David Cohen Must Not Have Seen “American Hustle”

In a recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer regarding Comcasts’s announced purchase of Time Warner Cable, Comcast Executive VP David Cohen made some interesting comments.

Defending the fact that Comcast employs a small army of lobbyists and contributes to political campaigns, he said that “It’s demeaning to elected officials to suggest that their support can be bought. There’s never any quid pro quo.” Officials, Cohen went on to say, “make all their decisions based on the merits.”

I’m a First Amendment guy, and Comcast has every right to contribute to campaigns with the understanding that they will be able to gain an audience for their positions. Nothing wrong with that.

But to say that there is never a quid pro quo in Washington? Abscam? Jack Abramoff? Just for starters.