When Another Executive Branch Agency Says You’re Overreaching - You’re Overreaching
It’s All Under Control |
The Constitution established three co-equal branches of government. A separation and balance of powers - in large part to rein in just this sort of thing. The Legislative (Congress) and Judicial (the courts) Branches are to assert their claims to their respective turf when the Executive intrudes upon it.
(We less government types have been more than a mite disappointed in these branches and their lack of Constitution-and-turf-protecting efforts. For years - and for decades.)
Sometimes an Executive Branch agency is so overactive - another Executive Branch agency calls them on it.
So it now is with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s cable television set-top-box overreach:
When another department of your branch of government thinks your plan stinks on ice - just how from the path have you strayed?
But it ain’t just the Copyright Office - it’s joined “the list of parties expressing concern.” Whom, pray tell, is that? Well, for starters - us:
(At this point, I bet you can guess Google isn’t on “the list of parties.”)
Incidentally, this isn’t the first time the Obama Administration has chastised for overreach - the Obama Administration. It isn’t even the first time the chastise-ee - is the FCC.
When the FCC power grabbed the Internet with regulatory reclassification and Net Neutrality - it took turf that already belonged to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
“In November 2014, President Obama called on the FCC to reclassify broadband as a Title II common carrier service. The FCC’s subsequent 2015 Open Internet Order did so. As a result, the FTC’s jurisdiction over ISP (Internet Service Provider) practices may now be limited.”
Get that? The FCC didn’t think the FTC was regulating enough. So the FCC power grabbed from the FTC - so as to then over-regulate us even further.
And the FCC thus far appears to be flat-out ignoring the copyright experts at the Copyright Office - so as to execute yet another power grab.
When you’re a full panoply of agencies over-regulating this much, this frequently - you’re inevitably bound to bump into one another.
The FCC is so spastic - it’s the bull in the Executive china shop. It’s knocking over everyone’s everything.
And the aggrieved agencies - are pushing back. Fighting to keep intact their regulatory turf.
If only the Legislative and Judicial Branches were likewise so enthusiastically inclined.
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Seton Motley is the President of Less Government and he contributes to ARRA News Service. Please feel free to follow him him on Twitter / Facebook.
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1 Comments:
Power of regulation corrupts. And absolute regulatory power corrupts absolutely.
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