Senate votes 99-1 to increase indecency fines

[Cocoa]

http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=18572

WASHINGTON (BP)--The U.S. Senate has joined the House of Representatives in overwhelmingly approving a dramatic increase in fines for broadcast indecency.

The Senate voted 99-1 in favor of a proposal to increase ten-fold the maximum penalty the Federal Communications Commission may issue for a decency violation on television and radio. The measure would increase the maximum fine from $27,500 to $275,000 when the FCC determines a broadcaster is guilty of “obscene, indecent or profane language.” The legislation also would set a limit of $3 million for a single violation that continues or produces multiple complaints.

In March, the House voted 391-22 for a stand-alone bill, the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act, H.R. 3717. That measure differs from the Senate version. The House proposal would increase the maximum FCC fine to $500,000. The measure also would call for FCC license revocation proceedings after three violations by a radio or television station.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., proposed the Senate measure, which has the same title as the House version, as an amendment to the Department of Defense authorization bill, S. 2400. Brownback requested a roll-call vote June 22 on the amendment, S.A. 3464, and only Sen. John Breaux, D.-La., voted against it.

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[Sandpiper]

1. Way to sell out Senate Dems

:puke:

[ericmaxy]

2. any idea

why our country is so uptight about everyting?

[Sandpiper]

8. I wonder the same thing

Why are human bodies something to be ashamed of and hidden from view, and why are certain words so dangerous that they can't be spoken?

[ericmaxy]

10. would that include hate speach?

or other ideas we don't agree with?

[Sandpiper]

11. Free speech is free speech

And if we believe in what the first amendment says, that means even supporting the right to say things that hurt other people's feelings.

The only speech that should be restricted is speech that flunks Oliver Wendell Holmes' "Clear and Present Danger" test.

[ericmaxy]

12. i agree with you

but i notice large segments of our population argueing that if an opinion opposes their own, they find it offensive.

[AP]

13. It's so that when we give them more of the dereg they want, congress can

say, "well, at least we don't let them swear."

[burrowowl]

3. Does that include hatemongering

by Savage et al?
Probably not.

[aquart]

4. Gosh, ain't they moral.

Gotta vote for all these moral guys.

[Rose Siding]

5. Great, cuz that was the real problem

Now everything will be fine :eyes:

[Career Prole]

6. Too bad it wasn't a tie in the Senate...

Then we could've seen how pottymouth Cheney would've voted. F**k!

[ericmaxy]

7. i guess old cranky people are a fairly dependable voting block

they have to court the easily offended vote

[happynewyear]

9. hypocrisy at its finest

And in the next room we have Cheney telling Senator Leahy to FUCK OFF or go FUCK HIMSELF. Isn't this indecent? If this doesn't qualify, I don't know what does!!! :grr: :grr:

[Eccho]

14. If you've been following Howard Stern lately...

then you'd get an idea about who this is directed towards. Kansas Republican Senator Brownback attached this to a military spending bill. So, it's not just that anyone voting against it would be accused of supporting indecency, but more likely would be accused of being anti military.

[JaySherman]

24. This garbage should be illegal.

There needs to be some kind law passed against attaching amendments to bills which they have absolutely no relation to and nothing to do with. This practice should NOT be allowed to continue. It's time we put a stop to it.

Who's with me?

:grr:

[goforit]

15. They can start with the Cheney "Go fuck yourself" comment!!!!

Fine him as much as the US deficit!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

16. I'll second that motion

If they expect the airwaves to be censored, Congress needs to censor itself.

[Terry_M]

17. Some days we've got people pretending to have spines

Other days they don't bother pretending.

[lostnfound]

18. Do call-in's count? I worry that they will use this to destroy Pacifica..

$275,000 will have no impact on Clear Channel but would destroy a Pacifica station.

[Moloch]

19. Wow what a sad day for free speech in America...

it absolutely amazes me that with all the problems facing this country that the Senate actually saw fit to even vote on naughty words on tv. I'm shocked that the only vote against it was Breaux, he's practically Zell Miller...

[struggle4progress]

20. Violence acceptable but sex not. What gives? eom

[leesa]

21. Oh well, this is meaningful considering the water is sloshing all over the

deck here as the US sinks in the moral depravity of conservativism.

[PurityOfEssence]

22. Thank you John Breaux

(Boy, never thought I'd say that...)

Yes, the propriety police has everyone running scared. Lest we forget, obscenity is subjective, thus it will be selectively enforced.

[Dr Fate]

23. But Cheney can say "fuck you" on the Senate floor & no one cares.

Imagine the media out-cry if Kerry had said "fuck you" to the face of a Republican on the Senate floor...

[truthspeaker]

25. More spineless groveling from Senate Democrats

And I was just getting encouraged about Dayton too.

Fuckers.

[Point_n_click]

26. Called my senator yesterday to protest.

I called Mikulski's office yesterday to raise a bit of a fuss about this disgrace.

Since the Republicans felt it was perfectly ok to tie this into the vote on a defense spending bill and thus play politics with the lives of our troops and the security of our nation it does not make it right for the democrats to allow the bill to go through since it also damages the constitutional right to free speech.

I left the message that the democrats need to stop allowing this kind of political wrangling by shouting from the rooftops, and calling major press conferences to protest these kinds of catch-22 dirty political maneuvers by the anti-american republicans who will only do something positive for the military and national defense if they can do so at the expense of freedom and democracy.

Shame on the democrats for not standing up for what is right.

[Moderator]

27. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=638415