Allah's dog, Dodd: "They will NEVER stop us. There is no accountability, and we shall end 'free speech'."
Posted on 03/06/2009 4:02:57 AM PST by Man50D
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told CNSNews.com on Thursday that she supports an amendment to a Senate bill that would force the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to “take actions to encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership and to ensure that broadcast station licenses are used in the public interest.”
The amendment’s language is viewed by many media experts as a means to regulate conservative talk radio, particularly popular programs such as the Rush Limbaugh Show and the Mark Hannity Show, among many others.
House Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.), a former radio broadcaster and one of Congress’ biggest opponents of the Fairness Doctrine -- an FCC regulation removed in 1987 that forced broadcasters to grant equal airtime to opposing political viewpoints -- told CNSNews.com that the amendment is a masked attempt to restore the Fairness Doctrine.
The amendment, sponsored by Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and attached to a bill (S.160) that would grant Washington, D.C., a vote in the House of Representatives, was approved by the Senate last Thursday in a party line 57-41 vote.
When asked whether she supports Durbin’s amendment, Speaker Pelosi said, “Certainly, I support Mr. Durbin in most things.”
“Diversity in media ownership is very, very, important,” said Pelosi.
Minutes after the passage of the ‘Durbin amendment’ last Thursday a separate amendment that would ban the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine, which was proposed by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), was also attached to the same D.C. voting rights bill and passed by a vote of 87-11.
But Pence told CNSNews.com that Durbin’s amendment would mandate a “stealth Fairness Doctrine.”
“Its clear to me that Democrats, having failed in their frontal assault on talk radio in America through the Fairness Doctrine, are now shifting strategy to a form of regulation that is essentially the Fairness Doctrine by stealth,” Pence said. He added that he is not surprised Pelosi has endorsed Durbin’s plan.
“It should come as little surprise that Speaker Pelosi, who openly supports returning the Fairness Doctrine to the airwaves of American, would support a new version of it,” Pence told CNSNews.com.
But Durbin said last Thursday that his amendment should not be equated with the Fairness Doctrine.
"No one is suggesting that the law for the FCC says that you can give this license to a Republican and this one to a Democrat and this one to a liberal and this one to a conservative,” said Durbin at the time. “When we talk about diversity in media ownership, it relates primarily to gender, race and other characteristics of that nature."
Meanwhile, the amendment, which passed the Senate riding on the D.C. voting right’s bill, now goes to the House where Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said he thinks Republicans may be able to muster the votes to stop it.
“I think as we get into the appropriations process you will see us continue our effort to make sure the Fairness Doctrine is not put back into place,” Boehner told CNSNews.com at his weekly press conference on Thursday. “And I do believe the votes are in the Congress to make sure that happens.”
The primary text of the Durbin amendment reads:
SEC.9 FCC Authorities. (a) Clarification of General Powers. – Title III of the Communications Act of 1934 is amended by inserting after section 303 (47 U.S.C. 303) the following new section: SEC.303B. Clarification of General Powers. (a) Certain Affirmative Actions Required – The Commission shall take actions to encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership and to ensure that broadcast station licenses are used in the public interest. …
The amendment is nearly identical to a policy position outlined by the White House that says:
“Encourage Diversity in Media Ownership: Encourage diversity in the ownership of broadcast media, promote the development of new media outlets for expression of diverse viewpoints, and clarify the public interest obligations of broadcasters who occupy the nation's spectrum.”
Similarly, the Center for American Progress, headed by former Obama transition leader John Podesta, published a report that called for new “localism” and “ownership diversity” regulations to balance conservative talk radio with progressive talk radio.
The report, “The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio,” concludes with the following recommendations:
“[A]ny effort to encourage more responsive and balanced radio programming will first require steps to increase localism and diversify radio station ownership to better meet local and community needs. We suggest three ways to accomplish this: -- Restore local and national caps on the ownership of commercial radio stations. -- Ensure greater local accountability over radio licensing. -- Require commercial owners who fail to abide by enforceable public interest obligations to pay a fee to support public broadcasting.”
Mark must be new in town and they want to cut him off before he gets as strong as Sean Hannity and Rush!
Allah's dog, Dodd: "They will NEVER stop us. There is no accountability, and we shall end 'free speech'."
The amendment’s language is viewed by many media experts as a means to regulate conservative talk radio, particularly popular programs such as the Rush Limbaugh Show and the Mark Hannity Show, among many others.
"We would never allow a conservative or a Republican to have a license. That just wouldn't be right."
A simple "What he said" and "What he meant" exercise.
This is the real headline and should scare the crap out of everyone:
“Speaker Pelosi Backs Senate Amendment to Regulate Talk”
Libs can't handle/and don't want to hear *the truth*
Nanzi Pelosi supports Dick Turban’s appendage, errrr, amendment.
Durbin and Pelosi are free to start up a radio station if they choose and make it as diverse as they wish. This is BS, these Socialists want it all, and they want it now. I am sure they consider the print media and television media already diverse and fair? It is just the radio that needs to be diverse. I have come to despise the words, ‘diversity’ and ‘diverse’.
They didn't regulate Fannie Mae, but they feel this great need to "regulate" Rush and Hannity. Why don't they just "take over" all the radio companies like Maxine Waters threatened to do with the big oil companies.
_________________________________________________
Must see video from 2004: 'Democrats Defend Fannie/Freddie from Regulation'. Watch it 'til the end. You will not believe it.
"We've been through nearly a dozen hearings where frankly we were trying to fix something that wasn't broke. Mr. Chairman we do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac and in particular at Fannie Mae under the outstanding leadership of Mr. Frank Raines."-Rep. Maxine Waters, 2004
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs
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Maxine Waters warns Shell president in House committee hearing
Posted: May 23, 2008
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
A report by Fox News, captured in a clip posted on YouTube.com (Must see video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUaY3LhJ-IQ) , showed Waters challenging the president of Shell Oil, John Hofmeister, to guarantee the prices consumers pay will go down if the oil companies are allowed to drill wherever they want off of U.S. shores.
Hofmeister replied: "I can guarantee to the American people, because of the inaction of the United States Congress, ever-increasing prices unless the demand comes down."
The Shell exec said paying $5 at the pump "will look like a very low price in the years to come if we are prohibited from finding new reserves, new opportunities to increase supplies."
Waters responded, in part, "And guess what this liberal would be all about. This liberal will be about socializing … uh, um. …"
The congresswoman paused to collect her thoughts [for about 5-6 seconds this went on, while her colleagues behind her laughed-etl].
"...would be about, basically, taking over, and the government running all of your companies. …"
The oil executives responded, according to Fox News, by saying they've seen this before, in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.
Article: Congresswoman threatens to nationalize oil industry Maxine Waters warns Shell president in House committee hearing:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=65111
I’m kind of surprised that Mark and Rush and Sean let this particular bill through without a fight. They could have at least shut down the capitol switchboards for days.
If she was talking about her own I would support that..hehehehehe
I’m a little confused and have to admit that I am not as educated on the language of the “Fairness Doctrine” as I should be. I know that it would target talk radio but does anyone know if network TV would be included as well (since I figure that cable can claim that since they are a paying service they can show what they want)?
Shrieker Nazi Pelosi opens her piehole and spews forth more ignorance, arrogance and halitosis.
She wants to silence conservative talk radio, I want her to get a long term case of laryngitis.
Knocks on the secret attic door coming soon to a house near you.
(Patronizingly) Of COURSE it would be included, but Network news and TV is ALREADY fair..... it's liberal, and that's what's fair!
Y'see.
The internet is next.
Who is Mark Hannity?
Just more words from losers and morons.
This totalitarian atheistic Marxist administration has a policy of forcefully silencing dissent - we’ll see more of it, of course...it’s their modus operandi.
Ilich Ramimirez Sanchez (”Carlos the Jackal”) wrote in his book L’islam revolutionnaire (”Revolutionary Islam”) that “only a coalition of Marxists and Islamists can destroy the United States.”
Who would have thought, they could do it so easily?
Conservative talk radio has to be suppressed because it doesn't spew the communist line and is extremely popular and PROFITABLE (an evil, capitalist term).
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