February 13, 2014

Thank heavens there is at least one Senator concerned about the proposed merger between Comcast and Time-Warner cable. Let's hope he can get some other Senators on board and get some movement behind blocking this.

Here's the problem, though. Comcast probably feels pretty confident about this merger. As Lee Fang reported yesterday, top antitrust officials in the Obama administration have deep ties to Comcast.

Could the revolving door shape the antitrust enforcement for the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner? Republic Report looked into the officials responsible for overseeing antitrust enforcement, and found that at least two have close ties to Comcast.

The recently installed head of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division, William Baer, was a lawyer representing GE and NBC in their push for the merger with Comcast. At the time, Baer was an attorney with the firm Arnold & Porter. To his credit, Baer said last month that he is skeptical of further consolidation of the cable market. Disclosures reviewed by Republic Report show that Baer will continue receiving payments from Arnold & Porter for the next eleven years as part of his retirement package.

There's more, too. Be sure and check the update.

Comcast should not have been allowed to acquire NBC Universal, and it shouldn't be allowed a monopoly on internet and cable services. Unfortunately, what should happen and what does are almost always two different things.

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