“It would adversely affect the dynamism of the open Internet, dragging down our economy and diminishing the responsiveness of our government in the process. It represents an all-out assault on internet and pay-TV customers’ pocketbooks and reduces competition in these vital sectors. “

There is little doubt where the 18 interest groups who issued a news release with the above excerpt stand on the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger. The coalition urged both presidential candidates to oppose the union and “growing monopoly power in America.” Former FCC Commissioner and Common Cause special adviser Michael Copps released an accompanying missive saying, “That such a farce would be allowed after all of the democracy-busting media consolidation that has been visited upon us is mind-boggling. Where are the guts to just say no?”