Liberals Bernie Sanders and Al Franken Win As Comcast Drops Time Warner Bid

[babylonsister]

http://www.politicususa.com/2015/04/23/bernie-sanders-al-franken-elizabeth-warren-win-comcast-drops-time-warner-bid.html

Liberals Bernie Sanders and Al Franken Win As Comcast Drops Time Warner Bid
By: Jason Easley
Thursday, April, 23rd, 2015, 9:45 pm


The liberal senators who stood up in opposition to the Comcast-Time Warner merger scored a major victory as Comcast has pulled out of the planned deal.

Sen. Sanders (I-VT) reacted to the news by saying, “The report that Comcast is backing away from its bid to take over Time Warner Cable is good news for American consumers. The level of media consolidation in America already is unacceptable and it would have been extremely dangerous for one company to control 57 percent of the broadband Internet market, 30 percent of the cable market and dominate 19 of the 20 largest U.S metropolitan areas.”

Sen. Franken (D-MN) said, “I’ve been opposed to this deal since it was first announced, and I’m glad that over the last 15 months, more and more people have come to see it the way I do. This transaction would create a telecom behemoth that would lead to higher prices, fewer choices, and even worse service. We need more competition in this space, not less. If reports of the collapse of the deal are true, it would be a huge victory for American consumers.”

Sen. Franken was correct. Getting Comcast to drop their monopolistic Time Warner deal is a great win for consumers, but it was the pressure generated by Senate liberals that turned up the heat on the deal. The power of the liberal movement in this country was flexed in the outrage generated by the potential creation of the largest cable company in the country. Outside of the extreme concentration of wealth at the top, and the staggering disparity in income inequality, the death of the free market is a one of the biggest problems facing the U.S. economy.

The objections of the FCC and the Department of Justice caused Comcast to pull the plug, but it was liberal outrage that started and fueled the fire. Liberals killed a huge deal for two of the biggest corporations in the country.

This is a good day for the left, and a moment that cements that it is the liberal movement in this country who are the real defenders of consumers and free market competition.

[NYC_SKP]

1. I love them both!

I wonder if we might ever see a Franken run for the Whitehouse!

[babylonsister]

2. I love them both, too! And if Raygunn got there,

hey, why not? I suspect Franken would never go for it. But who the hell knows?!

[misterhighwasted]

3. I'd campaign for Franken.

He & Sanders have more common sense than 90% of what's sitting in DC right now.

[freshwest]

5. That would be interesting:

Franken tells TV network: 'I'm ready for Hillary' to be president

ABBY SIMONS and PAUL WALSH - December 16, 2014

U.S. Sen. Al Franken said he will back former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her likely presidential run, and will not consider any other candidate.

“I think Hillary would make a great president. I haven’t announced that I’m supporting her. Does this count?” Franken said during an interview on the MSNBC cable network with Ari Melber that aired Tuesday afternoon. He added that he feels no need to scope out other presidential contenders.

“I’m ready for Hillary,” Franken said. “I think we’ve not had someone this experienced, and this tough. She’s very, very impressive.” Asked whether his stance was a formal endorsement, Franken said, “If this is what you call an endorsement, I guess yes. So yes.”

Franken added that he’s also been asked about U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as a presidential candidate in 2016.

“She is great,” he said, “but she’s not running.”

Sorry about that.

[NYC_SKP]

6. Oh well. How about Chelsea? Can we haz a Clinton-Clinton ticket?

Chelsea Clinton said in an interview Monday that she would “absolutely” be open to running for office in the future.

Attending the unveiling of her mother’s long awaited “No Ceilings” report measuring the progress of women’s rights over the last 20 years, Clinton told Sky News that while she had no immediate political ambitions, that could change.

“Absolutely, I’d consider it one day,” she said of running for public office.

For the time being, though, Chelsea said she supported her local, state, and national representatives.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/jasonwells/chelsea-clinton-absolutely-open-to-running-for-office#.meYeYZzr6

[freshwest]

7. I'll go along with the joke:

"Give Her A Chance" : Elizabeth Warren wants America to hear Hillary Clinton out.

By Maxwell Tani - 03/31/2015

Appearing on NBC’s “Today” on Tuesday to promote her new book, the Massachusetts senator said that the former Secretary of State deserves an opportunity to demonstrate how she plans to help the middle class if she decides to run for president.

“I think we need to give her a chance to decide if she’s going to run and to lay out what she wants to run on,” Warren said. “I think that’s her opportunity to do that...”

“I’m not running and I’m not going to run,” Warren said. “I’m in Washington and I’ve got this great job and a chance to try and make a difference on things that really matter.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/31/elizabeth-warren-hillary-clinton_n_6977466.html

to you, too.

[rurallib]

4. great news - wish I could give it 100 recs!

[lpbk2713]

8. There's other fallout from this decision.

Charter Cable will probably not go through with its plan to acquire Bright House.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2015/03/31/bright-house-to-be-acquired-if-comcast-time-warner.html?page=all