A Pro-Merger Government

Amid all of the worries about whether the Fed will tighten or loosen, whether it's on our side or not, we keep finding other branches of our government living up to why we elected it: to support shareholders and to be a government for, by and of the corporation.

Today, it's the airlines. Can you imagine another time when Continental (CAL - commentary - Cramer's Take) would consider merging with UAL (UAUA - commentary - Cramer's Take) and we wouldn't even bother to ask about antitrust? These two domestic competitors have helped keep pricing down for years through vicious market-share battles that are all over losing money for shareholders and saving money for travelers. But here we are discussing a merger that can only make travel much more expensive, and it is not even a worry.

When we think about this bountiful period in stocks, we have to remember that this administration, despite all of its problems, has been so pro-stock market, so pro-capital, so anti-labor that you can bet this merger, among others, will only get a cursory review.

But beware. The Democrats are much more pro-consumer. While I fully expect the AT&T (T - commentary - Cramer's Take)-BellSouth (BLS - commentary - Cramer's Take) deal to go through shortly, the fact that it has been hung up at all is a sign of what the Democrats have up their sleeve.

Look for more mergers in the next 18 months, as companies try to beat a possible Democrat taking the White House. Then Continental would be afraid to even be in the same room as UAL, lest it be prosecuted for price-fixing!

At the time of publication, Cramer had no positions in any of the stocks mentioned.

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Jim Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for Action Alerts PLUS. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" weeknights on CNBC. Click here to order Cramer's latest book, "Mad Money: Watch TV, Get Rich," click here to order his book, "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get his second book, "You Got Screwed!" and click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column by clicking here.

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