The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice cleared the roughly $80 billion deal on Oct. 11, declaring that there were no competitive concerns and opting not to require the combined company to divest assets or make other concessions.

Of course this is the biggest sham of the entire process, since the entire reason why this merger is a bad idea IS the fact that it will reduce competition and consolidate power in the telecom monopolies. Prices will go up. Innovation will continue to be shackled. And if net neutrality gets the boot, then you'll also have this hegemony spreading into other industries.

It will be supremely interesting to see what the standout committee members actually get in the discussion. They seem to be pointing towards pricing and service concessions, which to me feels like a 'too little too late' compromise.

As usual, when it comes to politics, they are completely missing the point. Both of these organizations should be charged with manipulating the market, robbing the public, and committing shareholder fraud.

FCC splits on ATT-BellSouth terms; merger vote put off