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[ NNSquad ] L.A. Times: AT&T merger bid puts Obama in a bind
L.A. Times: AT&T merger bid puts Obama in a bind
http://j.mp/gyFUza (L.A. Times)
AT&T, one of the nation's most politically influential companies, is
poised for battle.
Its political action committee and employees have contributed $46
million to federal candidates over the last two decades, more than any
other company, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive
Politics.
AT&T spent $15.4 million lobbying Washington last year, the
eighth-highest of all corporations. And it has ties to the White House
- Obama's chief of staff, William Daley, is a former president of SBC
Communications Inc., which bought AT&T in 2005, creating the current
telecom giant. "AT&T is the most aggressive, most hard-nosed player
in the political realm of communications," said Andrew Jay
Schwartzman, policy director of the Media Access Project, a public
interest law firm. "They will make it difficult for the Obama
administration." AT&T has demonstrated its political savvy already.
Unlike T-Mobile, AT&T is largely unionized and has support for the
deal from the Communications Workers of America and the AFL-CIO, two
influential Democratic constituencies.
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--Lauren--
NNSquad Moderator