AT&T's Man in the White House

A message from CREDO action:

Clicking here will add your name to this petition, which says: Recuse yourself from all discussions of potential FCC and/or Department of Justice actions regarding the AT&T / T-Mobile merger.

AT&T's $39 billion dollar proposal to take over T-Mobile is bad news for consumers, and a perfect example of what our anti-trust laws are supposed to prevent.

But if President Obama's chief of staff Bill Daley has anything to do with it, you can bet AT&T will emerge the winner and cell phone users will lose big time.

When President Obama appointed Daley as his chief of staff, the Associated Press described the position as "one of the most important and influential jobs in American government as an adviser and gatekeeper to Obama."¹

So it's alarming that Daley, who has been called "AT&T's man in the White House," might be allowed to use that influence in favor of his former employer.²

Tell the White House Chief of Staff: Recuse yourself from all discussions of potential FCC and/or Department of Justice actions regarding the AT&T / T-Mobile merger. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

It's the largest proposed merger in years — and the biggest potential anti-trust case of the Obama administration. Make no mistake. AT&T taking over T-Mobile would be a disaster for all mobile phone users — not just T-Mobile customers. It would lead to higher prices and stifle choice and innovation in the marketplace.

But AT&T couldn't be better positioned for success. In addition to being the top corporate contributor to Congress, the company boasts an intimate and longstanding relationship with Bill Daley.

Daley is a former of president of SBC, the company that bought AT&T and took over its name. The trade publication Telephony wrote when Daley was hired that SBC had "lousy relationships with many state regulators and little Democratic support in Congress" and that Daley was "expected to solve both problems."³ Or as a reporter who covered the industry said at the time, he was hired to "grease the skids with regulators and politicians."⁴ This is hardly what you'd want on the resume of a government official who will weigh in on the deal.

Tell the White House Chief of Staff: Recuse yourself from all discussions of potential FCC and/or Department of Justice actions regarding the AT&T / T-Mobile merger. Click here and your name will be automatically added to the petition.

If that's not enough, Daley is known as a "dear friend" of current AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson who served with him as COO at SBC during Daley's tenure as president.⁵ And finally, Daley was also previously a top executive at JP Morgan, the bailed out bank that is lending AT&T the $20 billion it needs to complete the merger.⁶

In fact, owing to his history with JP Morgan, Daley was asked to recuse himself from the selection process for the new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He has already said he will refrain from working on that issue⁷ and he should do the same here.

Whom the president supports — consumers or AT&T — will make or break this deal which must first be reviewed by Obama's Department of Justice and then approved by his FCC. And as Obama's chief of staff, Daley can wield extraordinary influence in both processes.

Tell Bill Daley: "AT&T's man in the White House" should not be allowed to influence anti-trust or regulatory decisionmaking regarding the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Click here and add your name automatically.

AT&T, which bitterly opposed net neutrality⁸ and succeeded in convincing the FCC to refrain from banning discrimination on the wireless web, would have even more control over the wireless Internet should the merger go through. The company has a long history of blocking competing services — like Skype, Google Voice and Slingbox. And has in the past simply crippled mobile phones that can do more than what the company wants to allow its customers to do on the wireless Web.⁹

President Obama has a history of caving to the major telecom companies — supporting retroactive immunity for telecom companies who illegally spied on Americans, invoking state secrets to defend telecom companies against law suits on illegal practices, and failing to support strong net neutrality regulations at the FCC. It's up to us to raise our voices and stop the administration from rubberstamping this terrible deal.

We will fight this at the Department of Justice and at the FCC. But first we need to ensure that we are not defeated by "AT&T's man in the White House" before we have even begun to fight.

Thank you for working for a better world.

Becky Bond, Political Director
CREDO Action

⁽¹⁾ Obama chooses Daley as chief of staff

⁽²⁾ AT&T's Man in the White House, Huffington Post, January 8, 2011

⁽³⁾ "Bill Daley's Seediest Exploit"

⁽⁴⁾ "Is It Fair to Call Bill Daley a Lobbyist? Well Actually, It Is"

⁽⁵⁾ AT&T'S DC friend 

⁽⁶⁾ Obama Said to Consider William Daley for Top Post, Possibly Chief of Staff
⁽⁷⁾ Daley removes self from search for consumer protection head. 

⁽⁸⁾ AT&T ramps up lobbying effort against net neutrality at FCC 

⁽⁹⁾ Five Things Wrong with AT&T's Mega-Merger.