Donald Trump Keeps Taking Credit For Tech Sector Jobs He Had Absolutely Nothing To Do With
from the taking-credit-for-the-sunrise dept
Last week, buried under the fracas surrounding the failed update to the Affordable Care Act, the Trump administration conducted an adorable little stage play few actually noticed. The Administration invited Charter CEO Tom Rutledge to the Oval Office, where the CEO -- alongside Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, repeatedly implied that Trump's policies were somehow to thank for the creation of 20,000 jobs and $25 billion in investment at the cable giant. Press Secretary Sean Spicer was quick to applaud the "new" jobs on Twitter.
At the same time Charter issued a statement expressing "confidence in the deregulatory policies of the Administration," the President's office rushed to release a video patting itself on the back for the "landmark deal":
Today, I was thrilled to announce a commitment of $25 BILLION & 20K AMERICAN JOBS over the next 4 years. THANK YOU Charter Communications! pic.twitter.com/PLxUmXVl0h
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 24, 2017
The FCC also quickly issued a statement by new FCC boss Ajit Pai in which he claimed FCC policies were to thank for the jobs:
I’m pleased to see that our investment-friendly policies, along with the Administration’s overall regulatory approach, are already producing results.
And Pai Chief of Staff Matthew Berry also lent a hand to help the FCC pat itself on the back for a job well done:
Charter announces $25 billion broadband investment over next 4 yrs. New reg approach from FCC and Administration already producing results.
— Matthew Berry (@matthewberryfcc) March 24, 2017
The problem: neither the job creation nor the investment promises are new. And neither Donald Trump nor the FCC had absolutely anything to do with them.
The 20,000 jobs in question were actually announced more than a year ago by Charter. The jobs, purportedly to be created by eliminating off-shored labor, were part of the sales pitch for its massive, $79 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. Like most megamerger promises, there was no real timeline affixed to the jobs, which may or may not ever actually get created. Job losses are far more common in such M&As due to the elimination of redundant positions, but holding companies accountable for false merger promises simply isn't fashionable for either major political party.
The $25 billion investment (to be made over four years) isn't new either. In fact, if you look at Charter SEC filings (page 221) from August 18, 2015, you'll note that the $25 billion is in line with what Charter pretty consistently spends over any four-year span. Some journalists on Twitter were also quick to point out that the $25 billion is actually down a bit from what Charter would have normally spent during the same period (ironic for a company that whined about net neutrality's impact on investment):
@TonyRomm Charter spent $7.5bn (pro forma) on capex in 2016. $7.5bn x 4 = $30bn. So $25bn is actually lower than historic rate
— Jan Dawson (@jandawson) March 24, 2017
Granted, taking credit for jobs and investment he had nothing to do with has sort of become Trump's MO in his first few months in office. Sprint owner Softbank has also been letting the President take credit for job creation and investment he had nothing to do with in order to curry regulatory approval of a pending T-Moble, Sprint merger. Charter, which is rumored to be considering a possible megamerger with Verizon or T-Mobile, clearly hopes that buttering Trump up will pave the way for its own M&As.
It's a win for the companies and the administration alike: companies get to get their names in bright lights as job creators (whether it's true or not doesn't matter), and Trump gets more credit with a base that derides any contradictory evidence as fake news. The real losers remain American consumers. The deal, approved under the Obama administration, has already resulted in higher rates and even worse customer support than ever -- no small feat for an industry already ranked last in terms of customer satisfaction and support. Synergies, indeed.
Just so we're clear: the previous administration approved a deal that has already proven horrible for consumers; and the current administration is falsely taking credit for the stale and bogus job creation claims used to prop that bad deal up.
There's additional irony in that Trump ran his election based on killing megamergers of this type, promising to not only block AT&T's proposed acquisition of Time Warner, but to break up Comcast's already completed 2011 acquisition of NBC Universal. Most analysts expect neither to happen. In fact, the most likely outcome is that Trump and AT&T (the king of bogus telecom merger claims) will use the Time Warner deal to create a supernova of bogus job and investment promises the likes we've never seen before.
And while that's bad news for consumers, if you're the type that likes it when governments and companies use flimsy promises and half-cooked data to prop up bad tech policy and hollow partisan rhetoric -- you may soon find yourself in hog heaven.
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Filed Under: ajit pai, donald trump, fcc, jobs
Companies: charter
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The explanation is simple
Because he can never be wrong, he is unable to ever admit a mistake. Therefore, once he takes a position he sticks with it. If it was right, it is because he is brilliant. If it was wrong, then later, he was always for the other position all along. And this is demonstrable fact.
Anything that goes right during his administration is due to his inherent greatness. It doesn't matter if it began before or was planned before he came into power. Even that prior planning is a manifestation of Trump's greater glory and superiority to all others. Anything that goes wrong is someone else's fault. Some imagined enemy. The previous administration. Or something.
Now many politicians of any political view exhibit some of this to varying degrees. But Trump takes it to a cartoonish new level.
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Re: The explanation is simple
Sure, it'll probably be one of those deep, eerie ones that slowly builds to a blood-curdling maniacal scream. But it'll still be a laugh!
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Re: Re: The explanation is simple
Haha!!!
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Re: Re: Re: The explanation is simple
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they all do it
... thanks for the news flash -- nobody would have expected this kind of stuff from Trump or any other politician
all previous Presidents strictly avoided taking any credit for positive stuff that they had nothing to do with.
>>> Trump is absolutely unique in this regard !
it's not like you're piling on Trump in particular, while totally ignoring the normal, age old culture of corrupt retail politics ?
I don't like Trump, but he's just doing what they all do -- look at the big picture and get past this petty media Trump bashing
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Re: they all do it
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Re: they all do it
and Obama enthusiastically accepted the Nobel Prize for his personal world class success bringing peace on earth
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Re: Re: they all do it
...something that he never claimed, but thanks for exposing the myths you believe in.
"Obama enthusiastically accepted the Nobel Prize"
Yes, a private organisation voted to award him a prize without his involvement in the selection process. Are you trying to say he was involved in it being awarded to him, or are you saying the he's somehow as dishonest as the guy lying about his own accomplishments because he accepted an unsolicited gift?
If these two things are even remotely similar in your mind, try and reside in the real world more.
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Re: they all do it
I don't like Trump, but-
Uh-huh.
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Re: Re: they all do it
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Ah the lemming defense...
'They all do it' is as valid as 'But all the cool kids are doing it' when it comes to justification and defense of an act.
Just because past politicians have done it doesn't make it any better when the current president does it. Just because politicians or even presidents in the past may have gotten a pass when they lied about how involved they were in new jobs and/or money coming in to the country does not mean the current politicians or even presidents should get a pass.
'They all do it, so what's the big deal?' is no different than saying 'They all do it, and I don't see a problem with that'. If you want a problem to stop admitting that it is a problem and calling out those that engage in it are the first, most basic steps. Brushing it aside as 'nothing new' just ensures that it will continue to happen.
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Re: Ah the lemming defense...
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Re: Ah the lemming defense...
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Re: they all do it
He makes it so easy. And remember, he was going to be different. He was going to drain the swamp and Make Merika Great Again.
Are we great yet?
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Re: Re: they all do it
Remember, EVERY President quotes InfoWars and neo-Nazi web sites to make the same claims. The practice is as old as the hills.
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A telco merger that ends up creating jobs?
Yeah, I'll believe that fucking bullshit when I actually see it.
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Re:
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news flash
and so did Obama,
also Bush,
oh and Clinton...
I am starting to sense a pattern here.
Politicians lying about things they accomplished... yep... definitely a pattern!
Where is my recognition for seeing this shit coming before you even wrote the article? Of course I want credit!
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Re: news flash
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Re: news flash
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This is news?
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Re:
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Re:
Until the next one, which will be worse.
They only go downhill from here.
I thought it couldn't get worse then George W Bush. Now I would be happy to have him back.
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Everyone had a laugh at the stories about people calling Obamacare utter shit & how the Republicans had to fix it with the ACA. Because they called it Obamacare for so long people think it is different than the ACA. When you tell them they are the same thing they start looking for ways to pretend it doesn't matter.
Trump claims to have created all of these jobs & money.
Media calls him out and his base, primed with the mantra of fake news, just assume it is a hit piece and wrap themselves tighter in the Trump delusion.
His supporters think the country is doing much better while ignoring anything that challenges that view as being fake.
This really is approaching the levels of the meme where the cartoon shows the titanic, someone screaming iceberg dead ahead, and the other people screaming fake news.
I think we should keep calling this BS out, but the biggest thing we need to work towards is breaking the imaginary story that Trump always tells the truth & to disagree is fake news.
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Re:
Eventually, they'll get the message. The most die hard will claim the footage has been doctored or something, but eh, you can't win em all. At least this approach will eventually free many of them from their delusion.
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Re:
You fake newsers would certainly like that. But that's a Red Herring. Nobody said Trump always tells the truth, but he doesn't lie. He tells you how he thinks it is. And that's huge, larger than life. The truth, in contrast, is just as large as life. And that doesn't cut it. We need visions. Who is going to give America its march orders if not the March Hare?
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Re: Re:
You can think 2+2=5 all you want but you're still a fucking idiot.
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Right, Trump. Not politics as usual. Because Trump.
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Re:
"Granted, taking credit for jobs and investment he had nothing to do with has sort of become Trump's MO in his first few months in office."
Oh well.
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Simplify it
* This deal creates more jobs, which means you'll get re-hired instead of those illegal immigrants.
* The deal with Charter will result in a capex of $30B annualized over the 10 years which will mean raising bills 5% over the same time.
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Re: Simplify it
The one that's not true, obviously. Trump promised jobs to coal miners, Clinton explained that those jobs are gone forever due to market forces and promised to help them find new jobs. People voted for the simple, nice-sounding fiction. Which is why there's so many problems looming.
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https://youtu.be/xSVqLHghLpw?t=13
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