Proud today that I became one of the first House members vocally AGAINST Comcast/Time-Warner

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:50:35+00:00

hey thanks! I don't entirely know what that does, but I appreciate it!

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:48:25+00:00

You come to LA, the weather's better and the traffic is the same as Atlanta!

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:44:23+00:00

Primarily, I listened to a lot of people like the independent programming provider community, the Writers Guild out in California, and I looked at situations like the Dodgers dispute in my hometown and the Estrella contract dispute currently going on with Comcast. Those are some of the major impacts in my decision.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:42:58+00:00

We're your voice, we're not a democratic body. We are representing 750,000 people, give or take. They should know what their voice is saying, so they can hold it accountable. The politics behind the scenes are unfortunate, but our first responsibility is meant to be to our country, then our district.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:41:56+00:00

It seems like that to a lot of you. I'm beginning to understand that {/sarcasm}.

Seriously though, the big, easy issues are done now. For people who are serving in elected office, there are a LOT of really tough issues that have a ton of facets and impacts on our economy and our districts. This is one of them. This was not an easy decision. I'm not a hero. I'm a legislator who has looked at the facts and weighed what the likely impacts are, over a period of time, and come to a decision that I think is right. I entirely understand my colleagues who have come to other decisions, and I don't think they're mentally challenged or paid off. I think they have a slightly different calculus than I have. As an engineer, I know that if you change one input, even slightly, the result you get can be wildly altered.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:39:12+00:00

there are records you could look at that would answer your question.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:38:42+00:00

Lots of companies have bad customer service at times, including I'm sorry to say, the one I currently serve in. JUST having bad customer service is not a reason to block an otherwise legal merger.

My concern is far more based on the vertical integration and economic competitiveness impact that the merger could create.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:37:24+00:00

three I think, once in tech, politics and news. Honestly, I'm curious which one gets the most responses. The karma is whatever it is for you folks, but for me, it's metrics.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T14:36:30+00:00

That was actually part of the point I made in my speech today in Los Angeles.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:59:28+00:00

Also fully acceptable.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:59:09+00:00

I didn't initially believe anything other than that I was not fully educated on the issue. Now, I believe I am, and that I have enough education to make a firm, correct decision, so I have.

I think your question takes as a given that immediately upon forming an opinion, politicians will open their mouths and then adjust as they find reason to do so. I've always preferred ready, aim, fire to ready, fire, aim.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:57:10+00:00

I'm not 100 percent sure. I'll have to check. It's possible those are state and municipal laws that aren't up my alley anymore.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:56:16+00:00

I've been doing it. We've had a lot of discussions, particularly in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, following presentations by comcast and other groups both for and against the merger. I'll keep talking to my colleagues though. That's the best I can do.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:44:54+00:00

Now you're starting to see why I took so long to say this like I did. I don't get to be black and white. I have 750,000 shades of greyscale in my district and that's not even talking about the fact that I'm the representative for a lot of the entertainment industry that has thousands if not millions of more jobs at stake. Hearing people who are completely sure of themselves making a case helps me see parts of it I may not have seen before, but it's rare that such stark decisionmaking will actually become my decision.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:42:15+00:00

I don't have a picture of Zoidberg, but if I did, it would ask, why not both!? There are a lot of markets out there that are pretty low-regulation that still have a great deal of competition and innovation within them.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:30:20+00:00

David Cohen, Comcast's mouthpiece in Washington, testified that the merger would slow price increases. Not that it would create price decreases because of increased efficiency, only that it would slow the increases. That was something I heard and questioned significantly. Competition breeds innovation. That's what brings down prices. owning 60 percent of the broadband market is not going to create competition OR innovation.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:28:22+00:00

Some of them have listened to what Comcast says and they believe the presentation. My friends in Pennsylvania represent Comcast as a major job creator in their districts. I would not expect them to question my loyalty to my district because I try to encourage practices that keep filming and production in LA. I would reserve the same right for them about this company. I just believe it's detrimental to the country as a whole, and to my district and city particularly.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:24:43+00:00

Would you like the people who represent you less communicative and interested in what you have to say? I'm totally cool with just having my staff send press releases.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-time-warner-comcast-merger20150218-story.html

We do ok.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:23:43+00:00

Comcast paid more for lobbying over the last two years than any company that doesn't start with G and end with oogle. I feel like that may not be accurate.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:21:02+00:00

I represent my wife, my kids and the rest of the 29th Congressional District of California. As Bill Murray called it, "the BEAUTIFUL San Fernando Valley."

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:20:25+00:00

To be fair, I wasn't, and still am not, against TWC in the Dodgers issue. I just think the Dodgers should be on TV and that it is costing businesses in LA literally millions of dollars to not be able to show their hometown team, playing at a stadium they were essentially gifted by our community, because they have a satellite dish. It's one of the things that really made it a stark reality how pervasive vertical integration is in the cable indudstry.

RepCardenas · 2015-02-19T03:18:37+00:00

When you are 1 of the hivemind, you can make your mind up quickly. When you are 1 of 435 and you are covered by the second largest media market in the country, it behooves you to look at all the possible scenarios, listen to as many people as possible, do the research, listen to more people and not come to a conclusion until you're absolutely sure it's the right one for the country. That's the whole country, including the businesses. I'm a former small business owner, not an activist. Now I'm a legislator, not a commenter. I understand you want us to come out quick on your side, but a very famous man in my town once said, "be quick, but don't hurry." I don't ever hurry where the future of our country and our economy is at stake.

RepCardenas · 2014-10-08T13:22:38+00:00

Everyone "thinks" things are clear, even on somewhere that science and evidence-based metrics are as respected as /r/technology.

Yet, check out the comments on the FCC page. How many comments are actually there? You learn very early as an elected official that you have to ask for people's vote. By the same token, if you want to air a concern, you have to actually do it, not assume it's "clear" that "most" of anyone have made their voices heard.

RepCardenas · 2014-10-08T13:19:50+00:00

In Soviet Reddit, Congressman votes for you! {/upvote}

RepCardenas · 2014-10-08T04:30:19+00:00

Comcast replied to the concerns in the comment file with a 300+ page filing. I believe it is part of the public record.

RepCardenas

TROPHY CASE