A bill was introduced yesterday, the Family and Consumer Choice Act, but Representative Dan Lipinski (D-IL) and Representative Jeff Fortenberry to regulate the cable and satellite industry and make it more like broadcast television. They held a press conference with FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and the Parent’s Television Council to talk up the bill as “free market.”

The shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what a free market is. As was said in the Nebraska Journal-Star, “Free markets cannot be achieved through government mandates and regulation.” Amen!

That won’t stop the Congressman (who don’t seem to get it), the FCC Chairman (who seems to hate cable television) or the PTC (who want to control television content so it conforms to their views), but it should give every free market loving conservative pause.

The bill calls for cable television to conform to broadcast standards for decency between 6 am and 10 pm, or offer a “REAL” family package option, or a la carte, or pick and choose programming for subscribers.

First, cable is a delivery service, not content provider, so option one is out.

Second, they do offer family packages, but they’re just not to the liking of those mentioned above because they want the package to include ESPN, critical to any close knit family.

That leaves number three as the only real option. That gives the Feds power over how cable does business. And if you’ve ever eaten at a restaurant that is a la carte, you know it will end up costing more.

The PTC doesn’t seem to care. But they couldn’t even get their complaints straight at the press conference. Dan Isett from PTC was complaining about the sexual content and language of the FX show “Rescue Me,” (great show, by the way) saying that and South Park (another great show) are what this bill seeks to protect children from. The only problem is, Rescue Me airs on FX at 10 pm, therefore already conforms with option one of this bill.

If you’re going to complain, you should make sure you know the facts before you claim your opinion as such.