20,000 Percent Tax Increase???

[Woknblues]

We need to regulate the airwaves so that they're not all bought up by Ruport Murdoch and others. We already have way too much centralization of the media upon which democracies rely. While many listeners may be content with a few megacorporations owning all the radio stations it is not true that market forces will answer to the needs of the rest due to the ability of the large corporations to leverage out everyone else.

The silver lining though is that internet radio and other alternatives allow more access since they don't have to compete for the small number of available radio frequencies.

regulation is what got us to this point, remember that the FCC was created in 1934. If you think it is working thus far, then why are you against "too much centralization", etc.? Please note, the FCC was created in 1934, and currently has 7 Bureaus responsible for licensing and enforcement and 11 offices in support of the 7 bureaus in all 50 states. These licenses ensure that the best lobbyists get the biggest slice of the pie in _each_and_every_case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Communications_Commission

One thing I find throughout my arguments is trying to allow people to understand that you cannot blame free market forces for a situation that was caused directly by government intervention in the first place. To blame the current mess of the FCC and the "mega-media-conglomerations" on "big business" is akin to blaming a child for putting his hand in the cookie jar when you leave it on the floor. Big businesses that take advantage of consumers do so because of the myriad of loopholes and opportunities that government intervention will provide to the greedy few who would take advantage of it. This occurrence leaves little choice for the rest to either follow suit and swim, or drown in regulation, code, by-laws and spot inspections, etc..

Joe Blow's community based broadcast corporation will get 100X more "random" inspections than say, NBC. The reason is obvious. The little guy doesn't have 50 million dollars to put into lobbyist funded bribery. The FCC in my mind is a tax payer supported decider of our our own first amendment. What do we need them for again?