.
I wouldn't, and neither would they. Business is what everything comes down to, especially with a Republican government. We'll see if this HD thing changes when the new Congress takes over.
We're always being manoevered by corporations into having to buy more and more sophisticated devices, and they seem to always want to shut out and ignore the bottom end of the market who will never be able to afford them. They always try to tailor the economy for those who can spend more and more, including people who really can't afford it, and use credit to do it. Living beyond our means drives the economy. Making it impossible to watch non-HD signals makes that happen.
It never really works. They can invalidate and ignore the poor, and hope they go away, but they'll always be a very large market, as long as they're dealt with realistically, which can't be ignored---as long as business doesn't try to sell HDTV to them. Unfortunately the vices of the poor are marketed to, mostly... malt liquor, cigarettes, Red Bull, etc..-- the things that distract you from desperate circumstances. Oh, illegal drugs too.