Moving at the Speed of Government

It’s good news/bad news on the Fairness Doctrine. First, the good:

While the commission voted in 1987 to do away with the rule — a legacy to a time when broadcasting was a much more dominant voice than it is today — the language implementing it was never removed. The move Monday, once published in the federal register, effectively erases the rule.

It’s about time. Now, the bad:

Monday’s move is part of the commission’s response to a White House executive order directing a “government-wide review of regulations already on the books” designed to eliminate unnecessary regulations.

It took months to remove a regulation from the books which hasn’t been in force for 24 years. Are you surprised? Of course not. And that’s why the President’s commission is such a joke. The only way to do away with enough of the regulatory state to make any real difference, is to start abolishing entire programs, divisions and departments.