What's the hottest ticket in Washington this summer? Directly behind home plate at a Nationals game with full access to the team's exclusive club suites? A season pass to the Washington Opera? Premium box seats at the Legg Mason Tennis Classic? No, no and no.
For aficionados of telecom and media policy, there's a much geekier answer: front row at an oversight hearing on the longest-running congressional investigation of the FCC and its chairman in a decade.
To follow the action you'll need a comprehensive playbill. Presenting "The Everyman's Guide to the FCC Follies of 2008," featuring an all-star cast from on and off Capitol Hill -- Washington's version of The Great White Way.
With the inquiry teetering between summertime blockbuster and over-hyped dud, here are the essentials:
Creative Team
* Director: House Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell, whose Oversight Productions has been entertaining Washington's chattering class for decades. The Bard of Rayburn, the veteran lawmaker is legendary for firing off Dingellgrams -- blunt questionnaires sometimes likened to heat-seeking missiles -- to federal agencies.
* Producer: Energy and Commerce ranking member Joe Barton, who spearheaded an investigation (critics would say witch hunt) of the Democratic-controlled FCC in the late 1990s focused on allegations of payola involving the commission's relocation to its current headquarters. The inquiry prompted scathing accusations and hearings, but not much more. Was it a foreshadowing of 2008?
* Staging and Choreography: Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, whose panel is conducting the day-to-day review, and Oversight and Investigations ranking member John Shimkus, R-Ill., who appears to be along for the ride.
The Plot
* Prologue: Tragedy befalls Kevin Martin, a young, brash, swashbuckling regulator from tiny Waxhaw, N.C., who comes to Washington with dreams of deregulating the communications sector and greasing the skids for incumbent Bell companies. Instead, he discovers he can't always get his way -- especially with Democrats running Congress.
* Act I: With tragic overtones, our protagonist, Martin, deepens his plight by rushing a relaxation of media ownership limits, attempting to deflect attention with an ill-fated effort to re-regulate cable operators and putting seasoned employees out to pasture, fueling claims they've been "Martinized."
* Act II: Lawmakers are not amused. They launch a probe focused on Martin and his heavy-handed regulatory style. Do they have enough evidence? Or will they be embarrassed as a resilient Martin slips past their dragnet?
All-Star Cast
* Martin: The FCC chairman stars as a heroic prince turned heinous villain turned -- well, you'll just have to see how it ends. Understudies: Republican FCC commissioners Robert McDowell and Deborah Taylor Tate.
* Dingell and Stupak: Together, they play multiple roles as judge, jury and potentially, executioner. Understudy: Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., chairman of the Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee.
* Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein: Known for their rabblerousing antics at the FCC, the agency's two Democrats appear as court jesters seeking to skewer Martin. Previous credits: Abbott and Costello, Felix and Oscar, Stan and Ollie, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
Critical Acclaim
* "Bravo! A must-see production and a delight for every lobbyist who ever felt wronged by the FCC. By the way, we regret to announce that cable rates will soon be rising again." -- National Cable and Telecommunications Association.
* "Tragicomedy at its finest. If there's a movie version, we plan to make it available the way Kevin would have wanted: on an a la carte or pay-as-you-go basis." -- Comcast Corp.
* "The most enjoyable show we could have hoped for. Five stars if the ending features extensive use of the words 'indictment,' 'scandal' and 'resignation.'" -- Voices of the Martinized
Essentials
* Schedule: While expectations are high for a June or July hearing before Stupak's subcommittee, there have been rumblings the production could be cancelled. Martin's acting commitments with a competing musical, "The Sound of FCC Transparency," also could have an impact.
"We were expecting to have an oversight hearing at some time and one hasn't been called," Shimkus told C-SPAN last weekend. "I don't think there's one on the schedule, and based upon the calendar, who knows if one will come up." He also predicted the review of the agency wouldn't amount to much.
Other observers expect at least one session, if only to let investigators save face and justify time and resources devoted to the production.
In April, an Energy and Commerce staff memo recommended a June hearing and Stupak signaled last month he hopes to schedule one this summer, sources said.
"If they want, there's probably stuff they can rake [Martin] over the coals over," said a longtime FCC watcher in a town where everyone, it seems, is a political theater critic.
This article appeared in the Saturday, June 14, 2008 edition of National Journal Daily.
Want to stay ahead of the curve? Sign up for National Journal’s AM & PM Must Reads. News and analysis to ensure you don’t miss a thing.
Join the Discussion