Friday, September 12, 2003
You'll Feel So Good, And Even Better In The Morning
FCC ALERT: Total Rollback Of New Powell Rules Now Possible!
Here's where we are: Sens Kerry, Dorgan, Hollings & Lott have introduced a "Resolution of Disapproval," (known for some unknown reasons as a "CRA" ), that would roll back pretty much everything that Michael Powell and his two Republican cohorts thought they were achieving with their rewriting of the rules governing media concentration.
The CRA is a rarely used vehicle but it has the advantage of bypassing both a filibuster and Billy Tauzon's ability to hold up action in the House. The President could still veto to protect some of the biggest corporate interests extant, to which we say, "Make our Day, Mr. President." For a more complete discussion, see http://www.mediareform.net/
There's a time limit by which a CRA has to be voted on by the full Senate and it's coming up. MoveOn has generated more than 217,000 phone calls to the Congress since this last Monday.
Here's what you can do.
First, call your two Senators and your Representative, even if you don't think they're sympathetic. If you have difficulty getting through, call the local office; every member of Congress has their own web page with all of their telephone numbers. (Bookmark this site, if you haven't already)
Be polite, be specific, mention you are a constituent, try and talk to pertinent staff member, but if you can't get any further than the receptionist, treat her/him as that person has the congressperson's ear (and who knows?) and voice your fervent support for a yes vote on the Resolution of Disapproval on the new FCC rules. If you're dealing with a Republican, use the words that strike fear into Republican hearts - big media, big business, big contributors, too much Corporate influence.
2. Call several other members of House and Senate; they'll all be voting. You might want to focus on Republicans; most of the Democrats are fairly locked in. If you have concerned friends who might want to get in on this, divide up the task - you call five members who don't represent you, friend calls five different congresspersons no their own, etc., etc., etc., to the thirteenth power.
Act For Change has good advice on contacting congress, but the site referenced above, http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/, often referred to as Juan's, but not to be confused with Juan.com has the easiest way to find telephone numbers for specific members of Congress.
Phone calls work; they've already worked on this issue. Go!
Here's where we are: Sens Kerry, Dorgan, Hollings & Lott have introduced a "Resolution of Disapproval," (known for some unknown reasons as a "CRA" ), that would roll back pretty much everything that Michael Powell and his two Republican cohorts thought they were achieving with their rewriting of the rules governing media concentration.
The CRA is a rarely used vehicle but it has the advantage of bypassing both a filibuster and Billy Tauzon's ability to hold up action in the House. The President could still veto to protect some of the biggest corporate interests extant, to which we say, "Make our Day, Mr. President." For a more complete discussion, see http://www.mediareform.net/
There's a time limit by which a CRA has to be voted on by the full Senate and it's coming up. MoveOn has generated more than 217,000 phone calls to the Congress since this last Monday.
Here's what you can do.
First, call your two Senators and your Representative, even if you don't think they're sympathetic. If you have difficulty getting through, call the local office; every member of Congress has their own web page with all of their telephone numbers. (Bookmark this site, if you haven't already)
Be polite, be specific, mention you are a constituent, try and talk to pertinent staff member, but if you can't get any further than the receptionist, treat her/him as that person has the congressperson's ear (and who knows?) and voice your fervent support for a yes vote on the Resolution of Disapproval on the new FCC rules. If you're dealing with a Republican, use the words that strike fear into Republican hearts - big media, big business, big contributors, too much Corporate influence.
2. Call several other members of House and Senate; they'll all be voting. You might want to focus on Republicans; most of the Democrats are fairly locked in. If you have concerned friends who might want to get in on this, divide up the task - you call five members who don't represent you, friend calls five different congresspersons no their own, etc., etc., etc., to the thirteenth power.
Act For Change has good advice on contacting congress, but the site referenced above, http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/, often referred to as Juan's, but not to be confused with Juan.com has the easiest way to find telephone numbers for specific members of Congress.
Phone calls work; they've already worked on this issue. Go!
