Democrats on FCC panel blocking AT&T-BellSouth merger
December 15th, 2006 by Brendan SteinhauserThe Wall Street Journal editorial board has a good piece in today’s paper.
The AT&T-BellSouth merger has been approved by the Justice Department, and AT&T has agreed to the extortionist measures asked of it. Why are the Democrats holding things up? The Journal says that it is because of the Democrats’ general anti-business attitude, and because they are trying to carry the water of both Google and MoveOn.org, who want to see “net neutrality” become the law of the land.
As the Journal reports, net neutrality failed in the last Congress, and rightly so, but special interests are rent-seeking so that they do not have to pay for the cost of using more bandwidth. The telecom companies want to invest in the internet of the future, but “companies aren’t likely to invest in laying new pipes if they can’t get a market return.”
FreedomWorks has consistently stood against “net neutrality” and for more choices via competition. The FCC Democrats and newly elected House and Senate Democrats should not prevent the AT&T-BellSouth merger, and should for once take a stand for freedom, instead of against it.
