Another one bites the dust:
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is leaving the agency Tuesday to do what comes naturally for FCC chairmen: He is heading to the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.
Martin, a Republican, will be joining the institute as a senior fellow with its Communications and Society Program. His three predecessors — Democrats Reed Hundt and William Kennard and Republican Michael Powell — all took the Aspen Institute fellowship after stepping down as FCC chair
.
Another Bushie
out the door.
Of course, it was a matter of time for Martin anyway; but it might have been nice if he waited for Julius Genachowski to be confirmed. Instead,
Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps... will almost certainly be named acting chairman pending the designation, confirmation and installation of President-elect Barack Obama's choice for the job, Julius Genachowski, said he expected it to get "even livelier" in the weeks and months to come, particularly on issues of localism and diversity.
Copps also said he continued to have concerns that the FCC lacked a DTV transition plan, though he praised FCC staffers for their efforts in spite of what he saw as that handicap.
I have nothing nice to say about Martin, whose accomplishments include a stint on the Bush legal team in the Florida recount and quality time with Kenneth Starr in the 90s. A 110 page pdf prepared by Energy and Commerce staffers came to the same conclusions as me, albeit in more detail. A sampling:
Telecommunications Relay Fund. Martin is accused of lax oversight, paying too much to telecoms for providing services to hearing-impaired phone users, and permitting an "unjustified rate increase" that cost US consumers up to $100 million more a year...
À la carte cable TV report. Martin has long been viewed as the scourge of the cable business (and a friend to telcos). He has also been relentlessly in favor of "à la carte" rules forcing cable companies to offer individual channels to subscribers. The FCC report on the issue came out under predecessor Michael Powell; when he took office, Martin was alleged to have "rewritten" it with a new outcome...
Video competition report. Martin was widely criticized for trying to ram through a report on the US cable industry showing that cable had broached a "70/70" threshold. Had that finding held, the FCC would have gained much broader authority to re-regulate the industry...
Retaliation. Is there a "climate of fear and intimidation at the FCC" where Martin micromanages, reassigns staffers who displease him, put senior staffers into junior positions, and generally retaliates against those not on his side? Many staffers appear to think so. In fact, the situation at the FCC has gotten so bad that there's even a word for it—being "Martinized."
I remember when "Martinizing" was something dry cleaners did -- I guess that's appropriate somehow. Nice guy. Aren't all the Bushbots? Bye bye, screen door and all that.