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More To The Story
- Thread starter Element9
- Start date
Lots of Swearing
> According to a reliable source with contacts in the music
> and radio industries, at least three high ranking Buffalo
> radio executives have provided sworn statements to the New
> York Attorney General in connection with the ongoing
> investigation of alledged payola.
I would expect that the GM's of each of the local radio groups would have provided at least a sworn statement. What the sworn statement says is the real story.
Who knew what when, who approved what, who got the money, how was the money distributed, how was it accounted for - hey, I've got a few hundred questions in my mind, and I'm not an attorney.
In short, there will be much swearing involved in the investigation, both locally and nationally. Expect evasion, the invocation of constitutional rights, and expressions of "shock" from those who were supposed to oversee those implicated.
Those stations involved in playing new music are unlikely to escape completely unscathed. I don't expect anybody else to become the payola poster boy that Super Dave has become because nobody I'm aware of "acted as an indie for the company", or had the chutzpah to extort goodies from the record companies as blatantly as he did.
Will others fall because of the investigation? Yes. How high will it go? How far does Spitzer take it until the returns are diminished by a backlash from the media and/or donors.
> According to a reliable source with contacts in the music
> and radio industries, at least three high ranking Buffalo
> radio executives have provided sworn statements to the New
> York Attorney General in connection with the ongoing
> investigation of alledged payola.
I would expect that the GM's of each of the local radio groups would have provided at least a sworn statement. What the sworn statement says is the real story.
Who knew what when, who approved what, who got the money, how was the money distributed, how was it accounted for - hey, I've got a few hundred questions in my mind, and I'm not an attorney.
In short, there will be much swearing involved in the investigation, both locally and nationally. Expect evasion, the invocation of constitutional rights, and expressions of "shock" from those who were supposed to oversee those implicated.
Those stations involved in playing new music are unlikely to escape completely unscathed. I don't expect anybody else to become the payola poster boy that Super Dave has become because nobody I'm aware of "acted as an indie for the company", or had the chutzpah to extort goodies from the record companies as blatantly as he did.
Will others fall because of the investigation? Yes. How high will it go? How far does Spitzer take it until the returns are diminished by a backlash from the media and/or donors.
Re: Lots of Swearing
This is singularly the most ridiculous waste of taxpayer's money I've ever seen. I'm glad that I'm not a NY resident anymore because I'd be furious about Spitzer wasting his office's resourses on this while children are being abused, wives are being beaten and teenagers are being hooked on the rock. This is a PR stunt designed to get Spitzer elected to either Congress or the Governor's mansion. Why can't anyone else see that? If he wanted to track down a truly insidious form of 'pay-for-play,' he'd look into the pharmecuetical industy's use of the EXACT SAME PRACTICES that the record company's use. Only they are hawking far more dangerous products than an insipid pop song. (And they are apparently better campaign contributors...)
This is singularly the most ridiculous waste of taxpayer's money I've ever seen. I'm glad that I'm not a NY resident anymore because I'd be furious about Spitzer wasting his office's resourses on this while children are being abused, wives are being beaten and teenagers are being hooked on the rock. This is a PR stunt designed to get Spitzer elected to either Congress or the Governor's mansion. Why can't anyone else see that? If he wanted to track down a truly insidious form of 'pay-for-play,' he'd look into the pharmecuetical industy's use of the EXACT SAME PRACTICES that the record company's use. Only they are hawking far more dangerous products than an insipid pop song. (And they are apparently better campaign contributors...)
B
Bob1370
Guest
Re: Lots of Swearing
> This is singularly the most ridiculous waste of taxpayer's
> money I've ever seen. I'm glad that I'm not a NY resident
> anymore because I'd be furious about Spitzer wasting his
> office's resourses on this while children are being abused,
> wives are being beaten and teenagers are being hooked on the
> rock.
Spitzer's powers under the state's constitution and laws are defined so that violent crimes are not his prime mandate...those cases are explicitly designated for handling by the district attorneys of the state's 62 counties and their staffs, with the AG permitted to step in under state law only if a special prosecutor is needed because a DA is deemed either incompetent or corrupt. That hasn't happened in recent memory. So don't beat up on him just because he doesn't pre-empt local DAs who are doing their jobs...the State Legislature has defined things so that he isn't supposed to.
> This is a PR stunt designed to get Spitzer elected to
> either Congress or the Governor's mansion. Why can't anyone
> else see that?
All true...when he takes unpopular corporate interests to the woodshed, exposes their bad behavior, and punishes them, it's good for his ambitions. He wants to be Governor, and a year and a half from now, probably will be. That doesn't mean he should let the bad guys off just because it makes him look politically ambitious.
> If he wanted to track down a truly insidious
> form of 'pay-for-play,' he'd look into the pharmecuetical
> industy's use of the EXACT SAME PRACTICES that the record
> company's use. Only they are hawking far more dangerous
> products than an insipid pop song. (And they are apparently
> better campaign contributors...)
In all fairness to Spitzer, he couldn't do a thing about that issue even if he wanted to. Congress has totally pre-empted all state regulatory power over the drug companies, and enacted laws that specifically permit many of the worst practices of the industry by barring any level of government from enacting regulations against them. They even barred the FEDERAL government from looking into the drug companies' pricing practices or negotiation discounts for Medicare, Medicaid and the VA. Many of those laws were enacted by the current Congress and signed enthusiastically by the current President. Don't blame Spitzer for not acting on those issues. He might want to. But George W. Bush, Tom DeLay (who helped write these laws) and Bill Frist won't let him. Complain to them. They gave the pharmaceutical companies their "get out of jail free" card, and tied Spitzer's hands.
Broadcasters clearly don't have as powerful lobby as the drug gang, or at least as alert a lobby, because the Telecommunications Act of 1996 left a lot of latitude open for state regulators to examine and punish broadcasters' corrupt business practices. That's what lets Spitzer do his thing.
> This is singularly the most ridiculous waste of taxpayer's
> money I've ever seen. I'm glad that I'm not a NY resident
> anymore because I'd be furious about Spitzer wasting his
> office's resourses on this while children are being abused,
> wives are being beaten and teenagers are being hooked on the
> rock.
Spitzer's powers under the state's constitution and laws are defined so that violent crimes are not his prime mandate...those cases are explicitly designated for handling by the district attorneys of the state's 62 counties and their staffs, with the AG permitted to step in under state law only if a special prosecutor is needed because a DA is deemed either incompetent or corrupt. That hasn't happened in recent memory. So don't beat up on him just because he doesn't pre-empt local DAs who are doing their jobs...the State Legislature has defined things so that he isn't supposed to.
> This is a PR stunt designed to get Spitzer elected to
> either Congress or the Governor's mansion. Why can't anyone
> else see that?
All true...when he takes unpopular corporate interests to the woodshed, exposes their bad behavior, and punishes them, it's good for his ambitions. He wants to be Governor, and a year and a half from now, probably will be. That doesn't mean he should let the bad guys off just because it makes him look politically ambitious.
> If he wanted to track down a truly insidious
> form of 'pay-for-play,' he'd look into the pharmecuetical
> industy's use of the EXACT SAME PRACTICES that the record
> company's use. Only they are hawking far more dangerous
> products than an insipid pop song. (And they are apparently
> better campaign contributors...)
In all fairness to Spitzer, he couldn't do a thing about that issue even if he wanted to. Congress has totally pre-empted all state regulatory power over the drug companies, and enacted laws that specifically permit many of the worst practices of the industry by barring any level of government from enacting regulations against them. They even barred the FEDERAL government from looking into the drug companies' pricing practices or negotiation discounts for Medicare, Medicaid and the VA. Many of those laws were enacted by the current Congress and signed enthusiastically by the current President. Don't blame Spitzer for not acting on those issues. He might want to. But George W. Bush, Tom DeLay (who helped write these laws) and Bill Frist won't let him. Complain to them. They gave the pharmaceutical companies their "get out of jail free" card, and tied Spitzer's hands.
Broadcasters clearly don't have as powerful lobby as the drug gang, or at least as alert a lobby, because the Telecommunications Act of 1996 left a lot of latitude open for state regulators to examine and punish broadcasters' corrupt business practices. That's what lets Spitzer do his thing.
Re: Lots of Swearing
>
> In all fairness to Spitzer, he couldn't do a thing about
> that issue even if he wanted to. Congress has totally
> pre-empted all state regulatory power over the drug
> companies, and enacted laws that specifically permit many of
> the worst practices of the industry by barring any level of
> government from enacting regulations against them. They even
> barred the FEDERAL government from looking into the drug
> companies' pricing practices or negotiation discounts for
> Medicare, Medicaid and the VA. Many of those laws were
> enacted by the current Congress and signed enthusiastically
> by the current President. Don't blame Spitzer for not acting
> on those issues. He might want to. But George W. Bush, Tom
> DeLay (who helped write these laws) and Bill Frist won't let
> him. Complain to them. They gave the pharmaceutical
> companies their "get out of jail free" card, and tied
> Spitzer's hands.
>
> Broadcasters clearly don't have as powerful lobby as the
> drug gang, or at least as alert a lobby, because the
> Telecommunications Act of 1996 left a lot of latitude open
> for state regulators to examine and punish broadcasters'
> corrupt business practices. That's what lets Spitzer do his
> thing.
>
<font face="times new roman" size="3" color="330066">
Well said, Robert.
And please, let's not forget the powerful Tobacco Clan, which this administration recently (by way of the Justice Department) reduced the fines imposed in the original settlement.
As to Spitzer, his office is holding corporations and individuals accountable to the law. Insipid recordings (and many of them are) or not, if laws are broken, those who are charged with breaking them should be called to account, prosecuted, tried and if found guilty, punished.
This, by the way, is exactly what Rudolph Giuliani did many years ago when he as District Attorney, prosecuted businesses and individuals in NYC's "sanitation industry." He did a fine job of it. Tell me HE didn't build up any political largess. He certainly did, and it was well deserved.
</font>
>
> In all fairness to Spitzer, he couldn't do a thing about
> that issue even if he wanted to. Congress has totally
> pre-empted all state regulatory power over the drug
> companies, and enacted laws that specifically permit many of
> the worst practices of the industry by barring any level of
> government from enacting regulations against them. They even
> barred the FEDERAL government from looking into the drug
> companies' pricing practices or negotiation discounts for
> Medicare, Medicaid and the VA. Many of those laws were
> enacted by the current Congress and signed enthusiastically
> by the current President. Don't blame Spitzer for not acting
> on those issues. He might want to. But George W. Bush, Tom
> DeLay (who helped write these laws) and Bill Frist won't let
> him. Complain to them. They gave the pharmaceutical
> companies their "get out of jail free" card, and tied
> Spitzer's hands.
>
> Broadcasters clearly don't have as powerful lobby as the
> drug gang, or at least as alert a lobby, because the
> Telecommunications Act of 1996 left a lot of latitude open
> for state regulators to examine and punish broadcasters'
> corrupt business practices. That's what lets Spitzer do his
> thing.
>
<font face="times new roman" size="3" color="330066">
Well said, Robert.
And please, let's not forget the powerful Tobacco Clan, which this administration recently (by way of the Justice Department) reduced the fines imposed in the original settlement.
As to Spitzer, his office is holding corporations and individuals accountable to the law. Insipid recordings (and many of them are) or not, if laws are broken, those who are charged with breaking them should be called to account, prosecuted, tried and if found guilty, punished.
This, by the way, is exactly what Rudolph Giuliani did many years ago when he as District Attorney, prosecuted businesses and individuals in NYC's "sanitation industry." He did a fine job of it. Tell me HE didn't build up any political largess. He certainly did, and it was well deserved.
</font>
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