Gummint Oversight
If ever you needed proof that our government was serving special interests before those of the general public, just take a look at how they’ve failed in their oversight of two very easy to regulate industries.
The first is the entertainment biz. Disney, which owns ABC, was demanding that Cablevision, with more than three million customers in the New York Area, pay them a buck a month for each subscriber for their programming. Cablevision said that was too much, so the Sunday of the Oscars, they pulled the plug on ABC. That sent viewers, who felt a need to watch the festivities live, scrambling to make other arrangements, like watching online or via a satellite connection.
Finally, 13 minutes into the telecast, Cablevision relented and put ABC back on the air, in the meantime inconveniencing an audience approaching seven figures. This is utter nonsense. The FCC should slap down both of these companies so hard they would think Janet Jackson was stripping on their front lawn.
The second industry are the airlines. As noted previously, they’re are cutting flights and raising fares because one of the runways at JFK will be under repair and that will limit traffic. For goodness sakes, they should simply schedule more flights for different time slots, but they won’t, and the FAA won’t make them.
Now Continental Airlines is complaining about the FAA threatening to fine airlines if they sit on the ramp for more than three hours without letting the passengers off the aircraft. Said their CEO, instead of risking a fine for mistreating passengers, Continental will simply cancel the flight. Horse-hockey, if the airlines can’t get a plane back to the gate after three hours, they’re a hazard to the public.
The gummint needs to stand up to these cretins whom they’re supposed to regulate, and enforce the public’s right to quality service, whatever their venue. After all, that’s why we elect them and pay their salaries.
©2010 SetonnoteS
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