Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) has received a little home-cooked, bipartisan support from two of its biggest political beneficiaries, with Pennsylvania Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey writing letters to the FCC urging the commission to approve the conglomerate's proposed $45 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC).
Headquartered in Philadelphia, both Senators emphasized the purported job creation benefits of the deal. Of course, neither referenced the significant political support they get from their hometown cable behemoth.
Comcast is Casey's biggest contributor, giving the Democrat $114,175 for the 2009-2014 election cycle, according to figures obtained from the Center for Responsive Politics. The MSO is the seventh biggest contributor to Republican Toomey over that same span, giving his campaign and political action committee $70,600.
In his letter, Toomey wrote: "Comcast currently employs approximately 136,000 people nationwide, including nearly 12,000 people in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The proposed merger is expected to create new jobs throughout Pennsylvania and the rest of the country. This will be a welcome benefit in today's economy.
"Consumers will also benefit greatly from the merger," he adds "Currently, Time Warner offers Internet speeds that are often half as fast as those provided by Comcast and in some cases even slower. Comcast has pledged to spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to improve Time Warner's networks, resulting in far faster Internet speeds for millions of subscribers."
For more:
- read this letter to the FCC from Pat Toomey (R-Pa.)
- read this story from The Hill
- read this Reuters story
Related links:
Comcast dismisses new 'special interest group,' touts supporters
Dish Network, labor unions form anti-merger coalition 'Stop Mega Comcast'
NYC customer sues TWC for deceptive promotional rates
Comcast's summer of bad customer service
'Hell, yes!' Malone will go after TWC if Comcast can't close the deal