It does NOT hearld a “new anti trust era”. It heralds a very old “go after your political enemies era” that will last until we get veto proof Dem majorities in 2018 and change of admin in 2020. Or hopefully before.
C’mon, TPM. This headline should include a qualifier such as “may” or " could". Hell, the AP headline reads: AT&T suit may herald a new anti-trust era -or Trumpian pique.
Yeah, right. It may equally likely herald a new era of monkeys jettisoning from my butthole.
Fake headline. This is revenge on CNN.
“If it’s politically motivated because the president doesn’t like CNN, then it’s just a wild card,” said NYU law professor Eleanor Fox. “If this represents a change of heart, to be much more aggressive against mergers, it would be a game changer.”
The Trump DOJ would not change course on vertical mergers after 30 years just to advance his desire to hit back at CNN because of his petty grievances, would it? Of course it would, because Trump getting his way is always more important than policy. But, I guess we’ll see for sure if a similar case comes up.
I agree. I don’t see a largely GOP administration pushing against mergers. It just doesn’t align with everything else they believe. I can believe that this particular merger is problematic because of personal animus. I can also imagine that they will use this example as proof that they are protecting the little guy–even as they obliterate competition for everything else. “How can you say we aren’t against monopolies? Look what we did against AT&T Time Warner.”
AP story - shocker.
Yep. Knew this was AP before even opening it.
Does this Justice Department plan on intervening and stopping the Sinclair Broadcasting/Tribune consolidation?
Yup, I know membership to pull stories from the AP wire isn’t cheap, or at least it wasn’t when I had friends working there. I think TPM would be better served using those resources elsewhere. This is clearly not an antitrust move or shift in policy and just retribution for Trump’s hatred of CNN. Which by the way gave that piece of shit more free airtime than anybody during the election to spew his nonsense unchallenged.
EXACTLY! This is all about der Furor’s hatred for CNN. When a big merger between his political friends comes along, DOJ will suddenly go blind.
I don’t know if this is a purely vertical merger. When you look at the components of each company it is pretty horizontal as well. In any event a strong argument can be made against this merger on traditional anti-trust grounds.
The proof will be if the DOJ does something about Sinclair which is a play by a single entity to totally dominate various media markets. Since the Sinclair deals look to go through and Sinclair is a friend of Trump and other conservatives, I am not sure the opposition to the AT&T/Time Warner deal isn’t purely political.
Consumer groups are applauding, saying it’s a good step by the Justice Department to protect people from higher cable bills and ensure that web-based alternatives to TV aren’t stifled. (Many of the same groups, however, are also protesting the government’s plan, announced Tuesday, to roll back “net neutrality” rules intended to equalize access to the internet.)
Also the same folks that are most likely to ignore Cheetolini’s maneuvering to allow Sinclair to flourish/merge with FUX (not) news.
Yeah, Josh had some interesting takes in the Editor’s blog yesterday.
Anyone who thinks this administration is “anti monopoly” is either not paying attention or is purposely lying. These people are clearly for all wealth in the country being in the hands of the smallest circle of people possible. Turn of the century all over again. The last century that is. Where is Teddy Roosevelt when you need him?
Exactly
Yes. Didn’t the FCC recently grease the skids for Sinclair Broadcasting’s takeover of Tribune Co’s TV stations?
This. x1000.
Tax cuts for the rich will increase GDP, obamacare doesn’t need a mandate and Roy Moore isn’t a sicko…
so trump must be anti-trust after all…