Fairness Doctrine on the Senate floor; Update: DeMint bill passes 87-11, but so does Durbin’s
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From Sen. Jim DeMint’s office:
Today, at 2pm, the Senate will vote on two amendments with respect to the Fairness Doctrine.
- The DeMint amendment (Broadcaster Freedom Act) would ban the Fairness Doctrine.
- The amendment by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) would achieve the same goals of the Fairness Doctrine through backdoor FCC regulations. His legislation forces the FCC to “take actions to encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership,” an attempt to dismantle successful syndicated radio programs. The Durbin amendment would hurt small, local radio stations who depend on popular syndicated programming for listeners and revenue.
Here’s an article that seems to get at what Durbin’s amendment is about.
Senator DeMint will encourage all senators to OPPOSE the Durbin Amendment.
The Duct Tape Brigade is out there in full force.
Eternal vigilance is required.
***
Update 1:30pm Eastern. The DeMint amendment passes 87-11, but as Sen. DeMint Tweets: “Our ban on Fairness Doctrine passes 87-11. But fight not over, Dems have attacked from back door on media ownership, localism.”
More from The Hill.
Durbin’s measure passed 57-41.
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- “Broadcaster Freedom Act” or The Silence Limbaugh & Savage Act | Democrat = Socialist
- Obama: Don’t stock up on guns Dec 8, 08 - Obama to Seek New Assault Weapons Ban Feb. 25, 09 « Goodtimepolitics
- Sen. Jim DeMint’s bill passes 87-11 | Citizen-Right
- unFairness Doctrine Update « Patriot Burr
- Senate votes to prevent Fairness Doctrine, but… | Radio Vice Online
- Can’t Resist Juicy Fairness Doctrine Steak …. Must Bite! | The Great Illuminator
- Obama…against it before he was for it. « Conservingtruth
- (Un)Fairness Doctrine Updates 2.27.09 « Gunservatively!
- Cheat Seeking Missiles » A Stake Through The Heart … But Is It An Ash Stake?
- The road to censorship - DeMint bill passes 87-11. The bad news? so does Durbin’s | Fire Andrea Mitchell!
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » 87-11: Senate passes DeMint amendment to ban Fairness Doctrine
- Fairness Doctrine in Senate today | pamibe
- Senate victory and defeat for opponents of radio censorship « Wellsy’s World
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- FAIRNESS DOCTRINE AKA CENSORSHIP DOCTRINE « Dianej’s Weblog
- Michelle Malkin » Fairness Doctrine on the Senate floor; Update: DeMint bill passes 87-11, but so does Durbin’s | Right Wing Popcorn
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Categories: Fairness Doctrine
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Does anybody know the ACLU’s position on this? Or any of the Naderite organizations? If they are silent, or are backing this, we will have proof of their true agenda.
Michelle
Check out the first Link the stop Rush Limbaugh photo.
This morning Imus in the Morning.
Outside the studio this morning, did they know there was a Stop Rush Limbaugh sign being held up outside Rainbow Studios?
link
link
link
No hearings, don’t want anyone to know, the way it is under the Acting President Obama.
It’s Communism …
Sorry, I should have linked inside the post. I really don’t think Imus knew this guy was standing outside with the sign. He was defending Rush Limbaugh to Begala when he was a guest and criticizing Rush this week.
Gee, I thought Billy O said this would never happen, but if it did he was gonna stop it.
I wish I was capable of understanding the mind of someone like dick durbin. What makes him the way he is? Is his evil genetic, or the result of some sort of cellular degradation?? What can explain dick durbin?
At least the DeMint amendment will let everyone know who stands where when it comes to the 1st amendment. Should be pretty eye opening.
Can we as citizens take this to the SC for a ruling on the 1st amendment? Rush has the money to fight this and I pray he does.
L
The Stop Rush Photo was taken January 30 but the same guy shot the studio again this morning.
Sen DeMint’s characterization of Sen Durbin’s ammendment is disingenuous and intellectually dishonest on it’s face.
From Sen DeMint’s own release, it says Sen Durbin’s ammendment addresses “ownership” and not programming.
From the linked article, “bringing it back won’t fix the imbalance on the airwaves.”
Even if the companies that consolidated many radio stations would sell one or two stations, why would the new owners let profitable programs go?
Having the resources to buy a radio station, would anyone here stop carrying Rush, for instance? I’d might drop Liddy, but I would add MM.
Socialist Progressive Democrats want Americans to give up their freedom of speech. They only want freedom of speech for anti-Americans, criminals, homosexuals and those promoting their causes.
O’really is a blow hard being full of himself…he is no conservative either…far from it.
On February 26th, 2009 at 2:08 pm, marsouin said:
The ACLU’s true agenda?
The same today as it was when founded by Roger Baldwin, who said:
Oh, and the Communist founder of the ACLU was awarded the highest civilian honor of our country, the Medal of Freedom, by a Communist President…
President Jimmy Carter awarded Roger Baldwin the Medal of Freedom on 16 January 1981, four days before Carter left office.
If you understand St. Clair County IL and it’s one party system you get an idea. That’s where he was raised.
Some of the many faces of the Communist Party, USA:
ACORN
La Raza
Unions
ACLU
The Democrat[ic Socialist] Party
Planned Parenthood
etc…
zzyzzg – let me take a hypothetical stab at it. The FCC grants licenses to owners who qualify. The FCC can change limits on who qualifies. When less qualified owners run the station into the ground with unprofitable programming they can apply for the next bailout. It sounds far fetched I know, but not much crazier than Chris Dodd still having any oversight on Banking.
I was telling my daughter about this. I am a prolific listener of talk radio so this is of great interest to me.
Her response, “It seems to me they are not afraid of dissent but information.”
Out of the mouths of babes.
She plans to major is broadcast journalism, Meghan Kelly is her role model.
A.N.S.W.E.R.
Code Pink
AFL/CIO
CSEA
Berkley City Council
Islam
ABC
NBC
CBS
CNN
MSNBC
CNBC…they woke upetc…
We need to encourage all of our friends and family to listen to talk radio shows NOW, so they will understand what they will be missing if these shows are taken off the air.
I tried several times this morning to get in to ww.senate.gov. It must be overloaded because it wouldn’t come up. I’d like to tell Mr. Durbin that I doubt he or my local Senators (DiFi and Babs Boxer) don’t want to be known as the Congress that was responsible for denying Free Speech to Americans. Because that is what these 60’s Lib’s are doing. So Long People’s Park in Bzerkeley.
Paul Begala appeared on Imus last week 77WABC, and appeared to have his usual Rush Limbaugh talking points. The next day he had an article in the daily beast. So why are they being so obvious? This isn’t subtle.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-02-24/memo-to-bobby-jindal-dump-rush/
You must be joking.
Why would they let profitable programs go? So they can promote their leftists agenda. Case and point.. the NY Times. You think they will change their agenda to make money? Harrr.. please… get serious.
Freedom of Speech as log as it is Government-approved should be their motto.
Exactly opposite of what our founding fathers set up in the Constitution. And Obama’s agenda.
On February 26th, 2009 at 2:16 pm, ThunderHawkk said:
Simple.
Durbin is not a Democrat.
Durbin is a Democratic Socialist Communist.
His agenda is the same as that of the Communist Party USA:
The Obama administration trying to get even for Operation Chaos?
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/25/rush-if-you-think-jindal-reeked-last-night-i-dont-want-to-hear-from-you-again/
I don’t think it will work except on Liberals, and they don’t listen to talk radio, they watch CNN and MSNBC.
Add NEA
Or a bigger question?
Why, if they don’t care about the programming, would they be doing this in the first place? The answer is they DO care about the programming and they want to silence conservatives. That’s their whole damned agenda and point.
Any other interpretation would be intellectually dishonest and disingenuous.
This will not stand. Our voices are too strong. What would they try next…the internet? Never happen.
An Iowa Communist sees the Durbin amendment as a way to shut down Rush Limbaugh.
Love the Orwellian title…
GOP Tries to Censor Free Speech While Pretending They Are For It
Anyway, I e-mailed the following to Trish Nelson, resident Communist at blog3@democracyforiowa.com because, like most liberal fascists, pre-registration and approval is required to post on her blog.
They have a list of talk radio personalities, and the list includes the ones with high ratings. So right off this isn’t about fairness this is about shutting up people who get listened to not just anybody on talk radio.
On February 26th, 2009 at 2:30 pm, ITookTheRedPill said:
Wow. Just — wow.
(I’m not surprised that he thinks like that, it’s plain as day; I’m just surprised that he would be so open about it.)
PKAmmoTroop,
Thank you. I was being lazy, and was only mentioning a few. You are correct in your additions.
Also, most of Academia is now controlled by Communists. Good luck getting tenure or grant money if you don’t toe the “party line” (the “consensus” of AGW, the “consensus” of Darwinian evolution, etc.)
Communists have made significant infiltrations in Corporate America, too. Look at Michelle Obama and the others on the board of the Chicago Council on “Global Affairs”.
On February 26th, 2009 at 2:48 pm, happyscrapper said:
Yes. And let’s not forget that the U.S. Department of [Socialist] Education was created by the Communist Jimmy Carter, and even the great Ronald Reagan was unable to kill it once it had been created.
I just heard that Durbin’s bill passed, but then DeMint’s bill passed, effectively blowing Durin’s out of the water. If I understand this whole thing correctly, doesn’t that pretty much put the “Fairness” Doctrine out of business?
The Communists have accomplished many of their goals found in W. Cleon Skousen’s 1960 book The Naked Communist and which were recorded into the Congressional record over 46 years ago (January 10, 1963).
happyscrapper: It just means they can’t pass anything like a “fairness doctrine”. That doesn’t mean they can do the same thing a different way.
It’s really bad when it is so obvious the Demlibscommies are scared to death of the truth that they do anything they can to squelch the truth.
Passing a law for more approval of Government license means Durbin wants to reorder the license and put in his version of who the ownership is. His demonstrated ability to irresponsibly spend a trillion dollars without imput, debate, and undercover of darkness, meaning NO opposition is simply,We Can Pay Anyone WE want to be an owner. If you own the owner you can control the content. The truth will not be available under a national version of Illinois mob politics.
Anyone that cares needs to fight back anyway they can. Listen liberal bloggers. I am not whining. My civil liberties are being trampled on at every level. So are yours. You just don’t seem to be able to understand it.
RedPill, you are a great source of interesting information. Thank you!
Dows down, what did obama say now?
The Bible says the devil is a master of deceit. Be watchful.
I’ve heard the preferred Demonratic strategy will be local ownership/content laws for talk radio, which would set up ‘citizens commissions’ (think ACORN) to review local content, and the commissions could recommend against renewing the stations licenses.
It probably doesn’t kill Rush Limbaugh’s show, although it may force him off the air in smaller markets where station ownership decides the hassles aren’t worth the record keeping and dealing with the commissions, but it would kill the lower rated political talk shows, the minor leagues of talk, as it were, keeping the next Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity from being discovered by a wider audience.
I wish I was capable of understanding the mind of someone like dick durbin.
Or as I so fondly call him, the aptly named dick durbin.
Couldn’t Rush, Hannity, et al buy their own stations and set them up to broadcast anywhere they want? And couldn’t the conservatives help fund it? If the libs can get away with stuff like that, so can we. And by the way, where does NPR fit into this stuff?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the green font used on Drudge Report before, except maybe at Christmas when all headlines are red and green.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96JF8V00&show_article=1
What does that mean…that Drudge is going green?
On February 26th, 2009 at 3:08 pm, happyscrapper said:
Thank you, happyscrapper! I appreciate that…
I am “words of affirmation”, so your kind words mean a lot to me.
(Sidenote: I recommend highly the book The Five Love Languages to anyone interested in improving their relationships with other people)
Dow down?- I’m hearing rumors the mortgage interest deduction on “rich people” is being reduced in the new Obama budget.
Since the price of homes in big cities and some states like California is in ‘rich people’ territory, the economy is about to take another terrific jolt.
I think Obama is destroying the middle class on purpose, to create ever more fertile soil for Soviet style communism.
He won’t be satisfied for Euro style pseudo-socialism, I’m afraid.
On February 26th, 2009 at 3:10 pm, Ed Mahmoud abu al-Kahoul said:
I just heard the same thing yesterday from a very reputable source.
On February 26th, 2009 at 3:15 pm, RTater said:
I don’t think they are done, trying to use something. They are just are not using something that has been called “the fairness doctrine” I don’t think that means they won’t try another tact- like say “Hate Speech Legislation” that is a back door to the eroding of the First Amendment. Look how they are going after the Second Amendment, Imus and Lou Dobbs were discussing it this morning.
Obama Lied.
The Market Died.
NPR is taxpayers funding radio that has a strong editorial slant in favor of socialism and against taxpayers.
Sort of like the Peoples Republic of China, when they execute a criminal or dissenter, the next of kin gets invoiced for the cost of the round fired into the criminal/dissenter’s head.
Laree – I think that is a safe bet. Just like how they suckered in the Traitorous Trio by removing a few earmarks only to add them in on another bill a few days later. I am sure that they will try to achieve the same goal using a different approach later.
However, we must be at least as persistent striving for liberty as they are working toward socialism.
So the Progressive strategy is to go after individual talk radio personalities?
http://sarah-palin-2012.blogspot.com/2009/02/barney-fwank-says-republicans-cringing.html
Now that it’s been barred, Hannity’s going to have to find something else to take up 30 minutes of talk time.
On February 26th, 2009 at 3:26 pm, RTater said:
I can see them being able to control old media to a degree but how could they ever manage to censor and patrol the internet- new media? There are too many savy folks all over the world, and many ways to get around the techs that would say put a filter in place like the Google Boys did for Chinese Government.
Kind of like this…
I have been Leary of the Speech Police since Imus was targeted and fired back in April of 2007. Imus was the canary in the coalmine. He is back, and I think he has made his position clear On Air, he is sticking with his homeys
Sean, Rush, Laura Ingraham ,Levin, and Beck to name a few.
On the chance of this happening, every time Chrissy Matthews and Olbydork open their mouth and bash a conservative, I am going to file a complaint with the FCC if they do not have someone that is their polar opposite sitting in the chair next to them with an opposing view and equal time.
Same with NPR, and Air (un)America.
This could get interesting. I hope this completely backfires and people are more exposed to the conservative than ever before. Can you imagine ABC having a conservative viewpoint on their network?
Thats not the only place google has a filter…i.e. much closer to you than China.
Dems have attacked from back door
Seems to be their default point of entry.
Same Old Players.
*The Senate and the FCC are wasting their time on any type of ban; The landscape for open discussion has gone far beyond radio since the 80’s; Conservative talkmasters will litigate this to the Supreme Court for years on end if they have to.
*I believe when Drudge goes green, it’s a surprising bit of good news; I’m waiting for “P-BO Impeached” with the flashing red light; Can’t come soon enough.
*In regards to Blah Blah O’Reilly, I have been boycotting until he matches the Ingraham Angle with the Malkin Minute; Michelle is the queen of the bloggers and if O’Reilly wants to regain his cred, that would be the best place to start; As far as being on top of the issues at hand, there is MM, and then there is the rest.
On February 26th, 2009 at 3:37 pm, Jvette said:
Dems have attacked from back door
Seems to be their default point of entry.
That’s the unvarnished truth! LOL!
Democrats are doing things in the dark these days. No hearings, no warning, no caucuses, the tyranny of the majority is staring us in the face. And no one seems to care—
Your daughter is right- the actual target of the left is to keep a tight lid on the truth!
Deceit and lies breed under the cover of darkness. There is a veil over the eyes of the unbelievers and they cannot see the truth. No use even trying to make them see it. It will not happen. Only believers in the Truth can see them for what they are. There are millions of us and we can prevail.
Puts a smile on Barney Frank’s face.
On February 26th, 2009 at 3:42 pm, tarpon said:
Democrats are doing things in the dark these days. No hearings, no warning, no caucuses, the tyranny of the majority is staring us in the face. And no one seems to care—
*Dems have attacked from the back door?; The GOP has always been outflanked by Barney Frank, who is always looking for someone new to play “catch” with.
Did the failure of Hillarycare put the quest for socialized medicine out of business?
Scare tactics — Republican specialty.
A Democratic Senate votes overwhelmingly to outlaw the fairness doctrine. Republican scaremongers continue to try to whip up base fury over Democratic designs on the doctrine. It is hard to have less credibility than Congressional Democrats, but Republicans have mastered that art through decades of hard practice and studying with the masters Bush, Reagan, Gingrich, etc.
txvet2 said: Did the failure of Hillarycare put the quest for socialized medicine out of business?
That’s the truth,, they just look for a new angle. It is my hope that we are seeing the crest of the Progressive Wave, that the backlash pushes them back years in their agenda. I still have faith in Americans. It seems it takes the Government putting their hands into their wallets, to get the Silent Majority’s attention. The Left is pushing it’s luck, it will find just how far they can their luck will take them, that’s just my opinion.
Did you bother to read Durbin’s bill? Or are you only focused on DeMint’s?
It’s easy to forgo FCC regulations if you can get a foothold on station ownership.
Several Democrats have commented on bringing back the Fairness Doctrine. How is it scaremongering to point out that they said it? When even the President is so concerned that he has to specifically mention conservative talk radio hosts, it is not scaremongering.
Do you ever give up on the Ad Naseum Tu Quoque? It’s perfectly okay for you to perceive the Democratic congressmen to have little credibility so long as you can justify to yourself that Republicans are worse, right?
The DeMint amendment is kind of meaningless, it is sort of a ’sense of the Senate’ resolution.
Demonrats will seek to shut down talk radio stations and cut the number of people who can tune into Rush, Hannity, Bennett, Levin, etc by forcing them off the air is smaller markets by enacting local ownership/content rules and ‘citizens committees’ with reporting requirements for license renewal that will force smaller market AM stations out of business or into a non-talk format.
Even here in medium market Houston, the ‘Salem Radio Network’ affiliate that carries Bennett, Prager, Medved and Hewitt does not seem like a large budget operation, (their local broadcasters and commercial content are amateur hour) and it might not take much to push them into format change or even bankruptcy.
Down another 1.25% today. Isn’t that like 16 days in a row the market is down by 1%? And Chap said it would be at 17,000!!
Some of those here obviously suffer from the Stockholm Syndrome.
Imagine if a town was required to have ‘fairness of ownership’ to build a diverse cross section of churches in the name of serving all the people equally.
However they disguise it, it is what it is.
It will never pass constitutional muster, but the time it takes to fight it can destroy the industry in the meantime.
This is of course what they count on to permanently consolidate power on the left.
How do you debate an idiot who refuses to admit the FD keeps rearing its ugly head BECAUSE OFF DEMOCRATS?
Need you ask?
lgm, really, could you be a bigger jackass if you tried?
The Democrat Senators had better watch their asses. We will march on Washington to preserve our Constitutional, GOD-GIVEN rights.
Deception tactics — Democratic Socialist specialty.
Yes…the Fairness Doctrine. Repeat that as necessary.
There are a zillion back-door ways to bring about a silencing of talk radio. Don’t think they’re not out there.
If it’s “scare tactics” to worry when prominent politicians talk about taking away actual, clear-as-day Constitutional rights, then what is it to lament the “loss” non-existent, but supposedly “Constitutional” rights (like abortion or gay marriage)? Insanity? Probably.
The First Amendment is clear:
To those of us who can read and comprehend, “no law” means no law. Not “some laws or back-door regulations, if someone feels offended or politically threatened by Rush Limbaugh or if liberal talk radio is a smashing failure.”
NO law.
Repeat that phrase as necessary, too, until it sinks in.
Or are your rights so unimportant to you that you classify any attempt to defend them as “scare tactics”? Sad that you’re willing to surrender so much to a man who does nothing save give nice speeches….
To all the Democrats in this forum, do you really want the next Republican president to try sneaky tactics to silence the lefties in the media? I didn’t think so. That’s why the rest of us are outraged by the very IDEA of a so-called “fairness doctrine”. Let the marketplace of ideas (radio listeners) decide what will cut the mustard on the airwaves. Air Amerika was a crashing failure; try again any time, Dems!
I went to an election, and a dictatorship broke out.
Good points except you can’t get carried away with the NO LAW business. There are constitutionally permissible ways to restrict free speech. Granted, none of them apply on this issue.
Not only do I not think there will ever be a fairness doctrine, I don’t think there will be a functionable equivalent. Just because some left of left congressional leaders want it, doesn’t mean it will ever be passed. I agree the situation should be monitored, but the “sky is not falling”.
Please “Red”, there may be young people on this thread. We do not link “back door” with Log Cabin Republicans or with Barney Frank’s bio on MySpace. We must keep the discourse on a higher level for the children.