Free Republic

Venezuelan president revokes licenses of 34, says those who share socialist vision will get back on the air

One of the reasons we’ve reached a tipping point between freedom and welfare statism is because much of the country pays no taxes and increasingly the burden of taxes is being shifted to a smaller and smaller percentage of the population. Now I’m not a tax advocate by any stretch. But it is obvious we’re not going to be able to avoid them, especially with this new crowd in town who wants to tax just about everything. But back to the point – if you’re not paying taxes, but the government is taxing others to your benefit, why wouldn’t you...

If Don Imus was fired for calling a female basketball team a bunch of “nappy-headed hos,” shouldn’t David Letterman be fired for his troglodyte comment about Sarah Palin’s daughter? To wit: “One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game, during the seventh inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez.” I wonder how Letterman would feel if he had a kid after he knocked up some broad? Oh, wait. He has one.

"When media executives look at their shrinking audiences, they rarely attribute the decline to their liberal bias in covering the news. But recent developments at the Washington Post demonstrate that a return to fair coverage attracts readers. Since Katharine Weymouth became publisher more than a year ago, and she named Marcus Brauchli, a former Wall Street Journal editor, executive editor in September, the paper has been making an honest effort to be fair. Wash. Post Publisher Katharine Weymouth Hit jobs against Bush administration programs and Republicans in general have virtually vanished. Instead, the paper presents issues fairly. No longer is...

Wow! I just got an email from Barack Obama.... ok I admit I signed up on his mass mailing list, but even so, it sounded pretty impressive, huh? Almost as impressive as his plans to take over healthcare - Tonight on Evil Conservative Radio I'll talk about this email promising health care "reform" by August and what it means for us - The GOP's re-branding of the Dems as the "Democrat Socialist Party"- The ironic way that the Specter defection is strengthening the GOP in the Senate - The inherent unfairness of "fair"- Hirsen on Hollywood and much, much more......

The Statue of Liberty's crown, with its exhilarating view of New York's skyscrapers, bridges and seaport, is reopening on Independence Day. Safety and security issues have been addressed and 50,000 people, 10 at a time, will get to visit the 265-foot-high crown in the next two years. Interior Department officials said they had not yet determined how to choose who climbs to the top. Spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff said a lottery is one possibility. Salazar "wants the tickets to be distributed not based on your connections but in a fair and equitable way," she said.

U.S. regulatory czar nominee wants Net 'Fairness Doctrine'Cass Sunstein sees Web as anti-democratic, proposed 24-hour delay on sending e-mail. WASHINGTON – Barack Obama's nominee for "regulatory czar" has advocated a "Fairness Doctrine" for the Internet that would require opposing opinions be linked and also has suggested angry e-mails should be prevented from being sent by technology that would require a 24-hour cooling off period. The revelations about Cass Sunstein, Obama's friend from the University of Chicago Law School and nominee to head the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, come in a new book by Brad O'Leary, "Shut...

Small Business in America accounts for 70% of jobs in America. It is the creative engine that drives this Nation. Every time Small Business taxes increase, it means a decrease in benefits for Small Business workers. For every 1% Small Business Taxes increase (which result in a reduction of Small Business remuneration/benefits), Public Employees should have to contribute a 1% reduction in their remuneration package, as well. This is fair and it crosses all party lines. The invisible workers, minimum wage employees, suffer the burden of these tax increases in order to maintain this current and most abominable social structure...

This year, more than any other, there has been significant agreement that our tax system is not fair, that the rich take advantage over the poor, and that the poor in America are more needy than ever. Despite the apparent unanimity of thought in these areas, the facts seem to be quite different. For example, the bottom 1/5 of all households has had a surprising upward mobility, while those with the largest wealth trended downward and this information has been provided from what one would believe is an objective source: the Treasury Department and the IRS. The IRS reported that...

After “hope” and “change,” the most overused, misused, and abused word in the English language these days is “fairness.” Just like hope and change, fairness is extremely subjective; what’s fair to you, might not be fair to me. And when the White House and Congress are packed Marxist-socialist ideologues, the misuse of the term “fairness” to achieve their political ends is as common as breathing. It is the banner under which every tax increase, every oppressive regulation, every liberty-squelching speech code is imposed on a supposedly free society. While our socialist-in-chief continues to set fire to our economy and fiddle...

EXCERPT: Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, the most rational man in Washington, DC has given an impassioned speech on the floor of the Senate in defense of Christian radio. “In a straight party-line vote, Democrats chose to adopt Senator Durbin’s Amendment 591, which calls on the FCC to quote, ‘encourage and promote diversity in communication media ownership…and to ensure that broadcast station licenses are used in the public interest.’ That’s a quote and essentially it makes an end-run around the Fairness Doctrine.” “The ACLU and other liberal organizations could attempt to file lawsuits against anyone who presents a message that they...

The Senate passed a Broadcaster Freedom Amendment to a D.C. voting rights bill on Thursday by a vote of 87-11. But Democrats countered with an amendment that seeks to promote “diversity” in media ownership.The Broadcaster Freedom Amendment prevents the Federal Communications Commission from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, which would requires equal time for the expression of different political viewpoints on the public airwaves. Radio stations that run conservative talks shows, for example, would be required to allot equal time for liberal talk shows – or, more likely, stop airing the conservative shows altogether. Critics of the Fairness Doctrine call it...

Just got this in from a fellow patriot... Cannot get confirmation... Nothing on Drudge, yet.

I probably should have just listened to Paul Harvey. Though it wasn’t actually Paul Harvey. It was Ron Chapman. And that’s probably the problem. I understand Ron Chapman is a radio legend somewhere, but I don’t live there. So, to me, he’s just an insufferable bore. But I should have been listening anyway. Instead I got an idea. An idea that had been kind of simmering in my head for a week or so. I was trying to think of a way to show that I wasn’t happy. That I was tired of bailouts. That I didn’t want to pay...

Barack Hussein Obama will propose a massive business tax on greenhouse gases in his FY 2010 federal budget to be presented this week.The massive tax increase and power grab was buried at the end on article on Obama's forthcoming budget proposal in The New York Times:On energy policy, Mr. Obama’s budget will show new revenues by 2012 from his proposal to require companies to buy permits from the government for greenhouse gas emissions above a certain cap. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the permits would raise up to $300 billion a year by 2020. Since companies would pass their...

Barack Obama ran for office as a unifier, but it was all a hustle. His brand of politics needs enemies. Like southern slave owners of old, today's conservative Republicans represent the enemy to be vanquished by enlightened progressives from the north.  This is an old storyline that provides unlimited nourishment to America's liberal elites.  Many of us, especially those of us who work in education, have long seen this coming.  In the early stages of the diversity movement for example it didn't take long to realize who was and was not included on the ubiquitous rainbow flag.  "Diversity" was simply...

President Obama opposes any move to bring back the so-called Fairness Doctrine, a spokesman told FOXNews.com Wednesday. The statement is the first definitive stance the administration has taken since an aide told an industry publication last summer that Obama opposes the doctrine -- a long-abolished policy that would require broadcasters to provide opposing viewpoints on controversial issues.

Bill Press is a smart and thoughtful liberal who has had a long and successful career in the TV and radio punditry biz. Yet there he was in Sunday's Post bemoaning the loss of "Obama 1260," the left-leaning Washington talk radio station that morphed into an all-financial advice outlet this week. The way Press tells it, the loss of that format on WWRC, which had so few listeners it sometimes didn't register at all in the Arbitron ratings, amounts to an unfair allocation of the public airwaves, even a conspiracy to silence voices from the left. Press is so exercised...

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) says it’s time for congress to reinstate the so-called “fairness doctrine” and require conservative talk radio to present opposing views. “It’s a matter of accountability,” Stabenow claimed. “As it is now, Limbaugh and his ilk can pretty much say whatever they want, even if it undermines confidence in the president’s program. This has got to stop. Unless these broadcasters can fairly offer both sides on controversial issues, they ought to be denied access to the public’s airwaves.” Stabenow dismissed the argument that those with opposing views are free to air their own programs. “This has...

Snip.... In June of 2007, Podesta's Center for American Progress released a report titled "The Structural Imbalance of Political Talk Radio," detailing the conservative viewpoint's dominance on the airwaves and proposing steps for leveling the playing field. "Our conclusion is that the gap between conservative and progressive talk radio is the result of multiple structural problems in the U.S. regulatory system," the report reads, "particularly the complete breakdown of the public trustee concept of broadcast, the elimination of clear public interest requirements for broadcasting, and the relaxation of ownership rules including the requirement of local participation in management." The report...

WASHINGTON – Another Democratic U.S. senator has gone on record as supporting the reinstatement of the so-called "Fairness Doctrine," adding, "I feel like that's gonna happen." Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told radio host and WND columnist Bill Press yesterday when asked about whether it was time to bring back the so-called "Fairness Doctrine": "I think it's absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it's called the Fairness Standard, whether it's called something else – I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You...

During the presidential campaign, Obama gave the impression that he would dissolve the politics of divisiveness and would unify our nation of many – as if such a thing is truly desirable. Now a politician who promises to get rid of politics and political posturing in government is a like a doctor who promises to get rid of the practice of medicine. The entire thing is absurd. But a politician who says he will mend divisiveness amongst the people and the nation is like a doctor who is promising to cure the patient of death by removing his ability to...

The term "fairness doctrine" is a leftist term that hides the true meaning of the legislation. Leftists are good at framing the issue and use words that manipulate.... such as calling a lockdown of dissenting opinion "fairness." Conservatives often slavishly follow along and find themselves arguing against "fairness." STOP LETTING THE LEFTISTS FRAME THE STORY! Always refer to the issue for what it truly is: CENSORSHIP! Use the term CENSORSHIP DOCTRINE and correct anyone who uses any other descriptor. Conserviatives, stop allowing yourself to be against "fairness." Use the truth and be against CENSORSHIP. For Pete's sake!

New York Representative Charles Rangel (D) says he plans to reintroduce his bill to reinstate the military draft. “It won’t be right away,” Rangel said. “We’ve got to get the stimulus package finished first. The climate of fear won’t last forever. We’ve got to get and spend this money before the political support dissipates.” A similar Rangel bill to revive the draft failed by a vote of 402-2 in 2004. Representatives John Murtha (D-Penn) and Pete Stark (D-Calif) were the only ones to vote for it. Rangel voted against it because “the risk of going on record in favor of...

There is some encouraging data in a new Pew media poll. It gives us strong reason to believe we can turn things around if we can stop the so- called Fairness Doctrine. Pew found 4 groups of news consumers: those who go to all sources, 23%, only Internet news gatherers 13%, only old media news consumers 46%, and the clueless who don’t care 18%. The “newspapers only” readers dropped 7 points to 27% since 2006 which is good news. But the really good news is: for the first time the number of both online and radio news (outlets we have...

The House has passed legislation to assure that employers live up to their four-decade-old legal promise to provide equal pay for equal work. Democrats led lawmakers in approving a bill making clear that women who are victims of gender-based discrimination can sue for compensatory and punitive damage. The chamber was also voting on a bill in response to a Supreme Court decision that workers must file a discrimination claim within 180 days of a pay violation. Supporters of changing the law said many workers don't find out about wage disparities for years. The two bills, coming in the first week...

<p>President-elect Barack Obama and federal media regulators from bringing back the Fairness Doctrine, which they said would all but eliminate the talk-radio industry.</p> <p>The doctrine, a 1949 requirement that broadcasters present opposing points of view on political issues, was scrapped in 1987 after the Federal Communications Commission said it restricted journalistic freedom.</p>

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi’s proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible before he even takes office. Pelosi’s rule changes -- which may be voted on today -- will reverse the fairness rules that were written around Newt Gingrich’s “Contract with America.” In reaction, the House Republican leadership is sending a letter today to Pelosi to object to changes to House Rules this week...

How much is a CEO worth? What is appropriate compensation for the leader of a large and complex organization? The standard reply has always been, “Let the market decide.” Lately, though, markets have proven themselves to be spectacularly ill-suited to be the last word on just about any issue. Even before Alan Greenspan recently and belatedly figured it out, “the invisible hand” and “magic” of the markets were mostly what their airy nomenclature implies: figments of irrational economic exuberance. Markets have never been stand-alone forces of nature; rather they are shaped, controlled and guided by human beings as fallible and...

People from across the country have been contacting Rep. Louie Gohmert wanting to know what they can do to support the Congressman's tax holiday proposal during Januray and February 2009 as an alternative to our government spending more on failed executive bailouts. Here's what we recommend: - Call your Congressman and urge them to support the plan. You can find your Representative by plugging in your zip code at www.house.gov and calling them through the Capitol switch board at 202.224.3121. - Contact your local media stations and urge them to push the issue. - Sign the online petition at RedState.com...

The Fairness Doctrine, which forced broadcasters to offer equal time to both sides of controversial issues, was abolished in 1987, paving the way for talk radio to take the opinionated -- and popular -- form it has today. Now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and such influential Democratic senators as Barbara Boxer and Chuck Schumer are pushing for its return, or something like it. Could the equal-time provisions pull a Don Imus and make a radio comeback? It could, industry insiders say. And the government-mandated programing restrictions that come with it could hobble an already struggling industry. Talk-radio hosts are unlikely...

CORNWALLIS, Canada (AFP) – US defense secretary Robert Gates said the United States wants to send reinforcements to Afghanistan before elections next year, adding the ballot is "maybe the most important objective for us in 2009."

Will Dems Try To Revive Fairness Doctrine?Monday November 17, 7:18 pm ET David Hogberg Proponents call it the "Fairness Doctrine," while opponents dismiss it as the "Censorship Doctrine." Either way, the potential return of broad regulation of broadcasters' programming could be a volatile fight on Capitol Hill. Under the Fairness Doctrine, the Federal Communications Commission required companies that held a broadcast license to devote some of their air time to controversial public affairs. It required broadcasters to present contrasting views on those matters, although not equal time. **SNIP** With Democrats holding the White House and Capitol Hill, they have the...

An opening salvo in the upcoming bid to silence talk radio criticism of left-wing government programs and officials was fired by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Citing regulations that penalize lewd language, Schumer suggested that the “rude” language of commentators like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity merited similar government oversight and control. “The lewd language of pornography disrespects the body, but the rude language of Limbaugh, Hannity and their ilk disrespects the mind,” Schumer contended. “Limbaugh alone pollutes the thoughts of 20 million listeners a day. If the government can crackdown on the purveyors of pornographic filth it has to have...

SHANGHAI — China agreed on Thursday to loosen restrictions on foreign news and information providers inside the country, settling a trade dispute with the United States, the European Union and Canada. The agreement, which was signed in Geneva, allows international news and information agencies, like Bloomberg, Dow Jones & Company and Thomson Reuters, to more freely compete and sell their services inside China, where government controls were tightened in 2006.

According to some media observers, interim “Meet the Press� host Tom Brokaw has been showcasing – reluctantly, as he clearly covets a return to network news - candidates for the late Tim Russert's media chair. Witness the endless panels of NBC news correspondents every Sunday. Who's next? Are we really ready for blabber-wocky Chris Matthews - maybe even sports-hack turned petulant pol-wonk Keith Olbermann? Can any of the contenders for Russert's job be a new beacon for integrity and objectivity at NBC News?In this same vein, recall the recent suggestions by Democratic senators Clinton, Boxer and Feinstein that  - because...

President-elect Obama, The campaign is over. It is now time to focus on where our nation will go from here. We disagree on many things, but if we are to take you at your word, we agree in the fundamental importance of encouraging open and honest debate in a Democratic society. There are those in Congress, who do not seem to feel this way. We believe this to be the case due to the recent calls for reinstating the so-called 'Fairness Doctrine'. The Fairness Doctrine, is far from fair, it lies a great distance from liberty. It will be used...

My first vanity, but I do not care. The first battle to take back the country from liberal thought and rebuild the conservative coalition is THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE. Somehow, someway TWENTY PERCENT of so called conservatives voted FOR Obama. NOTHING explains 20 percent of "conservatives" voting for Obama. Stay home? Maybe. But what in the HELL is a real conservative doing voting for the most liberal person in the Senate, and the most Liberal candidate ever? We conservatives have let the liberals take over the media, the schools and the cultural agenda. Now they have the media and the treasury....

Yes 36% 326 No 64% 570

"The Mark Levin Show” featured an excellent interview tonight with Brian Anderson, co-author of A Manifesto for Media Freedom, on the so-called Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine is radical egalitarianism run amok. Liberals want to use it to muzzle talk radio, which is primarily conservative. The same people who support the Fairness Doctrine support “Network Neutrality,” which would lay the groundwork for a Fairness Doctrine for the Internet. Law professor Cass Sunstein, an Obama campaign adviser, supports it and wants to have it apply to opinion websites. Try to suppress your vomit when you hear liberals whine about “leveling the...

BEDFORD -- A plethora of advanced course offerings has Bedford County School Board members scratching their heads, trying to decide a fair way to rank students or whether to discontinue the practice completely. Parents reportedly have expressed concerns of inequity because of weighted course offerings through the Advanced Placement, Virginia Governor's School and Early College programs.....

September 2008 Killing talk radio by Brian C. Anderson, Adam D. Thierer On the lurking threat to the freedom of the airwaves. The Left has watched uneasily as power drains away daily from the CBS Newses and the Time magazines of the liberal mainstream media and flows toward a more politically pluralistic array of new media alternatives that range from (mostly) conservative talk radio to (Fox-dominated) cable news to the ceaselessly expanding (thoroughly bi-partisan) Internet. And make no mistake: liberals want to snuff out this exciting, democratic world of analysis and debate and return to the good old days, when...

Now that it is convention time he is taking a central approach, but will Pelosi let him stay there?

To protect free speech from the political whims of a few unelected bureaucrats in Washington, the Fairness Doctrine needs to be wiped off the books. These Members of Congress are hypocritical because they voted for a one-year ban on the so-called Fairness Doctrine but have thus far refused to sign on to the Discharge Petition in support of a permanent ban. If someone is going to support freedom of speech for one year they should support it permanently

We now know what Obama has in store for the American economy. Let's start with energy. His is the traditional Democratic tilt in favour of renewables, ethanol and conservation. But with the polls showing that more than 70% of Americans favour opening offshore America and federal lands to drilling, Obama panicked. He now says he will go along with a comprehensive deal that includes new taxes on oil companies in return for a relaxation of restrictions on offshore drilling, so long as it is done in an environmentally sensitive way, which means that there will be no offshore drilling. As...

Video Series about Silencing Christians - Speechless - episode #7 - re: the Fairness Doctrine - was just on with Janet Parshall - interviewing Mike Pense, Congressman, discussing a measure before Congress NOW to ensure the resurrection of the Fairness Doctrine does not happen. Link is to episode 7 of this series - yes you have to "sign in" to be able to access these episodes - but not a big deal. Point is: Fairness doctrine likely WILL BE brought back into play in the next Congress - and/or by the President - should that person be a Dem -...

First of all, let me say that I do not wish Ted Kennedy dead. I am not a fan of his but no one should wish such a thing upon another, regardless of past history. That said, Mr. Kennedy's recent diagnosis of a brain tumor brings up all sorts of political questions, many of which have been discussed here. One such issue is/will be will the Kennedy family pay estate taxes on Uncle Ted's fortune when he passes on? Based on recent family history, the chances of that happening aren't good. In 1994, during Ted's Senate run against Mitt Romney,...

So what’s the problem? Why all the anxiety? Why don’t Republicans in the House of Representatives accept the quiet assurances of the FCC and settle down? The answer, of course, is talk radio. It is the only form of communication that conservatives have through which they can certainly and consistently connect with the general public. Most major television and print media are dominated by liberals, but conservatives are successful on talk radio.

Pelosi: I Want to Bring Back 'Fairness Doctrine' Photo of Ken Shepherd. By Ken Shepherd | June 25, 2008 - 10:38 ET Over at HumanEvents.com, John Gizzi has House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on the record saying that the Democratic caucus, far from being agnostic on the so-called Fairness Doctrine, is actually interested in resurrecting it. What's more, Pelosi herself wants to bring back the policy that could literally silence conservative talk radio. From his June 25 article: At a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor yesterday, I asked Pelosi if Pence failed to get the required signatures on...

Has anyone taken a look at the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournement Telecasts? I'm not really interested in the games themselves but I am interested in the politics. Yesterday I was watching the UVa lacrosse game on ESPN2 and switched over to ESPN during a commercial. There was one of of the women's basketball games on. It looked to me like there were about 450 people in the stands, including mothers and bestfriends. The game that's on now (ODU-UCONN) has a little bit bigger "crowd"; maybe 1000. Obviously there is little interest in these games but ESPN is producing them and...