Bloggers and commenters on Internet forum pages today erupted over a forecast by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., that the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" is coming, citing her husband's financial involvement in the "progressive" talk efforts of at least three companies that could benefited from the policy.
"I think it's absolutely time to pass a standard. Now, whether it's called the Fairness Standard, whether it's called something else – I absolutely think it's time to be bringing accountability to the airwaves," she said. I mean, our new president has talked rightly about accountability and transparency. You know, that we all have to step up and be responsible. And, I think in this case, there needs to be some accountability and standards put in place." But Stabenow didn't mention that her husband, Tom Athans, was executive vice president of the left-leaning talk radio network Air America. He left the network in 2006 when it filed for bankruptcy to join TalkUSA Radio Network. And he previously served as co-founder of Democracy Radio. The RadioEqualizer blog reported Athans has long been in the "libtalk" business and at one point he was paid $165,000 for less than a year's work. Athans was the cofounder with Paul Fiddick in 2002 of Democracy Radio, which was to "nurture" programming for "left-leaning" radio hosts. The network lasted until 2005. Then came Air America, which ended up in bankruptcy after Athans served a stint as developer for new programming. His latest is TalkUSA Radio. Asked by Press if she could be counted on to push for hearings in the Senate this year "to bring these (radio station) owners in and hold them accountable," Stabenow replied: "I have already had some discussions with colleagues and, you know, I feel like that's gonna happen. Yep." http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=88189 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
