Sirius/XM Merger approval
I can’t express how excited I am by this. Since I first subscribed to Sirius two years ago it’s been my primary source of entertainment, I’ve written about it briefly here in the past. So lets just say I was thrilled to see that the year long merger with XM satellite radio has cleared the federal approval process. This really is a great thing for any entertainment fan, the quality of programing one can have for relatively short money remains pretty staggering.
But this isn’t about the rather boring process of federal antitrust clearance. It’s about the cost of a congressman. I’m always shocked to see just how inexpensively one can purchase a congressman of his/her own. You would think with inflation, owning a lawmaker in the worlds greatest superpower would be quite an expensive proposition. Not so. Congressman Edward Markey of the Massachusetts 7th, who was one of the many roadblocks for this merger in his role as head of the House Telecommunications Subcommittee, was purchased by the National Association of Broadcasters for about 30k since 1989. Fifteen thousand since 2006 alone. That’s pretty astounding, to think that for the price of a very inexpensive car you can literally own a Congressman who will take completely anti-consumor stands on your behalf. But what really makes his role as lackey for the NAB amazing is the irony in this great quote from the Bloomberg piece regarding the merger:
Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat who heads the House telecommunications subcommittee, said, “the Bush administration has apparently never seen a telecommunications merger it doesn’t like.”
Now, I look forward to hearing news that GWB has colon cancer as much as the next patriot. But some things you just can’t blame on that particular douche bag. I mean lets be honest with ourselves here, these being some of Ed’s top contributors:
AT&T Inc - $91,600
Time Warner - $68,000
Viacom Inc - $66,350
News Corp - $56,500
Walt Disney Co - $50,850
Comcast Corp - $43,500
Sprint Nextel - $41,750
General Electric - $41,000
Paloma Partners - $36,500
Qualcomm Inc - $32,204
MCI Inc - $31,150
National Assn of Broadcasters - $30,300
He’s even on the RIAA payroll having received 2k in the 2006 cycle. This clown has overseen the kind of media consolidation that has Judge Harold Green doing backflips in his grave and he has the audacity to insinuate the Sirius/XM merger is some sort of Neo-Con inside job? Does that look like the resume of a guy who’s interested in consumer protection? A member of the Progressive caucus taking 56k from News Corp? That must be what ‘Progressives’ consider equal time.
link (Bloomberg merger story)
Congressman Markey receipts at OpenSecrets.org
Markey Press Release on the merger
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5 Responses to “Sirius/XM Merger approval”
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ahh Ed Markey..I worked on his campaign to succeed Toby MacDonald back in the mid 70’s..was a freshman at Malden Catholic (Ed is a MC Lancer grad)…mi uncle Kenny worked in the statehouse for then State Rep. & House Majority Leader George Keverian who ended up toppling Speaker Tommy McGee to become Speaker of the House a number of years later..
Ed has been in office for ever..his Medford office is across the street from a family owned office bldg in Medford Square…are any of these cats any different Brendan?? Congressman Ed cozy’s up to telecommunication groups..Congressman Jim cozy’s up to the social service groups..meet the new boss same as the ole boss..these guys are all in to long..way to long and they always lose touch with how regular folks live
Do you think we’re putting the horse before the cart IRT to the whole notion of special inteerst groups buying politicians? Just for the sake of conversation, let’s say The citizens of Massachusets suffer a horrible lapse of judgement and elect you to Congress, Buck. You being a self described gun guy, attract the support of the NRA, who give you a few grand to your re-election campaign. Next thing you know, someone wiseass local blogger is yapping about how cheaply you can be bought, and the rest of us snicker at him because we know you could be bought for a mere dimebag of skunk weed and a handjob.
So the queation is: are politicians really being bought, or are lobbyists just simply lining up behind the ones who already support their interests?
That isn’t the question. The real question is what does someone like Markey stand for? Is he a progressive or a NEWS CORP fan? Is he pro consumer rights or anti anti-trust?
Or is he just a good example of someone who dosen’t really believe in anything?
J.D.;
the problem is all this $$$$ lining up behind a candidate makes it almost impossible for anyone else to challenge them at election time…Senor McGovern has no challenger this time around..a few factors involved and not all being money but that war chest of his is certainly daunting as his ability to tap into coffers of money others may not be able to..would it not be in the interest of Central & Southeastern Mass voters for there to be some spirited debate..ideas between candidates at election time???
get over the excitement and start blogging again