I just hope they don't find someone worse, who is more intent on stifing freedom of expression.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/21/news/newsm...well_resigning/

Powell out at FCC?
Report says chairman set to announce resignation; led fights on obscenity, media ownership.
January 21, 2005: 8:42 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell will resign from the agency he has led for four years, according to a newspaper editorial Friday.

Powell, a member of the FCC since November 1998 and the chairman since early 2001, will announce his resignation Friday, according to the Wall Street Journal in an editorial.

FCC spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

Powell has been a relatively high-profile chairman of what had generally been a quiet regulatory agency before his tenure. He has pushed for increased fines for obscenity and indecent content by the nation's broadcasters and backed a change in media ownership rules that allowed for greater consolidation by the industry's largest conglomerates.

Powell was originally appointed to the FCC by President Clinton before being given the lead of the agency by President Bush. The Atlanta Journal Constitution speculated late last year he is interested in a run for governor of Virginia, although he had declined to comment on his plans when questioned by the press several times last year.

Powell is the son of Colin Powell, whose tenure as Secretary of State ended this week.

John Ashcroft is in need of a new job

He will probably be replaced by someone more pro-business.

So, while it is good that he is gone, what we will get is no doubt much worse.

and now TV show characters can safely order tossed salad

(Why did Stern get fined by Oprah and the show Frasier get away with using the phrase?)



isn't smut always good for business (at least in the media)?

guess the sch**k realized that with Howard moving to satellite, he'd have nothing to do!! However, shrub will appoint someone else who shows their contempt for the Constitution as "proudly" as powell did. May he slip into oblivion, where he belongs!!

January 21, 2005
Powell Is Stepping Down as Chairman of F.C.C. in March
By STEPHEN LABATON

ASHINGTON, Jan. 21 - Michael K. Powell, who has overseen the Federal Communications Commission during a period that witnessed significant deregulation at a time of the convergence of telephones, televisions and high speed internet services, announced today that he would be stepping down from the agency in two months.

Administration officials and industry executives said that two leading contenders had emerged to succeed Mr. Powell.

One is Kevin J. Martin, a Republican commissioner and former White House official who several times foiled Mr. Powell's attempts to deregulate broadcasters and telephone companies. The other is Becky A. Klein, a former Texas regulator appointed in the 1990's by the state's then-governor, George W. Bush. She lost a congressional bid two months ago after her campaign received a huge amount of financial support from executives at telecommunications companies who expected she would be a top contender for the F.C.C. job.

Both Mr. Martin and Ms. Klein have close ties to Mr. Bush and track records that are less ideological than Mr. Powell. Both have taken steps as regulators that at times have angered the large Bell companies and at other times pleased them. One thing in Mr. Martin's favor is that, as a sitting commissioner, he would not need to be confirmed by the Senate to take Mr. Powell's place, and therefore he could fill the position quickly.

The officials and executives said that other candidates being considered to replace Mr. Powell included Michael Gallagher, the top Commerce Department official on telecommunications issues; Pat Wood III, another former Texas regulator who is head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Janice Obuchowski, a consultant who worked in the Commerce Department during the administration of the first President Bush.

The White House is also expected to also soon have a second Republican vacancy on the five-member commission, since Kathleen Q. Abernathy, a loyal ally of Mr. Powell. She has recently told administration officials that she intended to step down soon.

Mr. Powell, 41, who became chairman four years ago this week after serving the prior three years as a commissioner, has told friends that he will take time off after he steps down to consider his next career move. His resignation announcement has long been expected although the way it was initially disclosed-in an editorial today in The Wall Street Journal - was unusual.

"Having completed a bold and aggressive agenda, it is time for me to pursue other opportunities and let someone else take the reins of the agency," he said. "The seeds of our policies are taking firm root in the marketplace and are starting to blossom."

Still, his successor faces a considerable number of difficult regulatory issues. The commission has to decide in the coming months how it will regulate the newly emerging telephone services being offered over the Internet. It faces significant issues on the transition to digital television and on overhauling the multibillion-dollar universal service funds that are used to provide telephone services to underserved areas.

"There is a large agenda of unfinished business," said Blair Levin, a former top official at the commission during the Clinton administration who is now a senior regulatory analyst at Legg Mason. "Powell leaves a very mixed record."

When he was appointed by Mr. Bush, Mr. Powell vowed to erase scores of regulations - from those restricting the size of media companies to those setting wholesale phone rates. He also promised to consider relaxing the tough indecency rules restricting television and radio broadcasters. Those positions earned him significant support among the largest telephone and broadcasting companies.

Although he was fortunate enough politically to be able to work with both a Republican White House and a Republican Congress, industry executives and analysts said he nonetheless fell short of his agenda. His efforts at deregulating the media ownership rules were blocked by a federal appeals court. His attempt to rewrite the phone rate rules failed initially after Mr. Martin broke ranks with him. After an appeals court struck down the rules, the commission rewrote them and they are once again being challenged in the court.

He also sharply shifted emphasis on broadcasting regulations and indecency. As a commissioner, and early in his tenure as chairman, he was widely praised by companies and First Amendment advocates for saying it was time to eliminate the double standard that allowed the government to subject broadcasters, unlike their competitors in cable and satellite television, to indecency and other speech regulations.

But under pressure lawmakers and some conservative organizations, he wound up leading the agency through one of its most aggressive enforcement periods and expanded the indecency rules.

Mr. Powell has said the broadcasters have lowered their standards in a quest for higher ratings. But Industry lawyers say the broader interpretation of the indecency and profanity rules have had the effect of chilling legitimate speech.

Consumer groups praised Mr. Powell for two regulatory changes made under his tenure. The first, accomplished in conjunction with the Federal Trade Commission, set up a "Do Not Call" registry that restricts telephone solicitations. The second fostered competition among mobile phone companies by permitting customers to retain their phone numbers when changing providers.

But the groups also sharply criticized Mr. Powell for a variety of other policies that they said had led to higher prices and reduced competition. They said his policies had the effect of introducing some competition for services being sought by wealthier consumers, like high-speed Internet service, while neglecting the needs of the less affluent.

"During his tenure, cable rates have risen almost three times faster than inflation, satellite prices are beginning to similarly rise, broadband prices have increased and there has been enormous consolidation in the wire line and wireless services," said Gene Kimmelman, a senior director of public policy at Consumers Union. "Powell was more concerned about preserving competition for wealthy people, people who already have broadband, people who have video service. The people who used to rely on the long-distance companies, who want more choices for their cell phone carrier, they were left out in the cold.



Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

because oprah is so "beloved" by this country(according to an fcc commissioner who went on to say that howard is a "lightning rod") and the fcc came after howard conviently like gangbusters after he started pointing out the failures of george shrub and sang teh praises of the man who should be prez, John Kerry. Let's send Michael some tossed salad as a going away present! And may george bush and company have to get a real tossed salad when they are finally brought to justice and are impeached! Send em to Attica- not a country club. There's plenty of sex-starved prisoners there that would love to toss george's salad!!

DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD

Howard broke some major news this morning…FCC Chairman and nepotism poster boy, Michael Powell, will most likely announce his retirement later today (and now he has). Gary said that as soon as the story broke, a ton of reporters called in wanting to get a quote from Howard. Howard said he didn't want to talk to the press about it. He said it didn't really matter though, because with Bush in office Powell's replacement isn't likely to be any better. But he did make the following statement on the air this morning:

"Michael Powell resigning is a great thing because he did not deserve the job in the first place. He was appointed because of his father. Michael Powell was no more qualified, perhaps less qualified, than the other members of the FCC and had no right to be there. It was strictly patronage and a pay off…And what does Michael Powell do when he gets to be head of the FCC? He squanders every opportunity! A billion dollars in tax payers money that was targeted for inner city schools and poor school systems so that computers could be place in the schools, squandered under Powell. To make matters worse Michael Powell then said let's put all the power into the hands of a couple of companies with radio and television. And lo and behold, all the politicians were against him. And in order to win favor with politicians, he went against his own statements about how the market place should determine what is said on the airwaves, that sponsors and listeners will determine what should be on the airwaves. He kowtowed and went ahead and started fining me unbelievable amounts of money….And that made him the hero of the religious right and the liberal left, who were all looking to win favor with the public by making it look like they were cleaning up the airwaves….Michael Powell's legacy: Appointment by his father, a billion dollars squandered of the tax payers money, ruining the first amendment, going back on his own words about how the market place should determine. Putting the radio stations in the hands of the few…and he forced radio stations, blackmailed radio stations into bowing to his will by telling them secretly, you are not going to any court! You are going to have your licenses held up! Shame on him! Shame on the FCC! Thank God he's gone, but God help us with what's next."

Goodbye and good riddance to "Semi Colon"