Opinion

Obama, his Democrats and the Media Marxists Kill 1,900 Jobs

Seton Motley President, Less Government
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On December 1, 2010, AT&T and T-Mobile announced their plans to merge.

The Barack Obama Administration, its Democrat cohorts and the Media Marxist media “reform” groups spent all of 2011 in vociferous opposition to the proposed free market transaction.

The Administration’s Eric Holder-led Justice Department sued to block it.

The Administration’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski publicly asserted his opposition.

Myriad Congressional Democrats were opposed.

The Media Marxist public-disinterested groups gathered together in their tiny gaggle to block.

And on December 19, 2011 – more than a year after the merger was first announced – the anti-free market Left won.  AT&T withdrew their merger application.

Again, why the federal government holds such multi-branch, multi-jurisdictional sway over the Internet and telecommunications sector remains beyond us.  The government has far more power to block or impede an AT&T-T-Mobile merger than they do a Wal-Mart-K-Mart merger.  (A dichotomy that must be resolved – to bring the Tech sector into more-free market line with the rest of the private sector.)

And as we have repeatedly said, this abusive, endless “review” process is not a theoretical free market problem – it is a real free market problem.

Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s parent (company), has made it clear, in congressional testimony, directly to the FCC, and in numerous public statements, that it will not continue to invest in T-Mobile USA. A stand-alone T-Mobile will not make capital expenditures of billions of dollars….

The Left impeding and outright blocking these free market transactions costs these companies billions of dollars.  And it (thusly) costs real Americans real jobs.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced Thursday it will consolidate its call center operations from 24 to 17 facilities by the end of June….

…This consolidation effort will result in 1,900 net job reductions.

For over a year, T-Mobile basically said they would be forced to fire people if the merger was not approved.

And the Left didn’t listen.  Because they remain stridently impervious to facts – and stridently wedded to their anti-free market ideology.

And now 1,900 people are out of work – sacrificed on the Left’s anti-capitalism ideological altar.

Think we’re exaggerating the job-loss connection to the blocked merger?

“I guess it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the company has been struggling in the marketplace,” (Roger Lee, executive director of Economic Development for Central Oregon) said, pointing to AT&T’s failed effort to acquire T-Mobile as a possible nail in the coffin of Redmond (Oregon) and the other call centers.

“We understood from the acquisition they (AT&T) probably were going to maintain their employment call centers,” if the acquisition had been successful, Lee said…

“So the fact that didn’t happen, it’s not necessarily an unexpected result.”

We’re not exaggerating.

Which brings us to a currently pending Tech sector free market transaction – Verizon’s spectrum purchase from a cable company consortium.

Which is – like was the AT&T-T-Mobile merger – stuck in government multi-branch, multi-jurisdictional “review” suspended animation.

Where it is – like was the AT&T-T-Mobile merger – being beaten like a piñata by the aforementioned usual Leftist suspects.

Will the lesson of these 1,900 fired souls be learned by these anti-free market zealots?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know the answer to that question.

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