FCC nominee Wheeler is more wonk than water-carrier

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"Competition is a power unto itself that must be encouraged. Competitive markets produce better outcomes than regulated or uncompetitive markets." That's a platitude that could easily have been uttered in the late 1990s, when financial markets were being deregulated. Or during the 1970s, when the airlines were being deregulated. But it was uttered on June 18, by Tom Wheeler, President Obama's nominee as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Not that the statement is entirely wrong, of course. But it's understandable that some people will be a bit concerned when it's spoken by a guy who, during the same Senate Commerce Committee hearing on his nomination, cited his experience as a lobbyist for some of the industries he'll soon be charged with regulating as a reason he'll be a great chairman. And it's understandable that people will be that much more concerned about the fact that Wheeler was a top bundler for both of Obama's presidential campaigns, raising about $700,000 in total. Wheeler's actual view on regulation seem to be a lot more nuanced than his statement would suggest. At another point in his testimony, he characterized his view of regulation as "protecting competition with appropriate oversight to see that it flourishes."


FCC nominee Wheeler is more wonk than water-carrier