Democrats want to bring back the Fairness Doctrine
This is a perfect example of why I think the democrats are dangerous and are trampling on the constitution and the first amendment. The left controls most of the MSM (print media and the three fourth of the major networks. Earlier this year I wrote the democrats from the state of North Dakota, receiving a letter back from Kent Conrad that basically said he would support the fairness doctrine if it came up.
Fairness Doctrine Vote Not Happening, House
Thursday, July 31, 2008
By Josiah Ryan, Staff Writer On the Spot (CNSNews.com) - A bill to permanently ban the “Fairness Doctrine” – a dormant FCC rule that says broadcasters, mainly talk radio, must grant equal air time to opposing viewpoints – probably will not be voted on this year in Congress, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told CNSNews.com on
Majority Leader Hoyer also joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in strongly suggesting that he would support reactivating the Fairness Doctrine, telling CNSNews.com that he is interested in “ensuring the availability of fair and balanced information to the American public.”
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), however, who wrote the bill – the Broadcaster’s Freedom Act – which would permanently ban the Fairness Doctrine, expressed surprise at Hoyer’s statement on Wednesday. Pence said that if Democrats maintain a majority in Congress, he thinks there will be a movement to restore the Fairness Doctrine.
“No, I do not expect that bill [by Pence] to come to the floor, certainly not in the time that is remaining,” Hoyer told CNSNews.com. Hoyer’s office is in charge of scheduling which legislation is debated on the House floor.
“There is a real concern about the monopoly of information and the skewering of information that the American public gets,” said Hoyer. “First, is to the monopoly.
“Obviously, if one group, or a large group, controls information and only allows one perspective to be presented, that’s not good for democracy. That is not good for the American public. That is, of course, what the Fairness Doctrine is directed at, and it can have great merit. But there are obviously complications involved in that as well,” he said.
Pence, however, elaborated on why he thinks the Democrats will push to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine if they retain control of Congress.
“With the support of Speaker Pelosi and the majority leader for a return of the archaic legislation that, combined with the support of Senator Durbin, Senator Kerry, and Senator Feinstein, it seems very clear to me that should the next Congress remain in the hands of the Democrats, there will be an effort to restore the content regulation of the so-called Fairness Doctrine to the airwaves of America,” Pence told CNSNews.com.
