Cato Daily Dispatch for November 11, 2004
Subscribe to the Daily Dispatch via email
Subscribe to the Daily Dispatch via PDA (AvantGo)
(Links to outside sources were active as of the date of this dispatch; however, not all news sources maintain links to current stories indefinitely. Some links also may require registration.)
New PLO Leader Favors U.S. 'Road Map' to PeaceBroadcaster Seeks to Sic FCC on Satellite Radio
Big Dig Has Big Leak
New PLO Leader Favors U.S. 'Road Map' to Peace
"Sidelined a year ago after losing a power struggle with Yasser Arafat, veteran deputy Mahmoud Abbas has bounced back to take over the Palestine Liberation Organization after the president's death," Reuters reports. "A pragmatist who has criticized as counterproductive Palestinians' resort to arms after abortive statehood talks with Israel, Abbas favors a ceasefire to help kick-start negotiations based on a U.S.-sponsored 'road map' to peace."
In "Road Map to Nowhere," Ted Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, writes: "President Bush has put the prestige and credibility of his administration on the line with a bold initiative to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Unfortunately, that 'road map for peace' will likely lead to another dead end.
"... Israelis and Palestinians will end their bloody struggle when, and only when, they conclude that they can gain more from negotiations and compromise than they can from confrontation and violence. At that point, they can achieve peace without a high-profile U.S. role. Until then, no amount of creative diplomacy, prodding, or bribery by the United States will produce a breakthrough."
Broadcaster Seeks to Sic FCC on Satellite Radio
"If one California broadcaster has its way, Howard Stern won't be able to be his rude, crude and funny self on satellite radio, either," according to Broadcasting & Cable.
"Mount Wilson Broadcasters, owner of one FM and two AMs, has filed a petition for rulemaking with the FCC arguing that since indecency regulation applies to expression 'by means of radio communications,' and satellite radio is, well, radio communications, it should be subject to the same content restrictions."
In "Howard Stern and the Future of Media Censorship," Adam Thierer, Cato Institute director of telecommunications studies, writes: "While the Senate failed by one vote to pass the amendment imposing traditional 'indecency' fines and regulation on cable and satellite networks, the fight is hardly over. Several members of Congress such as Rep. Barton, have hinted that they will continue to push for traditional broadcast regulation to be imposed on new, subscriber-based media outlets. If Congress or the FCC try to impose traditional content regulations on Stern -- or anyone else operating in the new media space (cable, satellite or the Internet) -- it will force the constitutional question of whether government can and should censor the media in the future.
"Whether Howard knows it or not, he may be ushering in a revolution in censorship policy and First Amendment law."
Big Dig Has Big Leak
"The Big Dig -- Boston's newly opened $14.6 billion highway tunnel project -- has a seriously flawed wall that contractors knew about as early as 1999, and is riddled with hundreds of smaller leaks," the Associated Press reports. "The project -- the most expensive highway project in U.S. history -- was five years late and billions of dollars over cost, and has been plagued by allegations of fraud, waste and mismanagement."
In "Government Schemes Cost More Than Promised," Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies, writes: "In 1985 government officials claimed that Boston's 'Big Dig' highway project would cost $2.6 billion and be completed by 1998. The cost ballooned to $14.6 billion and the project is still not finished.
"... Large cost overruns are commonplace in government construction projects, procurement, and entitlement programs. Politicians and officials routinely deceive taxpayers by low-balling cost estimates to win initial spending approval. Then, when programs go over budget and do not work as promised, politicians place the blame on particular management blunders by the bureaucracy and private contractors. But the evidence indicates that cost overruns and program failure are not isolated errors; they are systematic and widespread in the federal government."
Wyatt DuBois, editor, wdubois@cato.org