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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sully- who wrote (3720)	7/25/2003 5:46:45 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793559

I really thought Powell was on the right course at the FCC. Too bad. FCC Chairman's Star a Little Dimmer Defeat on Capitol Hill Raises Questions About Powell's Political Savvy By Christopher Stern Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, July 25, 2003; Page E01 When Michael K. Powell took over as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission three years ago he was considered a young star of the Republican Party. His deregulatory agenda was regarded as a breath of fresh air by the nation's biggest media and telecommunications companies. But this week's 400-to-21 vote in the House in favor of a bill that included language to strike down a FCC decision to allow broadcasting companies to buy more television stations is just the latest example of how Powell's fortunes have shifted. In February, fellow Republican Kevin J. Martin joined two Democratic commissioners to deliver a stinging defeat on rules governing the telephone industry. Now key Republicans in the Senate, including Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.), have signed onto a rarely used "Resolution of Disapproval" that would effectively upend the FCC's work to revise several media ownership rules -- not just the broadcast ownership provision rejected by the House. Even lobbyists for the nation's media and telecommunications companies question whether Powell has the political savvy to deliver on his agenda. After all, the Republican-controlled House voted to block the broadcast ownership rule despite the objections of the House leadership and a veto threat from the White House. "Never before have I seen an FCC chairman's decision repudiated by the House of Representatives so quickly and so emphatically," Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) observed after the vote Wednesday. Powell, who was out of town on vacation this week, was unavailable for comment, a senior aide said. From the beginning of his tenure, Powell has said he wanted to rise above politics and put the FCC's rulemaking process on a more judicious course. The agency needed a new strategy, he argued, because many of its policies had been thrown out by courts that often criticized the agency's rules as "arbitrary and capricious." But Powell's lawyerly approach has not served him well at an agency guided by three Republicans and two Democrats. Colleagues at the commission complain that Powell often refuses to consider their points of view or incorporate their ideas into final regulations. The result is a badly divided agency in which Powell has alienated Martin, one of his two Republican colleagues, and has chilly relations with the two Democrats, Jonathan S. Adelstein and Michael J. Copps. "If there is one fault that the chairman has, it is that he comes to this as a lawyer, not a politician," said one source close to Powell. The source disputed complaints that Powell ignores other members of the commission, saying the chairman goes out of his way to consider other opinions. Powell pushed through the media ownership decision despite a request from the two Democrats that he postpone the vote. It is a longstanding FCC tradition to honor such requests, but Powell refused, saying a delay was not likely to result in any changes to long-held views. Finally, Powell also moved forward with the media ownership rule over the protests of a broad coalition of liberal and conservative public-interest groups. Sources said the FCC received more than 2 million e-mails and comments protesting the decision. Conservative groups argued that the largest media companies have a corrupting influence on the nation's moral values and that allowing them to get bigger would only embolden more licentious programming. Liberal groups argued that the nation's largest media companies already have too much control over the flow of ideas in the United States. Powell defended the FCC's action, noting in a prepared statement this week that the new rules take into account the fact that the major broadcasters now face expanded competition from cable, satellite and the Internet, creating alternatives for programming that did not exist when the rules were originally crafted. But while Powell, serving in an appointive post, could afford to make his case on policy grounds, many lawmakers said he failed to take into account populist concerns about the growing influence of big media. Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) said he has rarely received more letters from constituents than on the media ownership issue. "People are really upset with this, people get it," Dorgan said. Dorgan said he had no trouble finding 35 co-sponsors for the resolution of disapproval to overturn the FCC's media ownership rules, a total that guarantees him 10 hours of debate on the Senate floor. He plans to introduce the resolution in the first week of September. As the son of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Michael Powell, 40, is familiar with many members of Congress on a personal basis. One of his biggest supporters is Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.). "I think he is an American patriot and I am proud to know him," McCain said. Yet McCain is supporting legislation that would force the FCC to change its rule on radio ownership. He said the FCC should not have allowed large companies to keep stations that exceed new limits set by the agency. It would be impossible in Washington to have so much controversy over a public figure without some raising the possibility that he will soon step down. Some published reports have stated that Powell has discussed the issue with his staff. Marsha McBride, Powell's chief of staff, said Powell was well aware that the agency was heading into controversy. "I think the chairman understood that when we were taking on some difficult decisions, it would be a rough year," McBride said. But she said she has not discussed a resignation internally. "The chairman has no current plans to be leaving the commission, and I don't have the understanding that he will be leaving," she said. washingtonpost.com