Puppycow
21st November 2008, 07:36 AM
This seems like an important development (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aSo6f7wKZO7Y&refer=home)
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A wall-sized poster of Earth hangs in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, an image that Chairman John Dingell once boasted showed the reach of his panel.
Dingell will no longer rule the planet. House Democrats yesterday handed the committee's gavel to Representative Henry Waxman, 69, a Californian who promises a different agenda for a panel that touches nearly every sector of business -- climate change, health care, telecommunications and trade.
Energy providers such as Allegheny Energy Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. and polluting industries including carmaker General Motors Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. will be most affected by the leadership shift. Waxman, whose district includes Beverly Hills, has long been at odds over environmental issues with Dingell, 82, a Dearborn, Michigan, lawmaker who during his 52 years in Congress has defended automakers and their unions.
``The champion of the environment has replaced the champion of the automotive industry,'' said Daniel Becker, an environmental lawyer and director of the Safe Climate Campaign in Washington.
House Democrats voted 137-122 for Waxman in a secret ballot. Waxman, who now leads the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told fellow lawmakers that a change in leadership of the energy panel was needed to push through President-elect Barack Obama's agenda when Congress reconvenes in January.
It seems fitting that Dingell should be shown the door while the Detroit mendicants come before congress with hat in hand.
Another thing I like about this:
Indecency
Waxman opposed legislation, which Dingell's committee approved, to increase fines in 2005 for broadcast indecency. Broadcasters opposed the bill, which boosted maximum penalties tenfold, to $325,000.
``It increases the power of government to censor programming that some might consider indecent and others might not,'' Waxman said during congressional debate.
Dingell said the bill addressed a ``betrayal of the public trust'' by broadcasters who put ``their own drive for ratings and profits ahead of their responsibilities to the public.''
The government should not be in the censorship business.
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A wall-sized poster of Earth hangs in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, an image that Chairman John Dingell once boasted showed the reach of his panel.
Dingell will no longer rule the planet. House Democrats yesterday handed the committee's gavel to Representative Henry Waxman, 69, a Californian who promises a different agenda for a panel that touches nearly every sector of business -- climate change, health care, telecommunications and trade.
Energy providers such as Allegheny Energy Inc. and Exxon Mobil Corp. and polluting industries including carmaker General Motors Corp. and Dow Chemical Co. will be most affected by the leadership shift. Waxman, whose district includes Beverly Hills, has long been at odds over environmental issues with Dingell, 82, a Dearborn, Michigan, lawmaker who during his 52 years in Congress has defended automakers and their unions.
``The champion of the environment has replaced the champion of the automotive industry,'' said Daniel Becker, an environmental lawyer and director of the Safe Climate Campaign in Washington.
House Democrats voted 137-122 for Waxman in a secret ballot. Waxman, who now leads the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, told fellow lawmakers that a change in leadership of the energy panel was needed to push through President-elect Barack Obama's agenda when Congress reconvenes in January.
It seems fitting that Dingell should be shown the door while the Detroit mendicants come before congress with hat in hand.
Another thing I like about this:
Indecency
Waxman opposed legislation, which Dingell's committee approved, to increase fines in 2005 for broadcast indecency. Broadcasters opposed the bill, which boosted maximum penalties tenfold, to $325,000.
``It increases the power of government to censor programming that some might consider indecent and others might not,'' Waxman said during congressional debate.
Dingell said the bill addressed a ``betrayal of the public trust'' by broadcasters who put ``their own drive for ratings and profits ahead of their responsibilities to the public.''
The government should not be in the censorship business.