Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Can we Impeach Kevin Martin?

Charged with certain responsibilities by law, Kevin Martin has decided that his FCC will not uphold his duties. First, he lets VZ have forbearance through inaction. And now according to CBS Marketwatch: "The FCC does not plan to investigate purported links between an American spy agency and several of the country's largest phone companies. ... FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, in a letter to Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said the agency does not have the power to subpoena information that might shed light on whether phone companies are supplying confidential information about customers to the National Security Agency -- a charge the phone companies have denied....Markey asked the FCC to investigate, a request supported by Democratic Commissioner Michael Copps. Martin, a Bush appointee who once served on the president's election campaign, declined. ...Markey blasted the agency's refusal to investigate and repeated his call for the Republican-controlled Congress to hold hearings.
"We can't have a situation where the FCC, charged with enforcing the law, won't even begin an investigation of apparent violations of the law because it predicts the administration will roadblock any investigations citing national security," he said.
"The FCC is entrusted with the power to ensure that the phone records of consumers are protected, but the president does have broad authority to monitor communications under threat of war. "

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