And The Revolving Door Keeps Spinning

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Four months after the Federal Communications Commission approved a hotly contested merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, one of the commissioners who voted for the deal said on Wednesday that she would soon join Comcast’s Washington lobbying office.

Meredith Attwell Baker, a former Commerce Department official who worked on telecommunications issues in George W. Bush’s administration, announced that she would leave the F.C.C. when her term expires at the end of June. At Comcast, she will serve as senior vice president for government affairs for NBC Universal, which Comcast acquired in January.

The announcement drew immediate criticism from some groups that had opposed the Comcast-NBC merger. They said the move was indicative of an ethically questionable revolving door between regulatory agencies and the companies they oversee.
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http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/f-c-c-commissioner-to-join-comcast/

I've always thought this was an interesting issue - is there any legislation you can think of that could stop this type of opportunism?
 
Well, I can't think of any legislation I'd support that would prevent people taking a job--that's too much limitation on individual freedom. All that can really be done is a corruption investigation to see if she was offered the job, money etc. in exchange for her vote while on the commission. Otherwise, you can't really bar people from taking a new job.

This is just another issue that shows we need to find a way to limit the power of lobbyists period. The only people who can really have any impact on governmental policy these days are those with the power and money to do major lobbying.

But I don't know how that gets fixed either.
 
The military has a cool-down period that doesn't allow members of a certain rank to go private until that period is over. After that, it's time for the moneyz. It's pretty well documented that the highest ranking officers make serious bank being lobbyists for the MIC.
 
I read that she was even complaining that the FCC was taking so damn long to approve the merger. It kinda reminds me of that Boeing Pentagon scandal back during the Bush administration.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Well, I can't think of any legislation I'd support that would prevent people taking a job--that's too much limitation on individual freedom. All that can really be done is a corruption investigation to see if she was offered the job, money etc. in exchange for her vote while on the commission. Otherwise, you can't really bar people from taking a new job.

This is just another issue that shows we need to find a way to limit the power of lobbyists period. The only people who can really have any impact on governmental policy these days are those with the power and money to do major lobbying.

But I don't know how that gets fixed either.[/QUOTE]

Every company that I've worked for makes most of their employees (basically any employee with any valuable knowledge) sign an agreement stating that they won't work for a competing company for a certain number of years after leaving. I'm not sure that the contract would hold up in court, but corporations are certainly trying to prevent their employees from taking jobs with competitors.

How could they possibly investigate whether she was offered the job in exchange for her vote? Unless anyone was stupid enough to put it in writing, there's no way to prove that she was or wasn't offered the job prior to the vote.

I would support legislation that protects the interests of citizens over the interests of individual bureaucrats. I do agree that the bigger, more important issue is how to limit the power of lobbyists.
 
Yeah, it could definitely be done contractually like that I suppose. Just not with legislation IMO as I'd have a hard time supporting a law that limits people's job options. But I don't see why they couldn't have language in their contracts they have to sign (and agree to) just like the private corporation contracts you mention.

And yep, trying to prove corruption is near impossible, so there's not really anything that can be done here other than use it as another piece of evidence that we need to find some way to reign in lobbyists.
 
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Gotta give credit to Comcast - it takes talent to give your girl the perfect pearl necklace (with matching earrings)
 
So, who's at fault here? The government for allowing this to happen? The private company for taking advantage of the situation? The individual for (potentially) abusing her position of power?
 
[quote name='UncleBob']So, who's at fault here? The government for allowing this to happen? The private company for taking advantage of the situation? The individual for (potentially) abusing her position of power?[/QUOTE]

haha feeling conficted much
 
This is absolutey despicable and a flagrant disrepect to we the people. A line must be drawn and we should be demanding more from our leaders and decision makers.

A petition has been raisied through the Free Press demanding an action from Chairman Issa.

Demand Action
 
[quote name='flowery']This is absolutey despicable and a flagrant disrepect to we the people. A line must be drawn and we should be demanding more from our leaders and decision makers.

A petition has been raisied through the Free Press demanding an action from Chairman Issa.

Demand Action[/QUOTE]

Issa's the richest member of Congress (Jane Harman was close, but is no longer around), no amount of outside pressure is going to move him.

His district, which happens to be my district, is solidly Republican, too. I'm not going to tell you to not push for this, but don't get your hopes up. He may very well do it since Obama's the president, though.
 
[quote name='Feeding the Abscess']Issa's the richest member of Congress (Jane Harman was close, but is no longer around), no amount of outside pressure is going to move him.

His district, which happens to be my district, is solidly Republican, too. I'm not going to tell you to not push for this, but don't get your hopes up. He may very well do it since Obama's the president, though.[/QUOTE]

I have no hope in this government but at least I can try this instead of shrug my shoulders.
 
[quote name='flowery']This is absolutey despicable and a flagrant disrepect to we the people. A line must be drawn and we should be demanding more from our leaders and decision makers.

A petition has been raisied through the Free Press demanding an action from Chairman Issa.

Demand Action[/QUOTE]

That's awesome Flowery. There will be a ton of people who are now going to respond that it won't make a difference, but it's not like they have any better alternatives.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yeah, it could definitely be done contractually like that I suppose. Just not with legislation IMO as I'd have a hard time supporting a law that limits people's job options. But I don't see why they couldn't have language in their contracts they have to sign (and agree to) just like the private corporation contracts you mention.

And yep, trying to prove corruption is near impossible, so there's not really anything that can be done here other than use it as another piece of evidence that we need to find some way to reign in lobbyists.[/QUOTE]

The government (especially the executive branch) still have plenty of cards they could play.

Such as a severe audit or ethics violation probe. Anything that makes it expensively prohibitive to act like a vote-selling douchebag.
 
Thought this was interesting:
Interestingly, one theory making the rounds in some Beltway circles is that by hiring Baker, Comcast is also potentially doing a favor of sorts for Genachowski, whose support for the NBCUniversal deal was key to its approval.
That's because Copps must leave the FCC at the end of the year. Getting Copps' replacement through Congress would no doubt be a lengthy process, given tensions between Republicans and the FCC. If Baker had hung around, Genachowski and the Obama administration could have been stuck with an FCC of two Republicans and two Democrats. In other words: gridlock.
Now the administration can potentially package a Baker replacement with a Copps replacement for smoother sailing or the administration can keep the Republican seat vacant and still have a majority aftr Copps leaves.
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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/ent...r-defends-move-to-comcast-basklash-grows.html
 
So, basically, this deal with Comcast works out in the Executive Branch's favor.

I wonder how quickly they'll jump on those audits and probes...
 
[quote name='UncleBob']So, basically, this deal with Comcast works out in the Executive Branch's favor.

I wonder how quickly they'll jump on those audits and probes...[/QUOTE]

Don't put too much stock in it, it's just an interesting theory. Personally I think it violates Occam's razor, but it could provide a good explanation about why noone with an official capacity to take action is going to so much as blink at this.
 
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