House Dems Pound Martin

摘要

House Democrats delivered a parting shot at FCC Chairman Kevin Martin last week, giving him Oliver Stone-like treatment in a report provocatively titled "Deception and Distrust: The Federal Communications Commission Under Chairman Kevin J. Martin." But with Martin exiting the Big Chair in a few weeks, the effect is more of a finger-wag from the Democrats who signed on to the report and an indictment of management style rather than a finding of illegality or ethics violations. A top Republican committee staffer, saying he was delegated to speak for the minority, suggested it was much ado about little. Still, the verbiage was rough. Martin's management style was roundly criticized as an "abuse of power," including criticisms that the commission had not carried out some "important responsibilities." The report said that the regulatory process was not open and transparent-a frequent criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike-and that Martin's style is heavy-handed and not collegial. One of the key findings was that the chairman had manipulated data in a report that supported an a la carte business model for cable and rebutted an earlier FCC report critical of that model.