Tea party groups are fighting back against Comcast’s attempted merger with Time Warner Cable, making the tea party one of the only political elements questioning the well-funded lobbying campaign to approve the MSNBC parent company’s potential monopoly.
“We urge you to carefully scrutinize the proposed $45.2 billion merger between Comcast and Time Warner Cable. The proposed merger of our nation’s largest and second largest cable providers raises a number of serious public policy questions that must be addressed,” reads a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee and obtained by The Daily Caller.
The merger must be approved by the Senate, where Democratic Minnesota Sen. Al Franken is one of the only members fighting against approval.
The letter, which focuses on corporate cronyism in the Democratic Party, was signed by representatives of TheTeaParty.Net, Tea Party Nation, Let Freedom Ring, Americans for Job Security, Frontiers of Freedom, US Business and Industry Council, Institute for Liberty, Center for Military Readiness, Rule of Law Committee, Association of Mature American Citizens, Citizen Outreach, Able Americans, and American Family Association.
“The politicization of the Justice Department by Attorney General Eric Holder and the Obama Administration is well-documented. And Comcast and Time Warner Cable’s enormous lobbying influence and massive political contributions to President Obama and Democrats are well-known,” the letter reads.
“The dominance of a market by a single entity is in most cases contrary to the public’s interest because it typically leads to fewer choices, less innovation, and higher costs,” according to the letter. “…The Obama Justice Department previously fast-tracked approval for Comcast’s controversial acquisition of NBC Universal (which owns the liberal MSNBC network). What impact will a bigger Comcast have on the diversity of viewpoints in our media?”
“Some of us remember the breakup of AT&T under pressure from the Justice Department. A monopoly was broken into several different parts in order to promote competition. It was and still is generally regarded as a good thing.”
“Why isn’t the proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable just the opposite?…At this time, we are not urging your opposition to the merger, but rather we are advocating for a thorough review process by Congress, the Justice Department, and the FCC. The merits of the merger can and should be debated. But the approval process must be free from political cronyism to ensure that this important public policy decision is based on the facts and rule of law, not political contributions and the whims of a politicized Justice Department.”
Comcast spent nearly $19 million last year for lobbying.