Would you be surprised? Liberal Democrats have bailed out just about every other special interest group that supports their political ambitions. The majority left-wing media would be just the latest such bailout.

Rep. Henry Waxman trekked from Capitol Hill to Federal Trade Commission headquarters today to deliver a message to journalists and news consumers: All of you need to reach a consensus about working with the government in order to bail out the struggling news industry.

The California Democrat, who chairs the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, didn’t say it quite so bluntly, but his point was clear. “Government’s going to have to be involved, in one way or the other,” to save journalism from an ongoing “market failure” that will only worsen without intervention, Waxman said. …

Waxman bemoaned the demise of newspapers across the country, including in Denver and Seattle, and warned that the troubling media trends will continue. “This recent depression in the media sector is not cyclical,” Waxman said. “It is structural.”

“Congress can’t impose a solution” to that structural problem, he said. But the government should partner with the media industry to ensure a sound future for journalism. Waxman praised the record of “independent” reporting in U.S. history and said it has implications for democracy.

“There needs to be a consensus within the media industry and the larger community it serves” before the government acts, Waxman said. “We have to figure out together how to preserve that kind of reporting.”

Heaven forbid the free market determine which outlets swim and which ones sink. If Americans don’t want to purchase your newspaper, well, we’ll just give you their tax dollars anyway. We’ll make them give you their money.

Welcome to the era of Hope and Change.

When government bails out an industry, it usually takes control. General Motors now has to receive government permission before making business decisions, as do banks who received TARP funds. Who’s ready for the Obama Administration and Nancy Pelosi to control the American media? I, for one, look forward to a Washington Post controlled by Congress. Because government-funded propaganda is fun.