Freedom of Speech is overrated anyway, right?

It has been a while since my last post, but for those of you in the know it is understandable. Got a lot on my plate as of late. But I digress, and this topic seemed like the best one to get back in the saddle on, as it riled me up quite a bit.

Democrats in Congress are looking into trying to get the Fairness Doctrine re-instated. Basically, they are tired of liberal hosts getting the sh*t kicked out of them in the rating by conservatives. They should call it the Rush Limbaugh Act. I am sure these same Democrats have no problem with the New York Times constantly running their propaganda or CNN and will find a way to not include them in the doctrine, citing non-partisan views. There is a reason very few stations carried Al Franken's show- no one listens. Fox News doesn't dominate the ratings because of the lack of the Fairness Doctrine (I did find it interesting the Dish Network carries CNN and Headline News but not Fox News on their 'Top 100' *cough*bullshit*cough* package).

Not only does this go against the principle of the First Amendment, it goes against capitalism. In Champaign, 1400 WDWS carries Limbaugh because he brings in huge numbers- not because of some corporate conspiracy against liberals. Everyone wants to amke as money as possible in the business world, no matter what it takes. Forcing radio stations to carry unwanted/unneccessary/un-listened to shows hurts their business (bottom line) as well.

In the end, this is all about power (shocking, I know). If the political left has their way, the government would control everything and that never turns out well. Government subsidies are not in the business of making money and that goes against capitalism and hurts the economy. Amtrak is a perfect example as they have stated that turning a profit is not a goal for them. And when they actually did start to make money because of rising fuel prices, they did not have any idea what to do with the profit (read this transcript about halfway down when he starts 'The Real Story"). Yikes. If we aren't careful, the airline industry could be headed this way as fewer and fewer people travel and ticket prices increase - which means more failing airlines and more taxes on the American worker.