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Senate Approves Measure to Undo FCC Rules
fortheloveofjava writes "The Washington Post says here that the Senate voted 55 to 40 today to wipe out all of the Federal Communication Commission's controversial new media rules, employing a little used legislative tool for overturning agency regulations. If you signed the MOVEON.org petition, an image of part of it is visible here with sponsoring senators Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Trent Lott (R-MS)."
There's always the chance of having it presented again to get that 2/3 majority to make it override the veto.
The FCC has lawmaking power because Congress gave it to them. Legislative delegations of rulemaking authority to federal administrative agencies happen all the time; it's the same reason why the FTC is empowered create a do-not-call list and require telemarketers to pay a fine if they don't abide by it. In each case, the agency is exercising authority delegated to it by the legislature. Nothing new there.
The more interesting issue, IMHO, is why it's so hard for Congress to overturn an agency rule with which it disagrees. It used to be that you didn't have to pass a law to overturn an agency regulation; you could just have one house of Congress issue a so-called "legislative veto." If that was still the law, then today's Senate vote would have been enough to overturn the FCC. However, the Supreme Court has said you can't have a one-house legislative veto. So if the FCC makes a rule with which Congress disagrees, Congress has to pass a new law overturning the rule. Cumbersome, but that's how the Court has said you have to do it.
[insert randomly selected declaration of absolutist meta-moderation philosophy here]
The Internet has really made petitions more accessable. Look at that picture!
Like everything else in politics, the picture is not all it seems.
Those boxes of printout are a prop. They're no more meaningful than the football-sized American flag flying over the local car dealership, or George W. landing on an aircraft carrier to announce the "end of major hostilities".
From everything I've heard, faxes are effective, as are phone calls. Both are most effective when they 1) happen to match the results of the latest polls and 2) are sent by large campaign donors. Online petitions are pretty much worth no more than the paper they're not printed on.
Don't forget -- the honorable representatives of the people are ready, willing and able to ignore those boxes of "340,000 Signatures (And Growing)" if the opinion they represent will not get them re-elected.
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
I do not belive Bush has vetoed anything yet.
Reference "Instead we are getting the first full presidential term to go without a veto since John Quincy Adams."
National Review
Here's the Senate Voting Record so you can appropriately attack your local representatives if you disagree with their actions.
/.. We don't talk to our reps, we just bitch about them.
But this is
You aren't old enough to remember when we had three big TV networks who controled everything, are you?
I live three blocks from the very first commercial TV studio in history ( WRGB, GE Broadcasting Company, now used as a science lab by the Schenectady County Community College ), my father worked for them in sales and managment. I got to see a bit of how things worked from the inside.
We do not want to return to that. Trust me on this one.
This afternoon I've been watching shows about Velociraptors in China, Easter Island, Anime, The Hauorani ( with nudity, as per National Geographic Magazine) and several different and distinct points of view on the same news story, from different nations.
In the old days I would have had my choice between three essentially identical "day time dramas" and three essentially identical American news shows broadcasting at noon and six only.
You can take that and shove it. I like my diversity and "duplication of effort," thank you very much.
KFG
Bush's cronies in Texas are already trying to redistrict the state to increase republican state representatives. In the process, republican electoral votes for the President in national elections. So even if the popular vote favors a democratic candidate, the republican candidate has a better chance of winning. Considering Texas is one of the largest states in terms of electoral votes that's not just disgusting. That's scary.
The really sad part is, that's almost a direct quote from Rummy.
If Clear Channel is happy with the FCC rulings then Bush is happy with it and will veto any changes.
I have doubts that Clear Channel would enjoy having "...tightened radio ownership rules".
Old school Dubbya friends -> http://www.takebackthemedia.com/radiogaga.html
Direct hard money contributions to the campaigns haven't been nearly as much of a factor as the soft money, which amounted to half a billion dollars in the 1999-2000 election cycle.
I agree with a recent editorial in The Atlanta Journal Constitution that hopes the SCOTUS upholds the McCain-Feingold closing of soft money loopholes.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
How is 55-40, with 5 abstaining, a huge majority? It sounds to me like if Bush vetos it, it will die, as it is well short of the 2/3rds needed to override a veto. As far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing; these rules are stupid in an age where barriers to becoming a content distributor are virtually nil (maybe $10/month in web hosting costs).
"The question of whether a computer can think is no more interesting than that of whether a submarine can swim" -EWD
That's right. I generally happens every 10 years (in Texas at least).
The last time it happened, the situation had to be settled by a district court judge. That was in 2001.
Now the Texas Republicans want to redistrict again. They didn't like the last result so they're changing parliamentary rules in order to get their plan shoved through. This is all at the behest of the Bush Whitehouse.
It is not normal to redistrict every 2 years. This is what you do when you want to guarantee getting elected, because you've fscked the economy up so much that you can't get enough of the popular vote to carry you into office.
It's a bit like getting your brother to block minorities from voting in the state that he's running.
State Police headlight checks in minority neighbourhoods near the polling station on election day? Perfectly normal.
Scrubbing thousands of citizens from the voting rolls because their name sounds like that of a convicted felon in another state? Nothing to see here.
Stupid fsck.