-Caveat Lector- http://tompaine.com/feature.cfm?ID=5015
Attempted Coup At Federal Trade Commission One Commissioner Deplores ''Private 'Horse-Trading''' Steven Rosenfeld is an audio producer and reporter for TomPaine.com. Reporters waited and waited on Thursday, January 17 for the appearance of Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris, but he never showed. Muris had been set to make an important announcement that was suddenly called off: the FTC would shift its longstanding responsibility for overseeing corporate mergers to the Department of Justice. But just before the scheduled announcement, FTC Commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson released a strongly worded statement objecting to the change. He said the agreement would "deprive consumers of the benefit of the Commission’s independence, expertise, and knowledge," particularly in the field of media mergers and "dynamic 'new economy' industries" that present "novel" antitrust issues. In other words, the Bush administration wants less-stringent, narrower oversight of mega-mergers and so will shift authority from the FTC to DOJ, which is more susceptible to political manipulation. Thompson deplored what he called "private 'horse trading'" between Bush administration appointees at the FTC chairman and DOJ. "Chairman Muris failed to consult with, or provide meaningful opportunity for, other Commissioners to proved any input. In fact, I was not even provided with a copy of the completed Agreement until immediately before Chairman Muris executed the Agreement on behalf of the Commission." "This is an example of the kinds of permutations that the Bush administration will go through to help big business," said Jeff Chester, a public interest activist who follows media issues at the Center for Media Education. "I'm not saying Clinton was different. But this administration wants to give big business a free pass." The Federal Trade Commission is an agency that most Americans never deal with. But it has anti-trust jurisdiction over merger-happy American corporations, including the media companies that deliver content to millions of people. AOL and Time-Warner, Microsoft, Sony, Random House -- all these companies have come before the FTC when they had merger plans. And as in the case of AOL-Time-Warner, the FTC gave the go-ahead, but the fine print of its ruling showed at least some sensitivity to small-and-medium size businesses, and the need for competition in the field. The by-the-books Department of Justice, however, especially its anti-trust division, isn’t as sensitive to these concerns -- which is why big businesses apparently wanted DOJ to assume greater anti-trust jurisdiction. It’s no secret the Bush White House wants to please its corporate constituents. Look at the tax cuts in the House-passed economics stimulus plan. Look at what’s about to unfold before the Federal Communications Commission, where Bush’s appointed chairman, Micheal Powell, is poised to deregulate media ownership restrictions, on the one hand, while adopting new regulations giving cable companies permission to limit Web surfers’ "open access" to the Internet. True to form, the Bush administration wants to muscle the FTC out of the oversight business. It wants to unilaterally shift scrutiny of major anti-trust activities, without approval of FTC commissioners or the Congress, to the more politically attuned Justice Department. And if anybody thinks DOJ doesn’t operate with strings attached, consider the revolving door that ushered many top anti-trust officials in the Clinton DOJ into the executive ranks of the very companies they were charged with regulating while in government. According to the rumor mill, Thursday’s coup at the FTC was called off, for now, because one very irate U.S. senator called the Attorney General and told him to shut it down. Another rumor says the transfer is still a go, but that a Senate committee will first hold hearings. Stay tuned. Published: Jan 18 2002 Related Articles: The Angry Commissioner Statement Of FTC Commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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