They Love to Fly

5:30 PM -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can be a circus. But is it also a traveling roadshow?

From The Philter regulatory file bin, an excerpt from a written statement submitted to the House of Representatives by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, regarding the Commission's fiscal year 2007 budget estimates:

… we have also requested an increase of $235,000 to the Commission’s travel budget to further reduce the Commission’s reliance on industry-sponsored travel. In response to the concerns of this Subcommittee, we extended the prohibition on accepting industry-sponsored travel last year to include additional managers within the Commission. Even with the extended prohibition, however, the Commission accepted approximately $260,000 from industry sources to pay for important travel during Fiscal Year 2005. If this request is approved, we believe we can address your concerns and eliminate industry-sponsored travel for all Commission employees.

The good news: The Commission is obviously taking steps to limit its dependency on "industry sources" -- phone companies, cable MSOs, and other outfits -- to pay for its travel. The bad news: Those sources spent just over a quarter million dollars during fiscal 2005 on FCC travel.

— Phil Harvey, Dollar-a-Holler Editor, Light Reading