Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps was named acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Thursday by President Barack Obama. Copps will lead the agency pending confirmation of nominee Julius Genachowski. Copps, who was a vociferous opponent of Republican efforts to relax media ownership restrictions during the Bush administration, said he was "honored" by the designation. "I thank President Obama for his confidence in me and for this opportunity to serve. I know that I have a truly gifted and terrific team to work with. I pledge every effort I am capable of to help steer the commission through its current transition to new leadership." - Bill McConnell
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Is there really that much difference between outgoing Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, and interim Democratic FCC Chairman Michael Copps? In reality, not at all.
Copps is a business-as-usual commissioner who, like Martin, loves wasting taxpayer money to travel and promote himself in the public limelight. Like Martin, Copps affords appointment time to special interests, while blowing others off -- even if they have pending matters before the FCC.
Just like Martin, Copps has supported the continued employment of disgraced FCC Chief of Staff Dan Gonzalez -- who has held his high-paying job with full authority despite being under active suit since 2007 for allegedly moonlighting as a player in a $54 million Ponzi scheme while at the FCC.
Copps is also a classic flip-flop artist who staunchly supported the February 17, 2009 transition to DTV date lobbied for by the cable industry and huge television conglomerates -- even with speeded-up "test" dates in select cities like Las Vegas.
But when Copps learned that President Obama believed the public wasn't ready for the mandatory digital transition, and that the date needed to be postponed, Copps immediately flip-flopped -- to try and make it seem as though he was the one opposed to the February 17th date.
After 8 years of Kevin Martin and predecessor Michael Powell, if Michael Copps is the best the public can expect as leader of the FCC, "change" is hardly coming. Instead, a Copps FCC promises the same unchecked corruption that has become second nature at the FCC.