There's one thing Republicans and Democrats can agree on: taking money from Comcast

[AlexGoesHigh]

http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/10/5491908/comcast-buys-congress

 

 

Comcast is sparing no expense to swallow Time Warner Cable. In addition to the $45 billion it will spend to expand its waistline from coast to coast, Comcast has padded the pockets of nearly every lawmaker responsible for overseeing the telecom giant's bid. According to a Politico investigation, the company has directed millions of dollars to lawmakers through its political action committee and donations to charitable causes and groups, and millions more on lobbying them.

 

Politico reports that 15 of the 18 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will hold a hearing on the Comcast deal on March 26th, have taken some form of contribution from Comcast. In the House Judiciary Committee, where a similar hearing will take place, 32 of the 39 members have received some kind of donation. And Comcast hasn't been shy about its influence; a recent Businessweek report illustrated the company's brazen presence on Capitol Hill, including vodka and s'more-fueled bonding sessions between congressional aides, administration officials, Olympic athletes, and Comcast's chief lobbyist.

 

VODKA, S'MORES, AND POLITICAL FAVOR

 

This behavior is completely expected. Comcast is a huge donor and lobbying spender in most years, and made a similar push in its successful bid for NBCUniversal, which was arguably more pernicious for consumers than its Time Warner buyout. If Congress bending to the will of America's largest corporations is a tired political trope, it's because of companies like Comcast, AT&T, and other telecommunications giants that have pervasively dominated nationwide lobbying over the past century.

 

Comcast says it's just participating in democracy. In a statement emailed to The Verge, Comcast VP of Government Communications Sena Fitzmaurice writes that "it is important for our customers, our employees and our shareholders that we participate in the political process. The majority of our PAC contributions are to the senators and members who represent our employees and customers." Of course, that's basically just an admission that Comcast tries to wield influence in the places it does business.

 

America's telecom giants have a legacy of lobbying Washington for profit-seeking, anti-consumer protections. AT&T, which has the pedigree of a major American monopoly, is legendary in Washington; the company sought revenge after losing its T-Mobile bid and continues to seed bills in Congress that would cripple the Federal Communications Commission. Verizon and Comcast have sought to keep agreements that would effectively eliminate cable companies from the field of wireless competition hidden from public scrutiny. And these companies say they support the principles of net neutrality even as they fought to dismantle it.

 

Pure and simple, Comcast's latest spending spree in Congress is nothing more than legalized bribery. But it's hard to blame it for using strategies that have been so successful for decades. Why compete when you can pay to win?

 

this shit is extremely fucked up, i'm not american but i think this kinda of crap should be illegal anyhow since they are buying the votes discreetly

 

edit: change title to avoid misleading 

[Yoinkerman]

"Attempting"

[DoubleY]

Title is a tad mis-leading

[AlexGoesHigh]

Title is a tad mis-leading

please explain to decide if i change it pls

[DoubleY]

please explain to decide if i change it pls

I am not saying that you should change it, I am just saying that I am sure I am not the only one who got the wrong message

[AlexGoesHigh]

I am not saying that you should change it, I am just saying that I am sure I am not the only one who got the wrong message

ah ok then, ill just add quotations marks to avoid misleading

[minimalist]

Title is a tad mis-leading

 

How so?

[DoubleY]

How so?

Because Comcast isn't BUYING Congress, they are just bribing them

[MrImnotMLG]

It's stupid. This shouldn't be legal. What happened to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act? I think this would constitute it being pulled up. If this happens, more harm then good will be done.

[Ryan Leech]

Comcast is evil, but I don't see how they are going to buy the Congress

[TopWargamer]

Change that title. Just the use the one from The Verge. 

[minimalist]

Because Comcast isn't BUYING Congress, they are just bribing them

 

Semantics.  They are buying congress.  It's a common thing to say.  No one in their right mind thinks Comcast is literally buying congress.

[Yoinkerman]

Its easy they take zillions of dollars and just say "oh it doesn't influence me". It's that simple.

It's stupid. This shouldn't be legal. What happened to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act? I think this would constitute it being pulled up. If this happens, more harm then good will be done.

[Misanthrope]

The biggest joke of the modern world is that the US allows this sort of legal bribes and talks about "Democracy" and "Freedom" with a straight face.

[JAKEBAB]

instead of spending all this money on buying a company why not spend it on there infrastructure it costs something $47billion to put fttp to all of australia imagine how much they could do in america with $45billion.

[wpirobotbuilder]

It's stupid. This shouldn't be legal. What happened to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act? I think this would constitute it being pulled up. If this happens, more harm then good will be done.

It's tricky, because they aren't a monopoly in the traditional sense. They can only provide service in the area they have infrastructure (which isn't everywhere). It's not like Standard Oil, which had influence everywhere in the country until President Taft ordered the breakup of the trust in the early 1900's.

 

If they get into the 80% range, then I'm sure the FTC will get involved to some degree.

[Misanthrope]

It's tricky, because they aren't a monopoly in the traditional sense. They can only provide service in the area they have infrastructure (which isn't everywhere). It's not like Standard Oil, which had influence everywhere in the country until President Taft ordered the breakup of the trust in the early 1900's.

 

The fact that they acquired Time Warner and one of the main reasons they site is that didn't directly compete points to their plans to change just that: They basically just doubled down on their territories. So they are effectively circumventing the regulation laws that only allow them to do business in certain areas by just buying companies: as they get bigger (inevitable now that they have time warner on board) they might end up buying other mayor ISPs until there's only 1 or 2 left.

[IPCharger]

After finishing House of Cards yesterday I can no longer tell the difference between fiction and reality.

[wpirobotbuilder]

The fact that they acquired Time Warner and one of the main reasons they site is that didn't directly compete points to their plans to change just that: They basically just doubled down on their territories. So they are effectively circumventing the regulation laws that only allow them to do business in certain areas by just buying companies: as they get bigger (inevitable now that they have time warner on board) they might end up buying other mayor ISPs until there's only 1 or 2 left.

They might. If they acquire too many, the FTC will get involved.

[Derangel]

The fact that they acquired Time Warner and one of the main reasons they site is that didn't directly compete points to their plans to change just that: They basically just doubled down on their territories. So they are effectively circumventing the regulation laws that only allow them to do business in certain areas by just buying companies: as they get bigger (inevitable now that they have time warner on board) they might end up buying other mayor ISPs until there's only 1 or 2 left.

 

They don't have Time Warner, yet. If the FCC can avoid this bullshit and Comcast doesn't offer another investigator a high level position at they company hopefully it won't happen.

[Misanthrope]

They don't have Time Warner, yet. If the FCC can avoid this bullshit and Comcast doesn't offer another investigator a high level position at they company hopefully it won't happen.

 

I know they can put a stop to it but will they? Their decisions and reactions have been pretty apathetic and give the appearance of only lip service: they did allow the Netflix thing to get fairly out of hand so far. I'm just saying that I wouldn't trust the FCC to come to the rescue of the Americans, at most you can expect them to do too little too late.

[EpicGeekonFire]

Dont be evil Comcast you suck hard enough. 

[techswede]

one nation.. under comcast?

[werto165]

[techswede]

I thought comcast did not allow cameras at business meetings..