Daily Archives: October 3, 2008

Radio

“Unforgettable 1350” gone but not forgotten

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Everyone knows by now that 1350 WOAM and 94.3 WPMJ have gone off the air. But they deserve a requiem nonetheless.

Although their music was syndicated, 1350 AM had no small amount of local programming. Every morning, there was Breakfast with Royce [Elliott] and Roger [Monroe]. They had a lot of special guests, and of course a lot of humor. And during the summer, they carried the Peoria Chiefs baseball games. I’ll never forget hearing them win the Midwest League championship — an unbelievable come-from-behind win in the ninth inning (naturally, they were still a Cardinals affiliate then). They carried other local sports as well.

I didn’t listen to 94.3 very much, as it was all syndicated oldies music. Occasionally I’d turn it on for a song or two. It took on the oldies format after 93.3 jettisoned their “Big Oldies” moniker. Frankly, I won’t miss this station much, but I will definitely miss 1350. It had a definite local feel to it, without being talk radio. It had a lot of variety, and I’ll miss that.

On a positive note, the paper reports that station owner Bob Kelly “said he would continue to run the Kelly Communications Co. despite the stations being off the air with the hope of eventually bringing the stations back online. ‘I’m going to work full-time on getting financing.'”

So maybe 1350 will be back again someday. Hope so.

Nation/World

House begins debate on Senate bailout package

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For those of you in the 18th Congressional District, here’s the telephone number for Ray LaHood: (202) 225-6201. (If you live in a different district, you can find your representative’s phone number on the Clerk of the House of Representatives’ page.)

I would encourage you to do what I’ve done: call and urge Rep. LaHood to vote against the Senate’s bailout package. I know LaHood voted for the first one, and he believes a bailout package is needed. But this bill is even worse than the last one, including all kinds of indefensible pork that squanders more taxpayer money.

There are $6 million in tax breaks for the manufacturers of wooden arrows.

Another $33 million in tax relief for corporations operating in American Samoa territory.

And don’t forget the $192 million break for Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum producers.

U.S. senators on Wednesday tacked these incentives and nearly $150 billion in other unrelated tax breaks on to the $700 billion emergency rescue bill for the nation’s troubled financial institutions.

Besides the added pork, many economists have been saying that this bill simply won’t work to solve our credit crisis. You don’t hear these voices, unfortunately, because the media by and large hasn’t covered them, as this article from the Chicago Tribune points out:

If you’ve spent much time listening to cable news lately, you would think there is universal agreement among economists that an immediate, enormous government intervention in the markets is the only way to stave off a recession, and perhaps even a depression. This is simply false. Many economists reject the notion that something must be done immediately and have called for more careful consideration of a wider range of options. Some even reject the premise that any bailout action will make much of a difference.

This bill needs to be voted down and a serious deliberation needs to take place. Congress should stop this rush to do “something,” and focus on doing what is best.