In this post I want to look at Comcast’s connections to government officials, and how they relate to Comcast’s deal to purchase Time Warner Cable. In previous posts I have detailed some of Comcast’s broad lobbying efforts, but I do not think enough attention has been paid to the ‘revolving door’ between Comcast and government agencies like the FCC.

Comcast made news a few years ago in its hiring of Meredith Atwell Baker. Baker was one of the FCC Commissioners who voted to approve Comcast’s merger with NBCUniversal. Months after voting on the deal, Baker jumped ship, going to Comcast to work as a senior vice president. This hire has frightening implications for those worried about Comcast’s political clout. If FCC Commissioners are interested in getting a nice payout like Baker, they may be more likely to approve the Time Warner Cable acquisition.

There are already some connections with Comcast among officials whose job it is to oversee deals like this. Two of the commissioners of the Federal Trade Commission, Maureen Ohlhausen and Joshua Wright, have close connections to Comcast. They both worked to help Comcast’s merger with NBCUniversal get passed, and now they will have a say in whether or not Comcast’s new merger is approved. This type of conflict of interest has become par for the course in D.C. Given how profitable a deal like this could be for Comcast (Time Warner Cable took home almost $12 billion in profit in 2013), paying off a couple of government employees to secure their support (as it seems happened with Baker after the NBCUniversal deal) seems like a no-brainer for Comcast.

This goes beyond the issue of traditional lobbying that we have all become used to. Consumers have no chance of matching the financial firepower that Comcast can bring to the table when it comes to deals like this. There is no consumer rights organization that can come in and hire FCC commissioners after they vote against a merger that would hurt consumer interests. Yet no one in Washington wants to change to system, because they depend on corporate donations for reelection.

This is why it is important that citizens get involved. Whether it is calling up your Congressperson, donating money to politicians who are pro-campaign finance reform, or just discussing it online. As corporate money becomes a bigger and bigger part of the political process, it will get harder to separate the interests of corporations from those of our politicians. Besides the unlimited donations now allowed by the Citizens United decision, we also have to contend with the ‘revolving door’ between regulators and the regulated. This process has been well documented within the financial industry, but the telecom industry has not faced such scrutiny.

As Meredith Atwell Baker’s hire has indicated, there is a big payout waiting for regulators who take a ‘pro-business’ stance when it comes to acquisitions. This issue has to be resolved somehow. Whether it is a prohibition on public to private career changes, or increased pay for regulators so that they are not as tempted to move, we have to do something. My hope is that writing posts like this well help to motivate people to be more engaged in politics. For our government to function properly, we have to have citizens who are educated and passionate about issues like this. Without them, we will have no one to stand up to corporations and special interest groups that would love to flood Washington with money in return for favorable legislation and regulation.

Here are some links that I got my information from:

Ring of Fire Radio article.

Yahoo Finance page on Time Warner Cable.

Adweek on Comcast’s political influence.

RepublicReport on Comcast and the revolving door.

Obama’s ties to Cohen.

CNBC on the television industry.

FCC Commissioner joining Comcast.