TV Stations Accused of Promoting Big Money Candidates: CSC Complaint Filed
All the TV stations now are showing "Candidates for governor says bla bla bla about this XXX issue and that issue". The prime time (5pm to 630pm; and more after that till about 11pm every day now) air time is about two or three minutes for each of the chosen candidates, and they do not show a sign This Political Advertising is Paid For by X-candidate, therefore the TV stations must be donating this valuable air time only to certain candidate they are promoting. Other candidates such as myself, George Peabody for governor of Hawaii 2006, are excluded from these televised forums aired at the TV stations' expense.The effect I see is that certain candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor are benefitting from a very valuable donation of goods and services (free TV air time) from KITV, KHNL, KGMB, and KHON and others, but the TV stations are not reporting these thousands of dollars in TV airtime donations they make to those certain Candidates' campaigns (Anderson, Lingle, Case, Hirono, Carroll) and are thus violating Campaign Spending Commission rules and HRS chapters 11-204 and 215.
I have complained to the TV stations, but they refuse to include George Peabody the libertarian candidate for governor, explaining that they only give their support to "Major Candidates".
In addition to the obvious violations of CSC rules and HRS for not reporting the TV Stations' dontions of free TV air time to only "Major Candidates" of the TV Stations' choice (similar to Castro allowing public elections so the Voters can vote for the ONLY Candidate on the ballot which is Castro himself), I believe it is a disservice to Voters in Hawaii to deliberately exclude from these TV forums any qualified candidate for governor who is willing to participate if given the invitation as was apparently done for only the big money candidates. Apprently, if a candidate pays for advertising on a TV station, that candidate is considered by the TV station to be a Major Candidate, and then and only then do they get to participate and benefit from free TV air time.
I believe that if the TV stations are not reporting such donations to Candidates, and the Candidates themselves are not reporting receiving such donations of thousands of dollars in valuable air time, that all of them are in violation of CSC rules and HRS 11-204 and 215, and maybe Campaign Ethics laws too.
Please pursue this Complaint to the full extent of the law.
Aloha,
George Peabody
c/o George Peabody for governor of Hawaii 2002, LPH
HC01-770 KKai
Molokai, HI 96748
ph. 808-558-8253
http://www.HawaiigovernorGeorgePeabody.com