JLF: Sirius - XM Merger. It's What's Wrong With This Government. (Revisited)
Johnny Lead Foot here, and I'm pissed...
In February this year, I had a post about the XM-Sirius merger and how the government was holding it up due to the lovely influence of lobbyists. This time, I'd like to talk about how the structure of our government is like the structure of a sloppy bowel movement.Sirius and XM are the two satellite radio companies and they announced their attention to merge EIGHTEEN months ago. The NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) has been paying lobbyists millions of dollars to persuade the governing bodies to delay the decision, bankrupting the companies. (Those two companies are losing millions of dollars a day, waiting for a decision.) Now, this merger needs to be approved by two governing bodies: the Department of Justice (DoJ), who approved it a couple of months ago saying that this merger would not constitute a monopoly, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The DoJ took almost a record amount of time to announce their decision, longer than Exxon-Mobile, for example. That pissed me off, but it's nothing compared to what the FCC is doing, the sloppiest part of this bowel movement.
The FCC is a five-person governing body where each member is appointed by the President. Historically, they act without supervision or responsibility for their actions, and they are holding complete control over this merger. I'd like to say that again: FIVE UNELECTED PEOPLE are having control over billions of dollars in business, millions of people's entertainment they are paying for and thousands of jobs.
Four of the votes for the FCC are in and they are split down the middle. Phew! It only took eighteen months to get four of the votes in. At this rate, one of the Bush twins will be president by the time that fifth vote will come in. How this is possible, when the DoJ has already issued that this is not a monopoly? What's even more crappy, though, are the conditions those two approvals come with! First off, the resulting company must not raise their rates for three years. Three years. THREE YEARS. In addition, they need to give up 20% of their channels to public interest and minority programming. For free. No fees. No requirements. Just handed on a golden platter. Now, the way it's phrased is that the owners of these companies can not be Hispanic-blacks, just blacks.
That is just racist. First off, who is to say that a black person doesn't like Howard Stern or Major League Baseball? Who is to say that a black person doesn't like Eminem's channel (Shade 45), Channel 8 (80's music) or Bruce Springsteen, who has his own channel on Sirius? Who's to say they don't like Nascar or bluegrass music? Beyond that, though, I thought we had been fighting for decades to get blacks equal rights so they are not judged by the color of their skin or the content of their character. Now we're throwing it out the window. It's racist and condescending.
But, let's put this in greater perspective, shall we? Say... um... that two of the largest petroleum companies wanted to merge, eh, and the stipulation on them is that they can't raise their prices for three years and have to give up 20% of their business to black owners. It's just insane! It's insane! What if two car companies were going to merge and they had to freeze their prices for 3 years and give up sales of 20% or their cars to blacks? The black owners need no investment and don't have to have been involved with building the company in any way. They just need to cash checks. Done.
What's even crazier is that Sirius and XM are not essential commodities! We aren't talking about a local-monopoly cable company here or a local-monopoly energy company. These are companies that require EXPENDIBLE INCOME! If ever there was a situation where the market should define the outcome, this is it! If it's too expensive, people will stop buying it. If the resulting XM-Sirius company instantly jacks their prices up to $100/month, they won't have many listeners 2 hours later. If there isn't enough black programming, black people won't buy it. If there aren't enough sports programs, sports afficionados won't buy it. It's so clear and simple, it drives me crazy.
If you think I'm exaggerating about the FCC's actions, I'll point out that they are under investigation. Read about it here: JLF: The FCC is What's Wrong With This Government, and It's Going to Get Its Due. While your at it, try this: JLF: The FCC SUCKS.
Now, that's an update for your ass. Five NON-ELECTED people, with political ties, are controlling two companies' fates. They are controlling what happens to millions of people's entertainment, that they willingly pay for. Read through my original post, one of the most popular, ever, on HAWTaction. JLF: Sirius - XM Merger. It's What's Wrong With This Government.
Always your pleasure.
- JLF
Find me on Facebook.com, and join the HAWTaction.com Reader group. My name there is Johnny LeadFoot (they didn't allow the space).
Four of the votes for the FCC are in and they are split down the middle. Phew! It only took eighteen months to get four of the votes in. At this rate, one of the Bush twins will be president by the time that fifth vote will come in. How this is possible, when the DoJ has already issued that this is not a monopoly? What's even more crappy, though, are the conditions those two approvals come with! First off, the resulting company must not raise their rates for three years. Three years. THREE YEARS. In addition, they need to give up 20% of their channels to public interest and minority programming. For free. No fees. No requirements. Just handed on a golden platter. Now, the way it's phrased is that the owners of these companies can not be Hispanic-blacks, just blacks.
That is just racist. First off, who is to say that a black person doesn't like Howard Stern or Major League Baseball? Who is to say that a black person doesn't like Eminem's channel (Shade 45), Channel 8 (80's music) or Bruce Springsteen, who has his own channel on Sirius? Who's to say they don't like Nascar or bluegrass music? Beyond that, though, I thought we had been fighting for decades to get blacks equal rights so they are not judged by the color of their skin or the content of their character. Now we're throwing it out the window. It's racist and condescending.
But, let's put this in greater perspective, shall we? Say... um... that two of the largest petroleum companies wanted to merge, eh, and the stipulation on them is that they can't raise their prices for three years and have to give up 20% of their business to black owners. It's just insane! It's insane! What if two car companies were going to merge and they had to freeze their prices for 3 years and give up sales of 20% or their cars to blacks? The black owners need no investment and don't have to have been involved with building the company in any way. They just need to cash checks. Done.
What's even crazier is that Sirius and XM are not essential commodities! We aren't talking about a local-monopoly cable company here or a local-monopoly energy company. These are companies that require EXPENDIBLE INCOME! If ever there was a situation where the market should define the outcome, this is it! If it's too expensive, people will stop buying it. If the resulting XM-Sirius company instantly jacks their prices up to $100/month, they won't have many listeners 2 hours later. If there isn't enough black programming, black people won't buy it. If there aren't enough sports programs, sports afficionados won't buy it. It's so clear and simple, it drives me crazy.
If you think I'm exaggerating about the FCC's actions, I'll point out that they are under investigation. Read about it here: JLF: The FCC is What's Wrong With This Government, and It's Going to Get Its Due. While your at it, try this: JLF: The FCC SUCKS.
Now, that's an update for your ass. Five NON-ELECTED people, with political ties, are controlling two companies' fates. They are controlling what happens to millions of people's entertainment, that they willingly pay for. Read through my original post, one of the most popular, ever, on HAWTaction. JLF: Sirius - XM Merger. It's What's Wrong With This Government.
Always your pleasure.
- JLF
Find me on Facebook.com, and join the HAWTaction.com Reader group. My name there is Johnny LeadFoot (they didn't allow the space).
I totally agree with you, JLF. It's madness.
I'm on the fence. On the one hand, I'd love to be able to listen to Howard.
On the other hand, I'm a cheap bastard, and would love a free copy of Grand Theft Auto IV
Hahahaha. Inside jokes are totally encouraged on HAWTaction.