Sunday, February 08, 2009

Priorities

Apparently, Senator Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan, wants to bring back the "Fairness Doctrine." The Fairness Doctrine was a FCC rule that was in place for approximately 40 years, beginning in the 40s. According to one source:
The FCC took the view, in 1949, that station licensees were "public trustees," and as such had an obligation to afford reasonable opportunity for discussion of contrasting points of view on controversial issues of public importance. The Commission later held that stations were also obligated to actively seek out issues of importance to their community and air programming that addressed those issues.
Michigan has an unemployment rate of over 10%. Its housing market is in the gutter; you can buy houses for $8,000 or less. So why is Senator Stabenow focusing on bringing back what I, along with doubtless countless others, consider to be at least a silly, if not outright imprudent rule? There are better things for the government to focus on these days.