Drought relief gets political… and cable companies want to get together

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MixerBannerPresident Obama spent a few hours in California’s Central Valley today, where he announced drought aid for farmers, food banks and rural communities. After landing in Fresno this afternoon, the president held what the White House called “a roundtable with community leaders.”

The president’s visit comes on the heels of $173 million his administration announced for California drought relief. ($100 million for livestock; $60 million for food banks)

Obama visited Fresno, and toured a farm in Los Banos. He was accompanied by Governor Jerry Brown and U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer.

Joining us with more is Sasha Khokha, Central Valley Bureau Chief for The California Report at KQED/San Francisco.

This week, cable giant Comcast announced it had agreed to buy Time Warner Cable for $45 billion. It’s a deal that would combine the top two cable TV companies in the nation.

It’s also a deal that boardroom-slapped Charter Communications.

If the federal government approves the deal, what would that mean for customers?

The deal has numerous repercussions not only for cable , but internet bandwidth as well.

Joe Flint reports for the LA Times and has been covering this story.