As often happens in Washington, there’s a flurry of activity on an issue – then it drops from the spotlight for a while. Such has been the case with low power radio.
Ever since Arizona Senator John McCain threw up a Congressional roadblock on the greased rails that the National Association of Broadcasters had built for a bill to ban the FCC’s re-legalization of low power FM stations, activity on Capitol Hill has dropped off.
Originally, many “inside the Beltway” felt that McCain’s introduction of a separate LPFM bill – allowing the FCC’s plan to continue yet opening up the new stations to huge lawsuits from commercial broadcasters, – was just a holding action designed to drain off the NAB’s lobbying momentum. Continue reading “On the Cusp”
Tag: billy tauzin
The Brewing Congressional Conflict
On the heels of Louisiana Congressweasel Billy Tauzin’s move to squash the LPFM service currently under development at the FCC, those in favor of low-power broadcasting on Capitol Hill aren’t sitting by and watching Tauzin’s tantrum without action. Representative David Bonior, Democrat of Michigan, is now circulating a draft letter to other Representatives in support of the FCC’s work, and plans to send it to the FCC on Wednesday, March 10.
This is a perfect opportunity to pre-empt Tauzin’s moves to kill low-power radio stations, provided Bonior can show enough signatures at the bottom of the letter. The strength is in numbers here – if the FCC has some sort of token nod from a large segment (or, perish the thought, a majority) of the House of Representatives, Chairman Kennard and the rest of the Commissioners would be sent a message that the “will of the people” is behind their actions. It could also send a nice, subtle message to Rep. Tauzin to back off. Continue reading “The Brewing Congressional Conflict”
An Enemy End Run
In submarine battle tactics there is a maneuver called an “end run,” where a submarine basically either speeds up or slows down to maneuvers into a prime shooting position out of the detection range of its quarry.
It’s an attempt by someone to end the game by throwing out the rules; to get the drop on the enemy before they even have a chance to do anything about it.
An end run is happening right now in the form of Louisiana Congressman Billy Tauzin. He’s a Republican who the NAB has in its pocket – his daughter even works for them. Continue reading “An Enemy End Run”