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Thom's blog
The AT&T/Time Warner Merger - Time To Worry?
 Give Donald Trump some credit: he might be a bigoted crypto-fascist who's taken the Republican Party to the right of Attila the Hun - but every once in a while he's 100 percent correct. Case in point: his take on AT&T's proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner. During a speech Saturday afternoon in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Saturday, Trump blasted the deal, saying he would oppose it if elected president.
"As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few."
Again - Trump is 100 percent correct here. We've seen a wave of media consolidations over the past few decades - and they've all resulted in the same thing: more power in the hands of giant conglomerates and fewer choices for consumers.
In 1983 - 90 percent of the media was controlled by 50 corporations; today, that number has dwindled down to 6.
We're very close to having a full-on media monopoly in this country.
Which makes you wonder why Hillary Clinton's campaign isn't speaking out against the AT&T/Time Warner merger in the same direct way that Donald Trump is.
For example - here's what Tim Kaine said recently on Meet the Press when he was asked his thoughts on the deal.
Chuck Todd: Are you a skeptic of this merger as well?
Sen. Tim Kaine: I share those concerns and questions. We've got to get to the bottom of them. Generally pro competition. And less concentration I think is generally helpful, especially in the media. But this has just been announced, and I haven't had a chance to dig into the details. But those are the kinds of questions that we need to be asking.
Translation: "we'll let you know".
Donald Trump's opposition to the AT&T-Time Warner merger probably isn't that surprising given his scorched earth campaign against the media as a whole - but the Clinton camp's equivocation here is interesting.
Opposition to monopoly power is a core progressive value - and it's historically something the Democratic base has believed in.
This isn't that complicated.
You either oppose the consolidation of the media in the hands of the few or you don't.
So why won't the Clinton campaign just come out against the deal?
Are they really still "digging in to the details" or should progressives start worrying that a potential Clinton-Kaine administration won't be as committed to breaking up the big monopolies as they'd like?
-Thom
(What do you think? Tell us here.) |
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... WA Carbon Tax - Does it Have To Be Perfect? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)
 Be sure to check out our newest video: RESTORATION - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners / Visit GreenWorldRising.org to check out all the videos: CARBON, LAST HOURS & GREEN WORLD RISING - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio & Thom Hartmann, directed by Leila Conners
Big Picture Politics Panel: Whose Fault Is It? Obamacare Rates Are Going Up...
- Hughey Newsome, BOLD.global/Move-On-Up 
- Ben Wikler, MoveOn.org
WA Carbon Tax - Does it Have To Be Perfect?
- Vien Truong, Green for All/Dream Corps
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Tuesday's Daily Stack 
Hour One: Obamacare premiums going up 25%, should we lay the blame at the feet of Democrats or Republicans?
Article: " 13th Amendment", December 6, 1865. " Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."
Hour Three: Thom's Take Away From Michael Moore's Brilliant New Film, Trumpland
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Wednesday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET
We'll have the latest news and information...everything you need to know to win the water cooler wars...
And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...
The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"
And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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Thom's Poll
Quiz: Who called the AT&T/Time Warner Merger "too much concentration of power in the hands of too few"?
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Trump Might Be A Bigoted Crypto-Fascist But Sometimes He’s Right...
How To Save Our Country From Another Gilded Age
Or watch the Full "Big Picture" Show...
Full Show 10/24/16: Trump’s Gettysburg Address
Tonight’s Progressive panel discusses how even Trump is against the proposed merger of AT&T and Time Warner, Trump’s bizarre Gettysburg Address, and Thom discusses how the 1% should care about wealth inequality with Chuck Collins author of "Born on Third Base: A One Percenter Makes the Case for Tackling Inequality, Bringing Wealth Home, and Committing to the Common Good "
Florida Election Shenanigans, 2016 Edition! (w/Guest: Mayor Andrew Gillum)
Conservative Wants Big-Government Handout To Protect Trump From The Media! (w/Guest: Carl Higbie)
Republicans May Want To Reconsider What They Pay Their Consultants...
If Republicans Really Want To Talk About 'Rigged' Elections....
Healthcare, Like Credit Cards, Doesn't Get Better When We Trade Across State Lines!
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