The Fairness Doctrine, which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) implemented in 1949 to require broadcasters to present both sides of controversial issues, became less relevent as cable TV exploded in the 1980s. So the FCC dropped the rule in 1987, but it never implemented it - that is, until August 22nd of this year.
The agency formally dumped more than 80 media industry regulations. Other rules the FCC tossed include the "broadcast flag" digital copy protection rule that courts overturned and those pertaining to the cable programming service tier rate.
Monday's action constituted part of the commission's response to an executive order from President Barack Obama implementing a "government-wide review of regulations already on the books" to strike unnecessary rules.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Its ugly, its messy... its democracy
By Charles Krauthammer
Of all the endlessly repeated conventional wisdom in today's Washington, the most lazy, stupid and ubiquitous is that our politics is broken. On the contrary. Our political system is working well (I make no such claims for our economy), indeed, precisely as designed - profound changes in popular will translated into law that alters political direction.
The process has been messy, loud, disputious and often rancorous. So what? In the end, the system works. Exhibit A is Wisconsin. Exhibit B is Washington itself.
The story begins in 2008. The country, having lost confidence in Republican governance, gives the Democrats full controlofWashington. The new president, deciding not to waste a crisis, attempts a major change in the nation's ideological trajectory. Hence his two signature pieces of legislation: a near-$1 trillion stimulus, the largest spending bill in galactic history; and a health-care reform that places one-sixth of the economy under federal control.
In a country where conservatives outnumber liberals 2-1, this causes a reaction. In the 2010 misterms, Democrats suffer a massive repudiation at every level. In Washington, Democrats suffer the greatest loss of House seats since 1948. In the states, they lose more than 700 state legislative seats - the largest reversal ever - resulting in the loss of 20 state chambers.
The tea-party-propelled, debt conscious Republicans then move to confront their states' unsustainable pension and health-care obligations - most boldly in Wisconsin, where the new governor proposes a radical reorientation of the power balance between public-sector unions and elected government.
In Madison, the result is general mayhem - the drum-banging protestors, frenzied unions, statehouse occupations, opposition legislators fleeing the state to prevent a quorum. A veritable feast of creative democratic resistance.
In the end, they fail. The legislation passes.
Then, further resistance. First, Democrats turn an otherwise sleepy state Supreme Court election into a referendum on the union legislation, the Democrats' candidate being widely expected to overturn the law. The unions/Democrats lose again.
And then last Tuesday, recall elections for six Republican state senators, three being needed to return the Senate to Democratic control and restore balance to the universe. Yet despite millions of union dollars, the Republicans hold the Senate. The unions/Democrats lose again.
The people spoke; the process worked. Yes, it was raucous and divisive, but change this fundamental should not be enacted quietly. This is not midnight basketball or school uniforms. This is the future of government-worker power and the solvency of the states. It deserves big, serious, animated public debate.
Precisely of the kind Washington (exhibit B) just witnessed over its debt problem.You know: the debt-ceiling debate universally denounced as dysfunctional, if not disgraceful, hostage taking, terrorism, gun-to-the-head blackmail.
Spare me the hysteria. What happened was that the 2010 electorate, as represented in Congress, forced Washington to finally confront the national debt. It was a triumph of demorcatic politics - a powerful shift in popular will finding concrete political expression.
But only partial expression. Debt hawks are upset that the final compromise doesn't do much. But it shoudn't do much. They won only one election. They were entrusted, as of yet, with only one-half of one branch of government.
But they did begin to turn the aircraft carrier around. The process did bequeath a congressional supercommittee with extraordinary powers to reduce debt. And if that fails, the question - how much government, how much debt -will go to the nation in November 2012. Which is also how it should be.
The conventional complaint is that the process was ugly. Big Deal. You want beauty? Go to a museum. Democratic politics was never meant to be an exercise in aesthetics.
Not just ugly, moan the critics, but oh so slow. True again. It took months. And will take more. The supercommittee doesn't report until Thanksgiving. The next election is more than a year away. But the American system was designed to make a full turn of the carrier difficult and deliberate.
Moreover, without this long ugly process, the debt issue wouldn't even be on the table. We'd still be whistling our way to Greece. Instead, a nation staring at insolvency is finally stirring itself to action, and not without spirited opposition. Great issues are being decided as constitutionally designed. The process is working.
Notice how the loudest complaints about "broken politics" come from those who lost the debate. It's understandable for sore losers to rage against the machine. But there's no need for the rest of us to parrot their petulance.
Of all the endlessly repeated conventional wisdom in today's Washington, the most lazy, stupid and ubiquitous is that our politics is broken. On the contrary. Our political system is working well (I make no such claims for our economy), indeed, precisely as designed - profound changes in popular will translated into law that alters political direction.
The process has been messy, loud, disputious and often rancorous. So what? In the end, the system works. Exhibit A is Wisconsin. Exhibit B is Washington itself.
The story begins in 2008. The country, having lost confidence in Republican governance, gives the Democrats full controlofWashington. The new president, deciding not to waste a crisis, attempts a major change in the nation's ideological trajectory. Hence his two signature pieces of legislation: a near-$1 trillion stimulus, the largest spending bill in galactic history; and a health-care reform that places one-sixth of the economy under federal control.
In a country where conservatives outnumber liberals 2-1, this causes a reaction. In the 2010 misterms, Democrats suffer a massive repudiation at every level. In Washington, Democrats suffer the greatest loss of House seats since 1948. In the states, they lose more than 700 state legislative seats - the largest reversal ever - resulting in the loss of 20 state chambers.
The tea-party-propelled, debt conscious Republicans then move to confront their states' unsustainable pension and health-care obligations - most boldly in Wisconsin, where the new governor proposes a radical reorientation of the power balance between public-sector unions and elected government.
In Madison, the result is general mayhem - the drum-banging protestors, frenzied unions, statehouse occupations, opposition legislators fleeing the state to prevent a quorum. A veritable feast of creative democratic resistance.
In the end, they fail. The legislation passes.
Then, further resistance. First, Democrats turn an otherwise sleepy state Supreme Court election into a referendum on the union legislation, the Democrats' candidate being widely expected to overturn the law. The unions/Democrats lose again.
And then last Tuesday, recall elections for six Republican state senators, three being needed to return the Senate to Democratic control and restore balance to the universe. Yet despite millions of union dollars, the Republicans hold the Senate. The unions/Democrats lose again.
The people spoke; the process worked. Yes, it was raucous and divisive, but change this fundamental should not be enacted quietly. This is not midnight basketball or school uniforms. This is the future of government-worker power and the solvency of the states. It deserves big, serious, animated public debate.
Precisely of the kind Washington (exhibit B) just witnessed over its debt problem.You know: the debt-ceiling debate universally denounced as dysfunctional, if not disgraceful, hostage taking, terrorism, gun-to-the-head blackmail.
Spare me the hysteria. What happened was that the 2010 electorate, as represented in Congress, forced Washington to finally confront the national debt. It was a triumph of demorcatic politics - a powerful shift in popular will finding concrete political expression.
But only partial expression. Debt hawks are upset that the final compromise doesn't do much. But it shoudn't do much. They won only one election. They were entrusted, as of yet, with only one-half of one branch of government.
But they did begin to turn the aircraft carrier around. The process did bequeath a congressional supercommittee with extraordinary powers to reduce debt. And if that fails, the question - how much government, how much debt -will go to the nation in November 2012. Which is also how it should be.
The conventional complaint is that the process was ugly. Big Deal. You want beauty? Go to a museum. Democratic politics was never meant to be an exercise in aesthetics.
Not just ugly, moan the critics, but oh so slow. True again. It took months. And will take more. The supercommittee doesn't report until Thanksgiving. The next election is more than a year away. But the American system was designed to make a full turn of the carrier difficult and deliberate.
Moreover, without this long ugly process, the debt issue wouldn't even be on the table. We'd still be whistling our way to Greece. Instead, a nation staring at insolvency is finally stirring itself to action, and not without spirited opposition. Great issues are being decided as constitutionally designed. The process is working.
Notice how the loudest complaints about "broken politics" come from those who lost the debate. It's understandable for sore losers to rage against the machine. But there's no need for the rest of us to parrot their petulance.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
What has America become?
Dear Editor,
Has America become the land of the special interest and home of the double standard?
Lets see: If we lie to Congress, it's a felony and if Congress lies to us its just politics; If we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, it's their 1st Amendment rights; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; In public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the work God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid of the communist and socialist threat by renaming them progressives; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but we have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; If you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st American right.
You can have pornogaphy on TV or the internet, but you better not put up a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use human fetus for medical research, but it's wrong to use an animal.
We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political idealogy; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf spill is that neither president did anything to help.
And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.
What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?
-Ken Huber
Tawas City
Tawas City, MI, is located about halfway up on the shoreline of Lake Huron. The Tawas City Newspaper Editorial... short and to the point...
Has America become the land of the special interest and home of the double standard?
Lets see: If we lie to Congress, it's a felony and if Congress lies to us its just politics; If we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, it's their 1st Amendment rights; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; In public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the work God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid of the communist and socialist threat by renaming them progressives; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but we have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; If you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st American right.
You can have pornogaphy on TV or the internet, but you better not put up a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use human fetus for medical research, but it's wrong to use an animal.
We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political idealogy; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf spill is that neither president did anything to help.
And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.
What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?
-Ken Huber
Tawas City
Tawas City, MI, is located about halfway up on the shoreline of Lake Huron. The Tawas City Newspaper Editorial... short and to the point...
Friday, August 5, 2011
Sen. Brown to Gov. Patrick - can gas tax plan
Hiking the state's gas tax now could flatten the tourism industry and blow out budgets for working class families who are already struggling to make ends meet, U.S. Sen. Scott Brown said today in a letter to the governor. "I believe the answer at the state level has to be the same as the federal response: cut spending, don't raise taxes."
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Green Line extension put off until 2018
The long-anticipated extension of the Green Line has been delayed an additional three years, state planners said yesterday, with service to T riders in Somerville and Medford slated to begin in fall 2018 at the earliest.
The reason for the delay is a decision by transportation planners to wait to obtain all or most of the parcels of land and environmental permits the billion-dollar project requires before the state puts major design and construction out to bid, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said in a statement.
While fall 2018 is the earliest projection, station service extending to College Avenue in Medford could be as late as 2020, the statement said. "Let me be clear: We are behind the Green Line extension," said Richard Davey, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in a phone interview. "It will get built."
The agency said it is taking a lesson from the re-opening of the Greenbush Commuter Rail line, which was fraught with delay when planners failed to buy all the land required to complete the project before it was put out to bid. "The Green Line project team aims to prevent the issue that cost the MBTA both time and money," the Department of Transportation said in a statement.
The reason for the delay is a decision by transportation planners to wait to obtain all or most of the parcels of land and environmental permits the billion-dollar project requires before the state puts major design and construction out to bid, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said in a statement.
While fall 2018 is the earliest projection, station service extending to College Avenue in Medford could be as late as 2020, the statement said. "Let me be clear: We are behind the Green Line extension," said Richard Davey, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in a phone interview. "It will get built."
The agency said it is taking a lesson from the re-opening of the Greenbush Commuter Rail line, which was fraught with delay when planners failed to buy all the land required to complete the project before it was put out to bid. "The Green Line project team aims to prevent the issue that cost the MBTA both time and money," the Department of Transportation said in a statement.
In support of that committment, Davey pointed to a deal to buy a parcel of land owned by Pan Am Railways required for the project, that was closed late last year, he said, and his agency continued efforts to buy two dozen Green Line cars for the extension. Still uncertain is the fate of a 24-hour, 11 acre maintenance facility in the Inner Belt section of Somerville, which planners have yet to acquire.
Nineteen properties in Somerville and Medford must be aquired before federal environmental regulators will sign off, Joseph Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman, said in an e-mail. The announcement of the delay made in an annual report in the Department of Environmental Protection, came after the agency announced last July that it would push completion back a year, to 2015.
"Obviously it's disappointing," said Marc Draison, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, which in the last year has undertaken a myriad of public meetings to hash out a second phase of the extension to Route 16 in Medford. While acknowledging the need to buy land and acquire permits, Draison said he suspected underlying financial instability. "We want good roads, we want fast trains, and complete streets," he said. "People want these things, but if you want them, you have to pay for them."
The state is legally bound to finish the Green Line project by the end of 2014 because of a lawsuit that requires the state to build non-automobile transportation projects to ameliorate the environmental impacts of the Big Dig. Davey said he and Transportation Secretary Jeffrey B. Mulllan will work to "turn back the dial" from the 2018 projection.
Mayor Joseph A. Cutatone of Somerville, a long-time Green Line proponent, said he spoke yesterday with Mullen about the delay and will seek answers in coming weeks from transit planners, reiterating the legal obligation the state has to complete the project, and called for Governor Deval Patrick to respond to the delay. He added, "We will hold their feet to the fire, and the governor's administration, to make sure that happens."
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
GOP Moves to Tighten Vote Rules in 13 States
Seeking to preserve the integrity of the delegate process, GOP-controlled statehouses nationwide are stiffening voting laws with changes that include requiring valid photo identification, restricting early voting, and imposing stricter rules on those who can register to vote.
Republicans in 13 states - where changes have either been passed or introduced in the past few months - say they are trying to ensure voters are qualified; Democrats counter the moves are politically based and aimed at weeding out young and minority voters - many of whom comprise the party's base.
Recently, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas joined Kansas and South Carolina, and signed laws that would require valid photo identification before a voter could cast a ballot. Twelve states now require photo indentification to vote. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida signed a bill in May to tighten restrictions on third-party voter registration organizations and to shorten the number of early voting days. The battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania are among those considering voter-identification bills.
"If you have to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you have to show a picture ID to get on a airplane, you should show a picture ID when you vote," Gov. Nikki Haley said in May when she signed the South Carolina law. Democrats say there is little proof of voter-impersonation fraud, that the GOP-led laws ring of racism, and target those who tend to vote Democrat.
Democrats also point to state figures showing there are few proven cases of voter impersonation and question why Republicans would want to spend taxpayer dollars on an insignificant problem, considering states' fiscal problems.
"There is not one documented case that has been presented to us, and we had numerous hearings," said Democratic South Carolina state Sen. Brad Hutto . "Republicans have to have some reason to do this because it doesn't sound good to say, we don't want Latinos or African-Americans voting."
State Republicans have long attempted to legislate photo identification requirements and other changes, said Daniel Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University and an expert in election law. Previous bills were largely derailed after the Bush Administration fired several United States attorneys whom Republicans had criticized for failing to aggressively investigate voter fraud. "That's what really killed the momentum of more states' enacting voter ID laws," Tokiji said. "Now with the last elections, with the strong Republican majorities in a lot of states, we're seeing a rejuvenation of the effort."
Republicans say increased immigration nationwide has spearheaded the push to make sure elections are legitimate. "Over the last twenty years we have seen Florida grow quite rapidly, and we have such a mix of populations," said state Sen. Dennis K. Baxely, the Florida Republican who wrote the law to tighten third-party registration in his state. "When we fail to protect every ballot, we disenfranchise people who participate legitimately.
"The changes are likey to have an impact on close elections," Tokiji said."Remarkably, most of those significant changes are going under the radar," he added. "A lot of voters are going to be surprised and dismayed when they go to their polling place and find that the rules have changed."
Most measures would require people to show a form of official valid identification to vote. While drivers licenses are the most common form, voters an also request free photo ID's from the Department of Motor Vehicles or use a passport or military identification, among other things. But Democrats say the extra step will discourage voters who will have to pay to retrieve documents, like birth certificates, for proof to obtain a free card.
A few state bills and laws also reduce the number of early voting days, which Democrats also oppose. In the 2008 presidential election, a majority of those who cast early votes did so for President Obama. In Florida, the number of days is reduced but the number of hours remains the same. In Georgia, where photo ID's became a requirement in 2007, minorities voted in record numbers in 2008 and 2010. Turnout among Hispanic voters jumped 140 percent in the state in 2008 and 42 percent among blacks compared with 2004, a change attributed in part to Obama's candidacy. In the midterm election two years later, turnout also rose among Hispanics and African-Americans, according to data from the Georgia secretary of state.
But with the presidential elections in 15 months, Democrats are taking their own offensive. The Democratic Governors Association started a Voter Protection Project in May to educate voters and encourage them to speak out against the measures.
Republicans in 13 states - where changes have either been passed or introduced in the past few months - say they are trying to ensure voters are qualified; Democrats counter the moves are politically based and aimed at weeding out young and minority voters - many of whom comprise the party's base.
Recently, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas joined Kansas and South Carolina, and signed laws that would require valid photo identification before a voter could cast a ballot. Twelve states now require photo indentification to vote. Gov. Rick Scott of Florida signed a bill in May to tighten restrictions on third-party voter registration organizations and to shorten the number of early voting days. The battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania are among those considering voter-identification bills.
"If you have to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you have to show a picture ID to get on a airplane, you should show a picture ID when you vote," Gov. Nikki Haley said in May when she signed the South Carolina law. Democrats say there is little proof of voter-impersonation fraud, that the GOP-led laws ring of racism, and target those who tend to vote Democrat.
Democrats also point to state figures showing there are few proven cases of voter impersonation and question why Republicans would want to spend taxpayer dollars on an insignificant problem, considering states' fiscal problems.
"There is not one documented case that has been presented to us, and we had numerous hearings," said Democratic South Carolina state Sen. Brad Hutto . "Republicans have to have some reason to do this because it doesn't sound good to say, we don't want Latinos or African-Americans voting."
State Republicans have long attempted to legislate photo identification requirements and other changes, said Daniel Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University and an expert in election law. Previous bills were largely derailed after the Bush Administration fired several United States attorneys whom Republicans had criticized for failing to aggressively investigate voter fraud. "That's what really killed the momentum of more states' enacting voter ID laws," Tokiji said. "Now with the last elections, with the strong Republican majorities in a lot of states, we're seeing a rejuvenation of the effort."
Republicans say increased immigration nationwide has spearheaded the push to make sure elections are legitimate. "Over the last twenty years we have seen Florida grow quite rapidly, and we have such a mix of populations," said state Sen. Dennis K. Baxely, the Florida Republican who wrote the law to tighten third-party registration in his state. "When we fail to protect every ballot, we disenfranchise people who participate legitimately.
"The changes are likey to have an impact on close elections," Tokiji said."Remarkably, most of those significant changes are going under the radar," he added. "A lot of voters are going to be surprised and dismayed when they go to their polling place and find that the rules have changed."
Most measures would require people to show a form of official valid identification to vote. While drivers licenses are the most common form, voters an also request free photo ID's from the Department of Motor Vehicles or use a passport or military identification, among other things. But Democrats say the extra step will discourage voters who will have to pay to retrieve documents, like birth certificates, for proof to obtain a free card.
A few state bills and laws also reduce the number of early voting days, which Democrats also oppose. In the 2008 presidential election, a majority of those who cast early votes did so for President Obama. In Florida, the number of days is reduced but the number of hours remains the same. In Georgia, where photo ID's became a requirement in 2007, minorities voted in record numbers in 2008 and 2010. Turnout among Hispanic voters jumped 140 percent in the state in 2008 and 42 percent among blacks compared with 2004, a change attributed in part to Obama's candidacy. In the midterm election two years later, turnout also rose among Hispanics and African-Americans, according to data from the Georgia secretary of state.
But with the presidential elections in 15 months, Democrats are taking their own offensive. The Democratic Governors Association started a Voter Protection Project in May to educate voters and encourage them to speak out against the measures.
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