Senate tunes out Fairness Doctrine

For people that really care about the "Fairness Doctrine", yesterdays vote in the Senate was either great news if you are a Rush Limbaugh fan or a blow to the head that stiffles free speech to progressives.

Sen. Jim DeMint(S.C.) attached an amendment onto a bill that would give the District of Columbia a voting rights in congress. The  admendment would prohibit the FCC from re-instating the Fairness Doctitrine. This amendment, theBroadcaster Freedom Act, passed along with the bill that gives Washingon, D.C voting rights.

Here is a little of what the Hill has to say about this:

The Senate voted Thursday in favor of an amendment to the District of Columbia voting-rights bill that would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from reinstating the so-called Fairness Doctrine, which critics say would decimate conservative talk radio.

The Senate passed the measure 87-11.

Republicans have introduced the Broadcaster Freedom Act in the House as well, but Democrats are not expected to allow a vote on the bill.

Legislation would have to pass both chambers of Congress and receive President Obama’s signature.

The FCC first implemented the doctrine in the late 1940s to balance the political content of broadcasters, requiring them to give equal time to liberal and conservative viewpoints.

The agency scrapped the regulation in the mid-'80s after determining that it was no longer necessary because the public had a wide array of political news sources from which to choose.

Since then Congress has tried twice to re-implement the Fairness Doctrine but failed because of vetoes by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

The amendment, sponsored by Senate Republican Steering Committee Chairman Jim DeMint (S.C.) and Senate Republican Conference Vice Chairman John Thune (S.D.), would block the FCC from reviving equal-time requirements by enacting the Broadcaster Freedom Act.

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