There’s no question that the proposed merger is facing an uphill battle in Washington, but I don’ t think that Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirius, helps the situation when he basically concedes that his company, and XM, are subject to regulation for the “good of the public”:

[A]s [Karmazin] tried to sell the proposed deal to Washington, he also acknowledged the major challenges he faced in persuading policy makers that it would not be anticompetitive. He made it clear that he was willing to embark on the same kind of deal- making with the regulators that has been a hallmark of his career as a broadcast executive.

“We’re prepared to make concessions, and we’re willing to work with the F.C.C. on doing it,” he said, speaking about the discussions the two companies will have with regulators at the Justice Department’s antitrust division and the Federal Communications Commission.

When a Republican lawmaker, Representative Ric Keller of Florida, pressed Mr. Karmazin over whether the company would agree to price controls, Mr. Karmazin said yes, adding, “We believe we need to show you this is in the public interest and price is important.”

“We should be held accountable for everything we say,” he told another Republican lawmaker, Representative J. Randy Forbes of Virginia, in response to a question about how to enforce the commitments Mr. Karmazin was making for more programming and better services at lower prices.

“I’ll leave it to the regulators,” he added. “This isn’t about ‘Trust me.’ We should be able to be accountable.”

Held accountable for what ? Why are you conceding that the FCC, or any other government agency, would have the right to set the prices at which you offer your serivces, or what services you offer ? Doesn’t Karmazin realize that this could just as easily happen in an environment where the merger does not go through and we’re left with “only” two satellite radio companies ?

Consider this exchange for example:

Representative F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., the Wisconsin Republican who until this year had headed the Judiciary Committee, said Mr. Karmazin’s proposal reminded him of “an old regulated gas company” or some other highly regulated utility with rates set by the government.

“I don’t think that’s the policy we want to promote,” Mr. Sensenbrenner said.

“What you said is so far from the truth,” Mr. Karmazin replied.

“But you are a monopoly,” Mr. Sensenbrenner said.

“We are absolutely not a monopoly,” Mr. Karmazin responded.

And this is coming from a Republicans. Imagine what the Democrats in charge now would do if given a free hand to regulate this new technology.

I realize that Karmazin is fighting an uphill battle and doing whatever he can to get a merger plan that is really designed from preventing these two companies from collapsing approved. I just wish there were more Hank Reardon’s in the world, and few James Taggert’s.