Powell leaves FCC
 

The man President Bush made chairman of the FCC, son of outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell, and perhaps the most controversial head of the agency that governs radio and tv will leave his post before his appointment ends:

Powell announces resignation
Jan 23, 2005 4:52 PM, Beyond The Headlines e-newsletter

Michael Powell will step down as chairman and commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in March. Powell said he is leaving “with a mixture of pride and regret.”

“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,” Powell said of his four-year tenure as chairman. He said he looks forward “to spending some time off with his wife and two boys, before taking up my next challenge.”

Powell, the son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is also resigning, rose from commissioner to chairman when Bush took office in 2001. His term was to run until 2007.

He led the FCC in attempting to ease decades-old rules governing ownership of newspapers, television and radio stations. The commission approved changes in 2003 that allowed individual companies to own TV stations reaching nearly half the nation’s viewers and combinations of newspapers and broadcast outlets in the same community.

But lawmakers from both parties and a broad range of groups criticized the changes, saying the FCC regulations give large media companies too much control over what people see, hear and read. Congress and the courts are considering several efforts to modify or repeal the rules.

Most recently, the FCC under Powell has gone after what it calls indecent language and acts on television and radio. The controversy began after singer Janet Jackson exposed her bare breast during the Super Bowl in 2004.

Good riddance.

Good-bye, farewell and GOOD RIDDANCE!

I would love to hear him appear on Howard Stern's show. It's not going to happen, but that would be hilarious.

Don't come back.

That would be great!

Here's the deal....daddy leaves office so son has to leave office....your only good when you have a daddy who was secretary of state. now your job is over sporto!

I HATE Powell, but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Who made this deal? It's such a strange deal.

-Rudey

Reality. Powell will join some big deal communications law firm or lobbying group and will be set very handsomly for life.

Reality, Two. Given the political climate, the strong influence of the so called "religious right" and the person in the White House, the next FCC Chairman will likely be as, or more, rigid as Powell.

It's not a White House thing. When there was a recent bill on FCC fines, I think maybe one person or two went against it. The one person was a Democrat from NY. Nobody else, regardless of party, said anything.

What a bunch of crap. Our speech is controlled by an agency free to do whatever it wants without trial. They don't fine Oprah for talking about tossed salads but have issues with Howard Stern talking about farting.

-Rudey

Powell leaves FCC...

Rev. Falwell to be his appointed successor...

The FCC has only five commissioners. All are Presidential appointees. While I'm not absolutely sure, I believe that there are now three Republican (Bush appointees) and two Democratic (Clinton appointees)

I'm not familiar with the specific vote you're talking about, but if it was "business as usual" at FCC on that day, it was likely along party lines.

The Communications Act of 1934 has been "fixed" a couple of times in the past few years.

Perhaps it's the FCC that needs fixing.

There were votes by the House and Senate on the amount of fines the FCC can just give out:
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=18572

Also, remember when I put up that article about even 1 persona complaining leading to an investigation and fine?

This agency has nobody from any party calling for its "fixing".

-Rudey

I see. A vote in Congress is a lot different than a vote in the Commission. Sorry I misunderstood.

I suspect there are a number of people in Congress who think the agency should be fixed, but they have bigger issues (at least in their own minds) to deal with.

I know there are a lot of broadcasters who would like to see FCC overhauled.