Barton: No Committee Support for Reregulating Cable

BARTON: NO COMMITTEE SUPPORT FOR REREGULATING CABLE
[SOURCE: Broadcasting&Cable, AUTHOR: John Eggerton]
Former House Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) said he doesn't think anybody on the committee is interested in reregulating cable, and that while he respects Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin's intellect, he called him "somewhat inconsistent in applying conservative principles to the FCC." His evidence of the latter, he said, is Martin's desire to relax newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership while at the same time "apparently" wanting to reregulate cable. Rep Barton recently replaced Fred Upton (R-Mich.) as the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications & Internet Subcommittee. He told C-SPAN Upton asked for a new post as ranking member on the Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee. He added that the move had nothing to do with the fact that a letter he had sent to Martin regarding cable regulation was signed by 23 of the 26 Republicans but did not include Upton's signature.
http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6512452.html?rssid=193

* Barton Puts Out Mixed Signals About Martin
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6512543.html?rssid=196