Obama, Democrats Attack Arbitron, Try to Restrain Free Market

It's no big deal that Barack Obama is allegedly trying to restrain political speech in Missouri, register the Dallas Cowboys front line to vote for him in Ohio (the linked article explains the whole issue; I am mixing story lines for brevity), and bring upscale-mutlicultural-oneworld progressivism to a country full of us rubes.  It's just hard-ball politics, Chicago style. 

(Boston politicians like the 1960s Kennedys were so much more elegant about political dirty tricks than the Chicago Daleys' use of billy clubs and tear gas. Of course, the Kennedys would never have had a chance to be elegant without Daley. See the book on "vote early/vote often/count last" to understand how John F. Kennedy became president in 1960.)

But I am angry that Obama,fellow Illinois senator Durbin, and Obama supporters in New York and New Jersey, are attacking research.  That hits home.

In particular, Obama, Durbin, Attorney Generals Andrew Cuomo of NY and Anne Milgram of NJ are attacking Arbitron (ARB), the media research company. The charge is that its new radio-listening research--collected using an I-pod like device rather than a written journal--may be inaccurate.  Really twisting the law (while New York state implodes in on him in financial crises), Cuumo is actually charging that Arbitron's advertising saying its research is "fair" is misleading. 

Obama and Durbin on the other hand just want a third-party research organization to say that the first-party research organization is doing good research.  Isn't that why you love about politicians?

Arbitron has told the hacks to go pound sand and has sued New Jersey with more to follow.  The software required to use the data is based on Microsoft  (MSFT) .NET using the open source database software from postgreSQL. At least the open source fringe doesn't have a dog in this fight.

(Note: I am assuming Milgram is a Democrat because she was nominated to the job by a Democratic governor.)