While we are all justifiably transfixed by trillion dollar bailout packages and wrongheaded attempts by government to pull drowning auto industries from the swamp of union costs; income redistribution schemers and business deficient vote buyers are adding costs to everything.
Case in point is the radio industry, which like most media has been suffering greatly in the last five to seven years as trends in music listenership and news acquisition have been shifting (talk radio the exception).
As most know radio stations pay a royalty fee to play other peoples music over the air -- this royalty is usually paid to the composer and not the performer and if one stops to think about it the reasons are fairly obvious since any number of people may perform a tune under permission from the composer but only one theoretically is responsible for its creation.
Well that's just a little too unfair for the present Congress and thanks to the 3 Watt brainpower of Representative John Conyers of Michigan there is a bill being drafted that would require royalty fees be collected from radio stations to be paid to performers.
Most stations are not terrifically profitable operations, especially those in smaller markets that address local needs and the government requirement to pay more for their product to be distributed to various and sundry performers will not make them any more profitable.
Why stop there? What about the sound engineers, technicians and all the others that make a recording possible? What about backup singers and truck drivers.
Income redistribution continues to be piled on the back of the American consumer and this death of a thousand cuts that the news media seldom even covers is the price you pay for foolish representation.
