Chairman Wheeler says being a lobbyist was easy—being FCC chairman was hard

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Tom Wheeler was sworn in to the Federal Communications Commission in November 2013, and he knew the industry well because he was a former lobbyist. From 1979 to 1984, he led the cable industry's top lobby group, and from 1992 to 2004 he was the chief lobbyist for the mobile phone industry. Looking back, Chairman Wheeler says it was easier being a lobbyist. "To make decisions that are in the common good is tough," Chairman Wheeler said. "Remember: I have been on the other side. Making demands that benefit a specific constituency is easy, as is attacking the decision-makers when you don't like that decision."

Chairman Wheeler said his greatest lesson from being chairman "is how malleable the definition of the public interest becomes when it comes to protecting self-interest. Good people would come into the office and explain that what benefited them was in the public interest, and those of an opposing view would argue that the public interest was only as they defined it." Chairman Wheeler said he concluded that "I needed to define the public interest as the common good. At a time when everyone is wrapping their self-interest in their definition of public interest, the question has to be what is the best way to serve the common interests of the most [people]."


Chairman Wheeler says being a lobbyist was easy—being FCC chairman was hard