That sounds great does
it not? Finally, at long last it will be revealed who is buying all the ads
that run incessantly on TV. The PACs will be identified and the public will who
is doing what and in what amounts. This is what ProPublica wrote May 29, 2012.
A time for rejoicing yes?
Well perhaps not. Of
course, the broadcasters are not exactly thrilled with the ruling causing them
to name their great cash cows. So, they have sued to stop the rule. And even if
their lawsuits fails the earliest the broadcasters would have to give out the
data would be in three months – July. And then it could be delayed even further
into the summer or the fall or longer yet.
Why will it take so
long? There is a law called the Paper Reduction Act. There is a lot to deal
with in describing what this act does but I won’t go into here. You can look it
up if you are interested.
What we do know is
that the lobbyists for the National Association of Broadcasters argued that the
proposed FCC rule would run afoul the Paper Reduction Act. The upshot of all
this is those with big money can slow down a process that is clearly in the
public interest. This is not exactly something new but more than irksome at
best. Information that would be helpful to voters may be blocked until it is of
no use to them.
[The FCC is the Federal Communications Commission.]
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