Obama and Chavez are in sync on policy

It is said that there are no coincidences.

Earlier this month, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commissioner Michael Copps gave a speech at Columbia University in which he called for government to "build an information infrastructure that serves the needs of the people," in order to ensure that "all citizens have access to worthy media." (emphasis mine)

As part of his proposal, he advocated imposing a "public values test" on television and radio broadcasters, making their licenses contingent on meeting certain programming benchmarks, such as 25% local or independently produced programming during primetime.

This would be a roundabout way of accomplishing something that liberal media policy wonks want to do, but have been unsuccessful in doing: breaking the back of corporate media ownership.

Earlier this week, Commissioner Copps and his two Democrat colleagues on the FCC approved an Order establishing rules to govern the way traffic is managed on the internet. The two Republican Commissioners strongly dissented.

The FCC took this action despite being warned by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals that they lacked jurisdiction over the internet, despite being warned by Congress that they lacked authorization to police the internet, and despite the absence of any demonstrated market failure, anti-competitive behavior, or consumer harm that would justify government intervention.

In related news, earlier this week Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez imposed restrictions on radio, TV, and internet content in the name of promoting "social responsibility."

Publishers and website owners are now forbidden from conveying messages or images that, among other things, are disrespectful of public authorities, or that cause anxiety or unrest among the public.

There are no coincidences. If two events seem related, they are.