@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 >From: "Craig A. Johnson" <•••@••.•••> To: Multiple recipients of list <•••@••.•••> Subject: Re: Dole on Spectrum Give-Away, Please Explain On 12 Jan 96 at 9:53, William J. Drake wrote: > > > STATEMENT OF SENATOR ROBERT DOLE ON THE > > BROADCAST SPECTRUM AS A NATIONAL RESOURCE > > Cong Rec S135 (daily ed. Jan 10, 1995) > > [snip] > <...> > > I would be very interested if anyone has any good inside info on how > Dole came to this position, particularly this late in the game. All > last year, Republicans were cheerily preparing to hand the > broadcasters free spectrum, and now at the 11th hour one of their > nominal leaders is attacking the deal and slowing the bill. Not quite accurate Bill. Pressler made noises periodically last year about auctioning spectrum for ATV, and the NAB and MSTV engaged in some heavy lobbying, after which he eased off the issue. As for Dole, it's not all that complicated. There's not a Washington snowball's chance in hell that the telecom bill will be appreciably delayed due to Dole's utterances. It's a sop to McCain and right-wing Republicans who want to sell every chunk of spectrum they can get their hands on to raise revenue. It's also a game piece Dole can use in the budget battle. But let's not mistake politics for reality. > Is this > just part of his general bash-the-broadcasters appeal to the > religious right? Basically, no. Dole is sitting pretty with most broadcasters, and his flank is covered on the "indecency" thing by his backing of the Net censorship provision and the cable provisions in the bill, as well as his sponsorship of the Grassley-Dole bill on "protecting minors" or some such gibberish. > Is there significant behind-the-scenes pressure > coming from other affected industries? Republicans have been > decidedly selective in their attacks on corporate welfare, so a > coherent principled commitment to end it seems an implausible > explanation. Even less plausible, I'd think a priori (correct me > if I'm wrong), would be that he has somehow been swayed by public > interest groups' criticisms of these provisions. You're right on the last two counts. This has little to do with any Republican "attacks on corporate welfare," much less that Dole has suddenly lent an ear to consumer interest groups. Politics of course is driving this apparent surprise move by Dole. Dole wants his fingerprints on the telecom bill, in case he accidentally gets elected President. And yes, there is some industry pressure to move in a certain direction, but I can't tell you everything in the first message. It's someone else's turn. How about a thread on this? This group could use a real discussion of some sort. Suffice to say, Dole suddenly did not get religion. Please let's not delude ourselves into thinking that a provision for auctioning the ATV spectrum will be written into the telecom bill. It ain't gonna happen folks. Craig Craig A. Johnson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Telecommunications/Information Policy Specialist Transnational Data Reporting Service, Inc. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ •••@••.••• @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~ Posted by Richard K. Moore (•••@••.•••) Wexford, Ireland Cyber-Rights: http://www.cpsr.org/cpsr/nii/cyber-rights/ CyberLib: http://www.internet-eireann.ie/cyberlib Materials may be reposted in their entirety for non-commercial use. ~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~--~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=~
