Now the FCC Has Changed: A Merger Hindsight.

Well now the FCC has changed. Copps is interim Chairman and his(Democratic) lapdog, Adelstein, is pushing his name as permanent Chairman. These are the two "No" votes that were against the merger. Two of the "Yes" votes(Republicans) have resigned. If you look at the economy now, and no merger, XM by now would have gone bankrupt. They had the most debt, BUT, the most car contracts.
Sirius would have found it next to impossible to salvage XM's assets and all their auto contracts. Nobody, or banks, would have lent Sirius any money to acquire XMs' assets. Sirius would probably be teetering on BK as well, left in XMs' wake, and NAB and Clear Channel, etc. would have been dancing on the wreckage.
The fact of the matter, my fellow risk-taking Common shareholders,in hindsight this is still the best scenario compared to what would be with no merger. That was the only window for a merger, and to keep SiriusXM in the car radio. Combining the subscriber-count and cost redundacies were critical.
Mel had to do the toxic-financing post-merger. It was ugly, and I'm sure he saw the gathering storm, but we are still alive.
If its because Mel has skin in the game, so be it. Let Karmazin do what he is known to have done before- create a big radio company.
No one said it was gonna be easy! Peace out. -Saatradical(Independent)

I agree. He did what he had to do. I kinda like to think the whole Malone deal was Sirius axing XM, in exchange for financing. I do not think Sirius would have ever had such an offer without the whole piece of pie.

I see the acquisition of XM as an insurance policy. Mel just tapped the cash value; Sirius lives another day, and the company's strategic planning has time to be executed.

The merger was a decisive action that ensured the future viability of the company. Great work, Mel. And thank you for the cheap shares.

Look at the bigger picture folks. Proceed with caution. As for myself, I fully trust this management team.