If you have money in a cable company or phone company with big cable operations, you may want to consider getting out now. By all measures, the new man of the people may have his sites set on the biggest rip-off in today’s consumer market.

Since 1996, cable prices have surged 77% - double the rate of inflation. And it’s hard to believe that the Obama administration is going to let further price gouging go unpunished.

The FCC is already conducting a probe into shady price hikes around the impending mandatory switch to digital signals on Feb 17th. The investigation is sparked by complaints of higher prices and fewer channels.

The FCC sent letters to Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bend Cable Communications, Brighthouse Networks, Cablevision, Charter Communications, Cox Communications, GCI, Harron Entertainment, RCN and Suddenlink Communications.

In a way, the timing couldn’t be worse for the cable industry….

There’s a groundswell of opposition to cable operators now, especially since the shrinking economy keeps many families under house arrest. Less money and fewer entertainment options is surely enough to make any red-blooded American climb the walls.

Last month, the Consumers Union wrote lawmakers questioning whether cable companies were “reaching into the pockets of their subscribers” as means of boosting earnings.

Hmmm….

The FCC has also opened an investigation into the pricing policies of Verizon. In what seems to be a punch line to a bad joke, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin told with The Associated Press recently that the agency wants to ensure that customers are being treated fairly.

While Obama’s potential squeeze on cable operators could come under the auspices of the working man’s hero, there’s another reality behind the scenes.

Obama has benefitted mightily from Hollywood largess.

Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen threw Obama’s first big-time Hollywood fund-raiser that pulled in an estimated in $1.3 million. The $2,300-per-person cocktail reception was reportedly attended by Eddie Murphy, Ron Howard, Morgan Freeman, Jackson Browne, Jennifer Aniston, and Ben Stiller along with a roster of A-list producers.

That event was followed by a private dinner at Geffen’s home, which raised about $46,000.

With that in mind, the Hollywood studios that produce television series have been in a running feud with cable companies over royalties and exclusive content connected to the retransmission of analog programming with local stations.

The stakes are high for Hollywood. In 2004, the studios generated $3.9 billion from licensing their works to the local broadcast networks, many of which are also owned by the same parent companies as the studios themselves. The $3.9 billion is a relatively small portion of what Hollywood nets overall from the licensing of their properties. Still, it’s a nice amount of cash to bring in.

At this point, Obama certainly has a lot on his plate as he takes a seat in the oval office. Fixing the economy has to be his number-one priority. Part of that will include diverting more disposable income to ordinary Americans.