Boehner Challenges Bingaman on So-Called “Fairness” Doctrine

The release highlights other recent comments on the so-called Fairness Doctrine by Kerry, Pelosi and Durbin, as well. Win or lose on November 4, this is going to be a fight. And a great one to support.

“I’m very troubled by Senator Bingaman’s comments supporting the revival of outdated government broadcast regulations that would return America to the days when Washington bureaucrats literally rationed free speech rights.  Support for this disturbing idea is becoming more and more commonplace in a Congress that is controlled by the Democratic Party and increasingly determined to clamp down on the free expression of conservative viewpoints.  The Senator joins a growing list of liberal Democratic leaders, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, and Senator John Kerry, who have indicated their strong support for the so-called Fairness Doctrine, a policy that would curtail the constitutional rights the Founding Fathers put in place at the beginning of the Republic.  What Senator Bingaman refers to as a ‘higher calling’ for radio is, in reality, a thinly-veiled attempt to silence opinions and views with which he and other powerful Democrats disagree.”

Comments

[jharp]

The airways belong to the public.

The fairness doctrine will be back. Along with gay marriage, banning religion in classrooms, abortion will available to all, the tax code will be more fair, our soldiers will come home from Iraq, and health care will be equally available to all at a lower cost.

[chris]

I'm going to say that Rush will be off the air by March.

[Fred Beloit]

chris: "I'm going to say that Rush will be off the air by March."

I'm going to say that is because you are a fascist at heart, like the rest of the libtards who come here and the radical wing of the political party and radical candidate you favor.

[Fred Beloit]

"The fairness doctrine will be back."
If the Big broadcasters would ever revert to "fairness" you wouldn't be able to stand it, Harpo. What you really mean is that you want the Dems to institutionalize censorship. For God's sake, man, get a hold of your crazy and try to stifle it.

[Lala]

I guess the 20 million people who listen to Limbaugh every day will have no rights in the US of Obama.

[Lala]

Hmm Sirius Radio stock is only 25 cents a share.

[ET]

--The fairness doctrine will be back. Along with gay marriage, banning religion in classrooms, abortion will available to all, the tax code will be more fair, our soldiers will come home from Iraq, and health care will be equally available to all at a lower cost.

Ah, yes. Enlightened liberal utopia. Full of bitter, angry losers like this guy:

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/17789356/detail.html

...and, of course, jharp. Take another day off, jackass.

[Fred Beloit]

What part of this simple yet elegant language do you not understand, you skells:
First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;..."

http://www.answers.com/topic/first-amendment-to-the-united-states-constitution

[ET]

--I guess the 20 million people who listen to Limbaugh every day will have no rights in the US of Obama.

Maybe it's not so grim, Lala. We will be able to hear him on NPR.

ha!

[Lala]

ET

That's how William Buckley's Firing Line got on channel 13 in New York.

[BobinStamford]

The thing that you trooop=supporters are missing is that, as of November 5, it isn't going to be your country any more. Time to face facts and adapt.

Surge on!

[tally]

Isn't Barky appointing a Broad Band czar? I assume he's taking over the internet also.

[Mr. Thickety-Thick from Thickville, Thickania]

" Sirius Radio stock is only 25 cent a share "

Hmmm. And didn't they recently merge and/or acquire some interest in XM Radio?

I have some pocket money not doing much of anything... with the etched-in granite certainty of a Democratic single-party control of our federal government... I'd say that the FD will be back, and on steroids.

And think about this, fellow communists: if the internet comes under the FD, Dan might have to shut his blog down.

And then where would we have to go, hmmm?

[Mr. Thickety-Thick from Thickville, Thickania]

"Time to face facts and adapt."

Adapt, and overcome... is the motto we learned in the USMC.

And beware: when we put ourselves toward "overcoming", we usually do it in a way that is not very accommodating to those whom we overcome.

So, take very good care about how you go about "seizing the day and the country".

[Bill O]

The Fairness Doctrine is really about the suppression of free speech with the fig leaf of a "Mom and Apple Pie" name, The Fairness Doctrine. What really would happen is that a radio station agrees to air, let's say, Rush Limbaugh for two hours. Ratings are great, the advertisement revenues are strong, and life is good for the radio station. The Fairness Doctrine kicks in and the station is required to air two hours of an opposing viewpoint, say Air America. Listeners bail left and right, ratings plunge, advertising revenue falls off a cliff, because just like the real Air America, no one tuned in. Nobody really wants to hear two hours of dull, unimaginative, Bush bashing.

The next week the radio station says to Rush, thanks but no thanks. You were great, but for every minute we put you on the air, we have to put the other guys on the air. Our competitors switched to music and they are doing fine. We will also change our format to Top 40s. Sorry, Rush. Sorry, America.

[Lala]

I only listen to the radio when I'm in my car but I would be willing to pay 6.99 a month for Sirius radio. I believe Sirius is commercial-free now but, like cable tv, that could change and end up being even cheaper.

As for TV, I hardly watch abc/cbs/nbc news on terrestial as it consists of 5 weather reports per hour followed by 3 Nanny advice segments and 2 health scares.

If an attempt is made to censor the internet, I believe someone will invent something to get around it.

[jamie]

If Limbaugh, Hannity, and the rest of their ilk want to keep broadcasting, I don't mind. But I think they should have to fact check (imagine that: FACTS!!) the crap they unload on those shows all day long. And when they are found to be falsehoods, they should either have to read a statement clearly noting that on their shows, or pay a fine. Good example: The bogus story about Michelle Obama supposedly ordering "lobster and Iranian caviar" at the Waldorf Astoria, when that was completely false. They were thrilled to push this story and promote it, and when found to be untrue, they didn't relay that fact to their audiences, they just quit talking about it.

What they do all day, in its current form, is dangerous. Free speech is not an absolute right, which most intelligent people do know and understand. Unchecked demagoguery should not be constitutionally protected speech.

[Charlie]

Bill O

Top 40 music on Radio is dying thanks to the Ipod.

[Mike Allen]

I look forward to 2010. Obama and the left wingers in control of the Congress will over reach. Once voters realize the mistake they made in voting for Obama, a Republican surge will push the Dems out in 2010. Sanity will return to the country.