Posted on 04/05/2014 7:27:41 AM PDT by cutty
Comcast, which employs more than 100 lobbyists, spent almost $19 million last year on lobbying activities. Its president and CEO, Brian L. Roberts, is a golf buddy of President Obama’s, and a Democratic donor who has contributed thousands of dollars not only to the president’s campaigns, but also to the Democratic Party of Pennsylvania, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the DNC Services Corporation, and to Steny Hoyer, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Bob Casey. Roberts’ executive vice president, David Cohen, is a former aide to Democratic bigwig Ed Rendell. Cohen skirts lobbying regulations through loopholes, has raised more than $2 million for Obama since 2007, and in 2011 hosted a DNC fundraiser at which the president called him “friend.” Cohen has visited the White House 14 times since 2010..
...
Comcast’s in-kind contributions to the Democratic Party are more difficult to calculate. In a media environment that already tilts leftward, the NBC networks, which Comcast owns, distinguish themselves as especially pro-Obama. Comcast has one channel, MSNBC, which is almost entirely devoted to furthering the president’s agenda and the broader priorities of the American progressive movement.
...
It is something of a political irony that Republicans, who for ideological reasons are pro-business, have not raised questions about, or objections to, the conjoining of two Democratic institutions into a media trust. If Republicans had any sense, they would wage war against Comcast and its Democratic enablers and turn the merger into a live issue. Needless to say they have not done so, perhaps in the wrongheaded and futile hope of scraps from the table of the Comcast cable beast, perhaps in the foolish and selfish notion that David Cohen may one day add another man to his company of lobbyists.
(Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...
I’m assuming the problems are local issues, either people or infrastructure.
No provider could stay in business based on what I’ve seen in my neighborhood.
At one point I asked my neighbor if he got a job as an ATT service guy, the truck was in front of his house for days at a time.
“Their huge profits let them run propaganda channels like MSNBC and CNN without any worry about those networks being profitable.
There was some hope when satellite started cutting into their markets, but the consumer desire for broadband internet kind of helped them out”
????? All the satellite companies also carried MSNBC and CNN.
OTOH, cable companies carry FOX news and FOX business and Bloomberg.
The difference is MSNBC is owned by Comcast and CNN is owned by TimeWarner.
What good is it for Comcast to own a seemingly influential media organization like NBC if it still has to pay $19 million a year to lobbyists to get Comcast’s message across?
The fact is NBC and the other pro-Obama networks are failures as propagandists — Obama’s approval ratings have sunk to 42%, and only 26% of Americans still support ObamaCare — let alone as effective voices for getting their corporations’ particular interests addressed.
On the other hand, buying a newspaper like the Washington Post, as Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos has done, is a different story. Mr. Bezos can safely fire his lobbyists knowing that any government effort to undermine his company will be dealt with effectively through journalistic arguments and the ability to expose inappropriate behavior by politicians eager to go after the internet-retail industry.
Comcast should sell NBC, dismiss its lobbyists, and buy the New York Times if it wants genuine influence on issues it wants to affect.
I switched to Centurylink for internet and TV about 6 months. I always had them for internet service but wanted to try out their wireless desktop for TV. I have not had one issue, they haven’t “accidentally” changed my programming or pricing, and I haven’t had any outages when the winds blow or someone in the house sneezes. I pay $100 (including taxes and fees etc) a month and the TV package is the one right below premium and the broadband speed is 40mpbs
I had Comcast back when they were Adelphia...I think they were racing AT&T to see who could get to the bottom first.
I thought of that but would have had to show his face and I didn’t want to frighten the younger visitors to FR.
LOL! Gotta protect the younguns.
It's Democrat Party NOT Democratic Party. It's a pet peeve of mine as there is nothing democratic about the Democrat party.
I thought Gyorgy Schwartz already did that.
...which is why NBC is an Obama buttlicker.
Hmmmm....when Comcast was buying NBC folks here said they’d be more conservative than GE.
Not me, scrabble!! :)
How do you access the internet?
My wife and I just signed up today with AT&T. We have Comcast.
They have a promo for $39 that include U-verse (18 Mbs), basic TV, and HBO for 12 months.
As I said in the other thread, I am sick of supporting their crud.
But you still pay for internet. Who is your provider?
There are so many channels available over air now might as well just get an antenna and save even more.
And Time Warner Cable was just purchased by Comcast.
The problem is I can’t get ESPN and Fox Sports via OTA and that’s about 75% of my tv viewing.
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