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Comcast's primary goal right now is to prevent a raising of the debt ceiling. Once this is done it will be much easier for the FCC to be eviscerated and destro

Comcast's primary goal right now is to prevent a raising of the debt ceiling. Once this is done it will be much easier for the FCC to be eviscerated and destroyed -- or at the very least, maimed. With that pesky FCC out of the way, Comcast will then be free to take a deep breath and expand its belly, unrolling that flab of inefficiency even further, stifling and suffocating as many sources of potential innovation and competition as possible. With no viable threats (as Comcast will be both the Gatekeeper and the traffic police), its ability to dictate who can drive in the fast lane and the slow lane and who is even allowed to drive on the road at all will spill over from the highways to the suburbs to the rural country roads. http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2011/07/white-house-slams-cuts-to-fcc.php http://techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2011/07/white-house...

roc 15y ago
I have no doubt that Comcast's lobbyists take every opportunity to push for "starve the beast"-style cuts to the FCC. But I sincerely doubt they think it remotely in their interest to see the US actually default. Being able to squeeze more profit per subscriber loses its luster if another economic calamity causes home internet access to become a luxury again. They already see the danger that they may become a dumb pipe that only provides backhaul access for wireless cells. (see their wireless deals and partnerships) If another economic snap forces people to choose between their home internet and their smartphones, guess who wins and guess who hemorrhages subscribers like a POTS provider? And they'll have a hell of a time convincing people to pick those plans back up, years later, if/as things recover. Even though home phone service has become dirt cheap with VoIP offerings, that hasn't brought back customers. If people cut Comcast and start to go wireless-data only, it'll be terribly hard to reverse. To say nothing of Comcast's investments and stock price, which would tank (along with most everything else) in the crisis that would follow an actual default.
- shawnee_ 15y ago
  Good points, but default is not the automatic consequence of failing to raise the debt ceiling. The issue is just creating more noise and static that distracts from the core issues that the GOP doesn't want people to notice: that the GOP wants to cut funding to the FCC, and without the FCC and more stringent net neutrality regulations, companies like Comcast can exercise whatever kind of monopolistic behaviors they want.

roc 15y ago

I have no doubt that Comcast's lobbyists take every opportunity to push for "starve the beast"-style cuts to the FCC. But I sincerely doubt they think it remotely in their interest to see the US actually default. Being able to squeeze more profit per subscriber loses its luster if another economic calamity causes home internet access to become a luxury again. They already see the danger that they may become a dumb pipe that only provides backhaul access for wireless cells. (see their wireless deals and partnerships) If another economic snap forces people to choose between their home internet and their smartphones, guess who wins and guess who hemorrhages subscribers like a POTS provider? And they'll have a hell of a time convincing people to pick those plans back up, years later, if/as things recover. Even though home phone service has become dirt cheap with VoIP offerings, that hasn't brought back customers. If people cut Comcast and start to go wireless-data only, it'll be terribly hard to reverse. To say nothing of Comcast's investments and stock price, which would tank (along with most everything else) in the crisis that would follow an actual default.

shawnee_ 15y ago
Good points, but default is not the automatic consequence of failing to raise the debt ceiling. The issue is just creating more noise and static that distracts from the core issues that the GOP doesn't want people to notice: that the GOP wants to cut funding to the FCC, and without the FCC and more stringent net neutrality regulations, companies like Comcast can exercise whatever kind of monopolistic behaviors they want.