About the FCC - they work for Congress, not the Executive Branch

[Stinky The Clown]

From their web site:

http://www.fcc.gov/aboutus.html

About the FCC

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, directly responsible to Congress. The FCC was established by the Communications Act of 1934 and is charged with regulating interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. The FCC's jurisdiction covers the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions.

Where are any of our reps on this one?

[Uben]

1. Good! Let's politicize it!

Let's use a page outta Rove's playbook and demand the FCC shut down all RW radio and tv shows!

They wanna play politics? Let's roll, baby!

[sutz12]

2. Just a minute here....

>>The FCC is directed by five Commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for 5-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairperson. Only three Commissioners may be members of the same political party. None of them can have a financial interest in any Commission-related business.<<

The pres still hires and fires. The congress just supplies the funds. Sorry, but the executive is still the "boss." The Congress is just the payroll dept.

[MADem]

3. That's how Michael Powell (fat son of Colin, FWIW) managed to get the job

He was a real "non-political" chairman....NOT.

TIRING OF "WARDROBE MALFUNCTIONS". As FCC chairman, Powell received praise from most businesses for his approach. He often took strong positions on issues favorable to Bell telephone companies, such as overturning rules surrounding wholesale competition on the outfits' networks. He also ruled recently that newfangled voice-over-IP offerings were not a conventional phone service -- to the benefit of the cable industry.

It's the pro-business Powell that drove consumer groups batty. They repeatedly criticized him for attempting to allow media conglomerates to grow bigger. But the soon-to-be-ex commissioner failed to relax ownership restrictions, infuriating many in industry. Powell expressed some regret that he was unable to finish new media-ownership rules -- an appeals court has held up his liberalization attempt.

Ultimately, what appeared to wear down Powell might have been the very sort of issue for which he'll be most remembered. Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Tom Wolzien observes that Powell talked of how he hated having to deal with "wardrobe malfunctions," a reference to the exposed breast of Janet Jackson during last year's Super Bowl game.

But many took note when Powell spoke harshly of media's failed decorum during the incident. Under his leadership, the FCC swiftly cracked down on indecent antics on TV and radio by levying a record $550,000 fine on CBS stations that carried the game.
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/jan2005/nf20050121_1183_db016.htm

And his "non political" replacement????

FCC Chair Schemes to Undermine Net Neutrality

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?pid=145574

The Federal Communications Commission is supposed to be made up of five independent members...But FCC chair Kevin Martin, a Bush White House retainer who reportedly entertains notions of running for the governorship of his native North Carolina with a campaign war chest full of telecommunications-industry contributions, is now attacking the basic structures of the FCC in order to deliver for the corporations he hopes will someday be his political benefactors.

Martin has ordered the commission's lawyers to come up with a scheme that would force another Republican commissioner, Robert McDowell, to "unrecuse" himself from a voting on a massive merger between telecommunications giants AT&T and BellSouth.

Prior to joining the commission in June, McDowell represented a telecommunications corporation, CompTel, that has engaged in lobbying with regard to the merger. As such, McDowell has a classic conflict of interest. He acted appropriately when he recused himself....Martin, who still hopes to secure FCC approval of the merger this year, is now trying to get McDowell to act inappropriately -- and, presumably, in a manner that will please Martin's corporate masters.

Martin's move has already drawn rebukes from members of Congress who follow telecommunications issues. "I believe that forcing a Commissioner to participate in a proceeding in which he or she would otherwise be recused is an extraordinary notion for an independent, impartial regulatory agency," said Representative Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, a key player on the House Energy and Commerce Committee who is seeking the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. "Agency Commissioners must exercise independent, impartial, and unbiased judgment in matters before the Commission."

Pennsylvania Democrat Mike Doyle, another well-regarded member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, wrote to Martin that, "While I take no position on the merger proceeding itself, I feel very strongly that this request to unrecuse Commissioner McDowell would set the Commission on a treacherous course toward an unacceptable precedent.".........

[Freddie Stubbs]

4. Correction: The President hires, but he does not fire

Their terms are for a fixed period of time.