In my post below, I referred to Don Evans' inclusion of regulatory reform as one component of the President's six-point jobs plan. Last night, in what from my perspective was, overall, a very good State of the Union address, the President discussed his jobs and growth agenda. In that context, he referred glancingly to "relief from needless federal regulation" for small business owners.

Very good. But the need for relief from needless federal regulation is, of course, not limited to small business owners. It was probably too much to hope that in a speech necessarily dominated by national and homeland security issues the President would have time to devote more attention to reform of the nation's communications policies. These outdated regulations need to be brought in line with the realities of the digital age--and sooner rather than later. It shouldn't be too much to hope the Administration will devote the necessary attention to leading an effort to accomplish communications policy reform.

See below for a six-point telecom reform plan. Such reform does not cost the federal treasury money to implement like other new programs. But meaningful progress on the reform front would stimulate new investment and help create new jobs.