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==[Concast] Monopoly By Design = [D]s + [FCC] + [Big Comm]==
(National Review - Apr 5, 2014)
How Comcast Bought the Democratic Party
A huge merger brought about by high-intensity lobbying goes unopposed.
Comcast + (Time Warner - Eye of Horus) = Merger (2014)
(Brian L. Roberts) - Comcast CEO
…is a golf buddy of President Obama’s, and a Democratic donor who has contributed thousands of dollars not only to the president’s campaigns, but also to the Democratic party of Pennsylvania, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the DNC Services Corporation, and to Steny Hoyer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Bob Casey.
(David Cohen) - Comcast Exec Vice Pres.
…is a former aide to Democratic bigwig Ed Rendell. Cohen skirts lobbying regulations through loopholes, has raised more than $2 million for Obama since 2007, and in 2011 hosted a DNC fundraiser at which the president called him “friend.” Cohen has visited the White House 14 times since 2010, including two visits to the Oval Office. He attended the recent dinner for President Hollande of France.
Cohen plays a major role in the Comcast Foundation, which has disbursed more than $3 billion since 2001, primarily to “groups that serve African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians” and other segments of the Democratic coalition. You will be surprised to learn that many of the groups to whom the Comcast Foundation has donated now support the proposed merger. Of the $33 million Comcast has spent on political campaigns since 1989, more than half, or some $18 million, has gone to Democrats. Barack Obama is No. 1 on the list of the top ten recipients of Comcast’s largesse.
(Robert Marcus) - Time Warner CEO
…has donated $8,500 to Democrats since 2010. His giving also favors Democrats over Republicans. So far this cycle Time Warner and its employees have lavished support on Alison Grimes, Cory Booker, Kay Hagan, Mark Takano, and Henry Waxman. They are all — well, you know what they are. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, who has received donations from both companies, had to recuse himself from Senate business with the merger when it was revealed that his brother, Robert, was representing Time Warner. Comcast and Time Warner are on the list of companies subject to an ongoing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Investigation. Will Reid and Schumer return the money donated by companies under investigation for shady business practices overseas?
(Tom Wheeler) - FCC Chairman
The chairman of the FCC, Tom Wheeler, is a venture capitalist and former lobbyist for telecom interests. Obama appointed him in 2013. “Comcast Lobbyist Cohen Meets His Match in FCC’s Wheeler,” read a recent headline from Reuters, but the adversarial relationship implied therein seems to me to be vastly overstated. In fact “match” is a good word to describe the similarities between these two men. Both are influence brokers that have successfully navigated the highly complex and highly lucrative maze of telecom politics. Both are Obama campaign bundlers. Wheeler raised somewhere between $200,000 and $500,000 for Obama’s first presidential race, personally maxing out to the campaign and to the DNC, and bundled at least $500,000 for the president’s reelection. Fortunately, we can rest assured that none of this, not Wheeler’s ties to his industry, nor the specter of regulatory capture, nor the shared political agenda of regulator and “industry partner,” nor the prospect of future employment, will affect Wheeler’s decision in any way.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2014/04/how-comcast-bought-democratic-party-matthew-continetti/