The Bullying Pulpit 

In the first quarter of the year, about 100,000 people each month decided they were fed up with what broadcast radio stations were feeding them. They were fed up with the same songs played dozens of times a day, fed up with car dealers screaming at them in commercials. So, these people signed up for XM Radio, a pay-radio service broadcast by satellite. This year, XM added something new to its more than 100 channels of music and talk -- local traffic and weather information.

That new development was too much for the powerful broadcasting lobby, which sees the local market, and local ad revenue, as its own. Rather than recognize a weakness in their programming and try to find a way to hang on to their listeners, the broadcasters instead went to their friends in Congress as part of a campaign that would restrict consumer choice.

As a result, Rep. Charles "Chip" Pickering, R-Miss., and Rep. Gene Green, D-Tex., with little fanfare, introduced H.R. 4026, the Local Emergency Radio Service Preservation Act of 2004. It's the type of a bill that's unfortunately quite common, but illustrates one of the fundamental weaknesses of our economy that you won't hear discussed in the presidential campaign.

There are some American industries that are just plain afraid to compete in the marketplace. For all of the talk in favor of "the free market" and doing what's best for consumers, this bill is the poster child for the ability of one industry to try to use Members of Congress to put the screws to a competitive industry

It would be unfair to pick solely on this legislation, or these House members, for this bill. This kind of thing happens all the time, although more generally under the cover of a bunch of discrete little knife fights in the darkness of the legislative alleyways. Commercial banks and credit unions have been fighting for decades. In the latest incarnation, banks want credit unions to be taxed, and unveiled "Operation Credit Union" to fight for that on the Hill. The credit union national association responded with an outraged letter to Capitol Hill. In the Medicare and drug bills, doctors were pitted against hospitals, nursing homes against home health agencies, with each group's lobbyists pushing for its piece of the pie.

Not All Lobbying Is Equal

Let's draw some lines. Just as there are different degrees of crimes, there are different degrees of lobbying. Not all murders, for example, are equal. There is first degree, second degree, manslaughter. Not to draw the analogy too finely, but lobbyists have different roles. Some times it's to play defense to stop the government from doing something they perceive would be harmful to their company. Sometimes it's to grub up some favorable tax advantage or policy. The "Healthy Forests" legislation, drawn up by the timber lobby, allows more logging. The "Clear Skies" legislation, drawn up by utilities, allows for more pollution. The energy legislation contains a bail-out for the nuclear power industry. Each tax bill contains goodies for somebody because in Washington, everyone is a "special interest." Hollywood tries to use legislation to mandate how consumers can use digital content by requiring special technology to be installed in consumer electronics.

The only thing is, some "special interests" are more special than others, and they use their bullying pulpits to kneecap the competition rather than simply to bag another set of goodies. That attitude underscores the fundamental unwillingness to recognize the reality of the marketplace.

That attitude of trying to screw the other guy extends to our judicial system too. Again, to pick an example, the telecommunications industry may be the most litigious in the country. Virtually every decision by the Federal Communications Commission is taken to court. The U.S. Supreme Court has been called in to judge arcane accounting issues. Telephone companies couch their arguments in these cases around legitimate economic issues, with millions of dollars at stake. But at their root, it's all with the same goal in mind -- to hang on to market share and consumers not by improving products or prices or services, but by using the legal system to stick it to your competitors.