Kudos to Obama's Justice Department for opposing AT&T Merger

[Armstead]

This is the kind of government anti-trust regulation I and many others have been waiting to see for decades.

This is the kind of government anti-trust regulation the Democratic Party should have been supporting all along, as the Monopoly Economy has been assembled to the determent to consumers, the middle class, labor and society overall.

This is the kind of government anti-trust regulation that I and many others have come to be fatalistic about -- wondering if the Obama administration would ever challenge the Corporate Oligarchs.

Sooooooo....

Kudos to the Obama administration for blocking this. Great job. More of this and a lot of us cranky liberals could actually become enthusiastic about the President again.



http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/08/att-tmobile-doj-merger-block/

Posted to a T-Mobile message board this morning, one user’s feelings nail the sentiment among consumers following Wednesday’s announcement that the Justice Department is suing to block AT&T’s proposed acquisition of the Deutsche-Telekom–owned wireless network. T-Mobile users generally responded positively to the news that they wouldn’t be seeing the AT&T death star on their cellphone bills anytime soon. Riffing on the oft-bemoaned shortcomings of both networks, one Wired.com reader proposed an unfortunate merger scenario: ”AT&T’s zero-bars reception merged with T-Mobile’s customer service. I think the result might just collapse into a black hole of suck.”

AT&T has long championed its proposed merger of T-Mobile as being beneficial to the wireless customers of both networks. The company claims it will improve wireless service for AT&T and T-Mobile customers, expand 4G coverage to more of the country and, most recently, add a significant number of jobs to the U.S. workforce.

But in the Justice Department’s eyes — and anecdotally those of T-Mobile’s customer base as well — the costs of the merger may outweigh the benefits. “The combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would result in tens of millions of consumers all across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for mobile wireless services,” said deputy attorney general James M. Cole in the Justice filing.

..MORE

[dennis4868]

1. you just praised Obama..

lookout for an attack...duck incoming :-(

[RC]

3. What does Obama have to do with this?

[DFab420]

4. lol so if its a positive he has nothing to do with it. But if his DoJ acts in a way we disagree with

then it's all his fault?

[RC]

6. I am asking again: "What did Obama have to do with this?"

Didn't the DOJ work against him a while back?

[vaberella]

5. That is one fucked up double standard. When good---Obama did shit with it. When bad...

Obama orchestrated the entire shit. Disgusting---this perfectly shows the problem going on with members and our President. Perfect show of how absurd the dislike of the man is.

[Armstead]

7. It's his administration, and I'll give him due credit

Frankly I care less about the politics than the impact. Our government needs to actually start doing something about these destructive mega mergers, and if Obama's administration took the step in that direction, the whole administration deserves credit.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

8. It's makes you a bigger person than those who simply want to bitch about politics.

I have AT&T now, sadly. I can't wait until my contract is done so that I can leave it. The merger would have forced me to pay higher prices for lousy service and poor reception. No, thanks!

When wrong, I will fault the administration.
When right, I will praise it.

Here's one thing that it has done right that few Democrats should quarrel with. :toast:

[Enrique]

2. also I was worried about the influence of Bill Daley

who was a top guy at AT&T not too long ago.

So I second your kudos. :thumbsup:

[IamK]

9. CWA unions against DOJ action...

http://www.cwa-union.org/news/entry/doj_seeks_to_block_atampt_deal_with_t-mobile_jeopardizing_new_jobs/

Sep 1, 2011

AT&T Planning to Return 5,000 Jobs to U.S. If Merger is Completed

Just as AT&T announced this week that it would return 5,000 wireless jobs to the United States following its pending merger with T-Mobile USA, the U.S. Justice Department announced it was seeking to block the deal.

CWA and AT&T sharply criticized the DOJ's decision, but said the battle is only beginning. Both CWA and the company have argued that the merger would create nearly 100,000 jobs as AT&T accelerates the build-out of high-speed broadband to 97 percent of the nation.

"The DOJ's action would put good jobs and workers' rights at the bottom of the government's priorities," CWA President Larry Cohen said, noting the news one day earlier that AT&T would bring home a net 5,000 jobs once the merger is complete. "That is the kind of corporate responsibility that more employers in the U.S. should demonstrate if we are ever to have an economic recovery.

[FrenchieCat]

10. Do you really believe that AT&T would return 5,000 jobs? Really?

[MH1]

11. I agree. I've been sorry for the silence from DOJ on merger after merger for years.

Free markets only work in any respect positively, when they are 'free' in the sense of many buyers and many sellers. As these mergers happen, competitiveness declines and we are left with only the bad fruit of capitalism.

So I was glad to hear the DOJ finally found one to oppose.