Bob Dole: “the administration is sending conflicting messages about running government. On one hand, it talks about reinventing…”

“the administration is sending conflicting messages about running government. On one hand, it talks about reinventing government to make it more simple. At the same time, it actively supported the Cable TV Act's new bureaucracies and redtape. The administration says it wants to give Americans more for less, but what we will really get is more paperwork with less service. Take the Federal Communications Commission's latest effort to roll back cable TV rates through rate regulation. The most basic form that every cable TV system operator must fill out is 8 pages long and has 28 pages of instructions. That is more complicated than an IRS form. But, hold on--that is just the beginning. A complete set of forms is 48 pages long, with 97 pages of instructions, while the regulations total more than 500 pages. That is more than 5 pounds of paper. If it takes this much paperwork for MTV and CNN, how much will it take for an appendectomy? In fact, the forms are so complex that the FCC also sent along a computer disk so cable TV operators can figure out their new rates. Even so, a multiple-page worksheet must be completed before operators will know what data they must enter into their computers. disclaimer statement and congressional intent No doubt about it. The cable TV industry had its bad apples who have gouged consumers and delivered poor service. And while I did not agree with the Cable TV Act's approach, I did agree that these problems must be dealt with.”