Obama finally gets one right?

The Communications Guru is crying in his beer with Dangerously Incompetent Stabenow and Tom "John" Athans if this is true. Obama (As of now) opposes the political censorship known as the "fairness" doctrine. From Politico:

Until now, the Obama administration has remained mum when it comes to the Fairness Doctrine.

But now, White House spokesperson Ben LaBolt tells Fox News that "as the president stated during the campaign, he does not believe the Fairness Doctrine should be reinstated."

Indeed, that was candidate Obama's position last June.

Hopefully he doesn't flip on this issue.

Good news from the FCC for once

It's not the best news possible, that the FCC is eliminating content regulation, but at least they do not plan on censoring political speech with the leftist "Fairness Doctrine."

There is no "compelling reason to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine," the head of the Federal Communications Commission said in a letter to lawmakers this week.

Chairman Kevin J. Martin, responding to a letter from several House Republicans on the modern-day appropriateness of the rule, assured them that the media regulator has no intention of bringing back the doctrine, which required broadcasters to present contrasting points of view on issues of public importance.

"In my judgment, the events of the last two decades have confirmed the wisdom of the commission's decision to abolish the Fairness Doctrine," wrote Mr. Martin, a Republican, in a letter dated Monday and released yesterday.

"Discussion of controversial issues over the airwaves has flourished absent regulatory constraints, and the public now enjoys access to an ever-expanding range of views and opinions. Indeed, with the continued proliferation of additional sources of information and programming, including satellite broadcasting and the Internet, the need for the Fairness Doctrine has lessened ever further since 1987."

Good news, but we still need to get something passed so this doesn't make a comeback later. I'd rather go a step further and stop cotent regulation altogether and have the FCC go back to only making sure stations do not interfere with one another.

Mike Pence gives censorship a right hook

The Hill reports some good news on the First Amendment front. The elitist left wing of the Democrats (Dick Durbin, Dianne Feinstein) wanted to reinstate the so called Fairness Doctrine in their regulation attempts on the radio. This anti-Free Speech measure was rebuffed hard 309-115 with many democrats joining Mike Pence and others in their support of Freedom.

The House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using taxpayer dollars to impose the Fairness Doctrine on broadcasters who feature conservative radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity.

By a vote of 309-115, lawmakers amended the Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill to bar the FCC from requiring broadcasters to balance conservative content with liberal programming such as Air America.

The vote count was partly a testament to the influence that radio hosts wield in many congressional districts.

It was also a rebuke to Democratic senators and policy experts who have voiced support this week for regulating talk radio.

House Democrats argued that it was merely a Republican political stunt because there is little danger of the FCC restricting conservative radio while George W. Bush is president.

Republicans counter that they are worried about new regulations if a Democrat wins the White House in 2008

I also find it ironic that the two leaders against Free Speech in the Senate are also two of the biggest gun grabbers as well. Durbin and Feinstein if nothing else, are consistent in their hatred for American freedoms.

The Roll Call vote is here. No Republicans voted against freedom here. In Michigan, the freedom haters are shown to be Conyers, Kilpatrick, Dingell, and Levin. Stupak and Kildee voted right on this, as did all Michigan Republicans.