Dems call out AT&T-Time Warner deal in new messaging campaign

Democrats singled out the AT&T-Time Warner merger in their new messaging campaign on Monday, signaling a tougher stance on policing corporate consolidation.

In a set of documents posted by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the Democrats laid out their “Better Deal” vision of cracking down on “extensive concentration of power” in a number of industries, including the cable and telecom fields.

“Consolidation in the telecommunications is not just between cable or phone providers; increasingly, large firms are trying to buy up content providers,” the document reads. “Currently, AT&T is trying to buy Time Warner. If AT&T succeeds in this deal, it will have more power to restrict the content access of its 135 million wireless and 25.5 million pay-TV subscribers.

{mosads}“This will only enable the resulting behemoths to promote their own programming, unfairly discriminate against other distributers [sic] and their ability to offer highly desired content, and further restrict small businesses from successfully competing in the market.”

Democrats have been speaking out against the $85 billion deal since it was announced last October. Though it is widely expected to be approved by the Justice Department in the coming months, the merger has had to navigate a number of political obstacles, including early opposition on the campaign trail from President Trump.

The Democrats also singled out airlines, beer manufacturers and agriculture companies as examples of industries that needed tougher antitrust enforcement.

Conspicuously absent from the document are tech giants like Google and Amazon, which face antitrust concerns.