Posted on 11/07/2008 6:00:40 PM PST by doug from upland
NOTE: For over two years I've commented on the "fairness doctrine" and believed that the Congress will not play a role. They really would rather watch it happen and try to not leave their fingerprints. If the fairness doctrine comes back, I believe it will rise from the dead thanks to the FCC commissioners. If the community organizer turned president-elect Barack Obama gets another Democrat on the commission, they can reinstitute it. It was the commissioners in the late 1980s who did away with it.
Organization
The FCC is directed by five Commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for 5-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairperson. Only three Commissioners may be members of the same political party. None of them can have a financial interest in any Commission-related business.
As the chief executive officer of the Commission, the Chairman delegates management and administrative responsibility to the Managing Director. The Commissioners supervise all FCC activities, delegating responsibilities to staff units and Bureaus.
--- Chairman Kevin J. Martin
Chairman Martin was nominated by President George W. Bush to a Republican seat on the Commission, and was sworn in on July 3, 2001. He was designated chairman by President Bush on March 18, 2005. Chairman Martin was re-nominated for a second term as commissioner and chairman by President George W. Bush on April 25, 2006.
Before joining the FCC, Martin was a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. He served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Team and was Deputy General Counsel for the Bush campaign. Prior to joining the campaign, Martin was an advisor to FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. He has also served in the Office of the Independent Counsel and worked as an associate at the Washington, DC law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding. Before joining Wiley, Rein & Fielding, Martin was a judicial clerk for U.S. District Court Judge William M. Hoeveler, Miami, FL.
Martin received a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Masters in Public Policy from Duke University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the Federal Communications Bar Association.
--- Commissioner Michael J. Copps
Nominated for a second term November 9, 2005; confirmed December 21, 2005; sworn in January 3, 2006. Sworn in for his first term on May 31, 2001.
Copps served until January 2001 as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he was previously Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Basic Industries. Copps came to Washington in 1970, joining the staff of Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC) and serving for over a dozen years as Chief of Staff. He has also held positions at a Fortune 500 company and at a major trade association. Before coming to Washington, Copps was a professor of U.S. History at Loyola University of the South. Copps received a B.A. from Wofford College and earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
--- Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein
Nominated July 10, 2002; confirmed November 14, 2002; sworn in December 3, 2002. Renominated November 16, 2004; reconfirmed November 20, 2004; sworn in December 6, 2004. Before joining the FCC, Adelstein served for fifteen years as a staff member in the United States Senate. For the last seven years, he was a senior legislative aide to United States Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD), where he advised Senator Daschle on telecommunications, financial services, transportation and other key issues. Previously, he served as Professional Staff Member to Senate Special Committee on Aging Chairman David Pryor (D-AR), including an assignment as a special liaison to Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), and as a Legislative Assistant to Senator Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI).
--- Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate
Deborah Taylor Tate was nominated by President George W. Bush on November 9, 2005, and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on December 21, 2005. She was sworn in as FCC Commissioner on January 3, 2006, and renominated by President Bush for a full 5-year term on June 20, 2007.
--- Commissioner Robert M. McDowell
Robert M. McDowell was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the Federal Communications Commission on February 6, 2006, for the remainder of the term expiring June 30, 2009. He was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on May 26, 2006, and sworn in as FCC Commissioner on June 1, 2006.
A “member change”? I hope taxpayers won’t be charged for the surgery.
What is there to stop the Democrats from coming after the internet as well?? Aren’t websites like Free Republic every bit as threatening to the Dhimmies as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are??
There are capable of coming after everything.
In 1994, he was credited in creating the atmosphere for the Republican takeover.
In 2006 he couldn't keep it from slipping away from the republicans.
In 2008 he couldn't stop McCain's selection as the republican candidate, while possibly prolonging the primary season with operation chaos, the desired result of a weakened Obama did not materialize and only made Obama a better and stronger candidate for the general election.
Couldn't stop the bailout. And if you give him credit for the 3 day pause, that only allowed it to be saddled with pork and running up the cost. Thanks a lot! Smooth move on that one.
And the final straw, couldn't put the ticket over the top in the general even with the added attraction of Governor Palin.
So why in the world would they want to put the fairness doctrine back in play? Rush and the other jaw bone media types seem to be helping Dems just fine without it.
I hardly know where to begin and don’t want to get into a flame war. I’ll let others have at you.
He couldn't keep the congress from going dem in 06 despite his claims of victory. He did everything possible to poison McCain's nomination and stop it. He didn't. He claimed operation chaos would seriously wound Obama. It made him a better candidate and better able to weather McCain's and especially Pallin's attacks. He, despite his best efforts couldn't stop Obama in the general election. And he couldn't stop the bailout despite his railings.
At one time, Rush could have had not only ditto heads but even moderates caught up in his monologues marching the through Times Square naked at high noon. No more.
What was once a powerful force is no longer.
He couldn't keep the congress from going dem in 06 despite his claims of victory. He did everything possible to poison McCain's nomination and stop it. He didn't. He claimed operation chaos would seriously wound Obama. It made him a better candidate and better able to weather McCain's and especially Pallin's attacks. He, despite his best efforts couldn't stop Obama in the general election. And he couldn't stop the bailout despite his railings.
At one time, Rush could have had not only ditto heads but even moderates caught up in his monologues marching the through Times Square naked at high noon. No more.
What was once a powerful force is no longer.
nObama's likely pick is Henry Rivera. From the blog "Say Anything"
Henry Rivera, a longtime radical leftist, lawyer and former FCC commissioner, is expected to lead the push to dismantle commercial talk radio that is favored by a number of Democratic Party senators. Rivera will play a pivotal role in preventing critics from having a public voice during Obama’s tenure in office.
Rivera, who resigned from the FCC nearly a quarter-century ago during the Reagan years, believes in a doctrine of “communications policy as a civil rights issue”.
His exit during the Reagan Administration paved the way for the Fairness Doctrine’s repeal when the late president appointed Patricia Diaz Dennis in 1986 to fill out the rest of Rivera’s term. Had this not occurred, talk radio as we know it today would not exist. http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/obama_to_re_appoint_pro_fairness_doctrine_commissioner_to_the_fcc
Yes, Rivera would only be the commissioner BUT as Cavuto and his guest pointed out when the next member leaves the board in June of 2009 all Revira has to do is to appoint someone else like him or he could appoint himself on the board! Petition congress or Obama all you want . . . all they have to do is play Pontius Pilate and wash their hands of the whole affair while they stand back and witness the silencing of the last lone voice to their despotic socialist rule.
Doesn't look good for the good guys at all.
No, they will come after everything. Protect yourselves as best you can.
Yep, I saw it coming from the FCC, not Congress. Now, it is out in the open.
Radio Free America.
Rush, Sean, Laura all arrested in acts of illegal broadcasting in acts of civil disobedience.
Yeah, bring it on democrats.
Make Newt RNC Chair.
Bring Tom D back to Congress.
Real Conservatives purge the GOP of RINOs and Conservative GOP takes back Congress in 2010.
Palin in 2012.
FairTax in 2013, sweet 100 year poetic justice for the abomination of 1913.
Ronald Reagan ‘Eternal Morning in America’ Memorial on the Mall by 2014.
Sorry, you lose on that one.
Can you provide a verifiable link to the 16-20 million claim? I didn't think so. I know a trade that does audience estimates and it is below 16-20 million. Besides, Jerry Springer commands a larger audience.
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