U.S. court lets stand Verizon deregulation

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Courts *should* only enforce rules, not make them, so...

...technically, this decision seems to be on pretty firm ground. While Federal courts often opine, with varying straightness of face, on what Congress' *intent* was when a particular law was made, that does not appear to have been used in this case to sideswipe what was written.

Congress assumed that FCC decisions would be made efficiently, and legislated a deadline both to encourage that (in contentious cases) and to expedite approval-by-default (so the FCC could let the "routine stuff" slide while they hashed out the more contentious cases).

Where Congress screwed up, in my opinion, is by legislating an even number of Commissioners, with no way to break deadlocks such as this one. Say what you will about 5-4 party-line Supreme Court decisions: at least they are DECISIONS, and when they break down on party lines, interested/aggrieved parties can be mindful of that going into the next election cycle. Corporate lobbyists have long mastered the art of getting laws changed (or created) that suit their clients; it's hard for John Q. Public to be that organized/motivated, but it does happen on occasion (1932, 1864, 1980, 2006).

People are going to carp on this, saying it just "proves" that the current Administration and court system are overly friendly to large, generally monopolistic, corporations. If people really believe that, instead of writing a long, angry post here, try writing a letter to your Congressman and Senators (plural) asking for a bill that mandates that all regulatory commissions (like the FCC) have an odd number of members, or alternatively have some means to break deadlocks (as the Vice President does in the 100-member Senate). Write that letter on real paper and send it, and get ten of your friends to do the same - and they ask ten of *their* friends, and so on. Most Representatives and Senators receive surprisingly little mail from "ordinary members of the public" not affiliated with a well-oiled grassroots or Astroturf lobbying machine...if a significant number of people weigh in on an issue, it will at least get attention.

Whatever you do, don't just say "oh, I can't do anything" and go on to the next attention-grabbing item... the pervasiveness of that attitude - whatever your politics - is one of the primary contributing factors to the recently dysfunctional political system. Since "ordinary people" can't be bothered, the only ones participating are the people who have a vested interest in an issue - and they fight to win.

Posted by: jeffdickey   Posted on: 12/09/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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