FCC Chairman: a Former Cable Lobbyist Who Helped Kill the Comcast Merger

An anonymous reader writes: After Friday's news that the Comcast/TWC merger is dead, the Washington Post points out an interesting fact: FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, who was instrumental in throwing up roadblocks for the deal, used to be a lobbyist for the cable and wireless industry. "Those who predicted Wheeler would favor industry interests 'misunderstood him from the beginning — the notion that because he had represented various industries, he was suddenly in their pocket never made any sense,' said one industry lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he represents clients before the FCC." The "revolving door" between government and industry is often blamed for many of the problems regulating corporations. We were worried about it ourselves when Wheeler was nominated for his current job. I guess this goes to show that it depends more on the person than on their previous job.

Comments

Re:The Revolving Door Argument is Thin Anyway....

[garyisabusyguy]

The revolving door under the Bush administration was truly toxic, it was natural to expect the same.
Six years into the Obama administration and none of the worst case expectations have come true.