ATR Op–Ed in The Hill: “Democrats scramble for antitrust momentum as time runs out”
On May 18, ATR Federal Affairs Manager Tom Hebert wrote an op-ed in The Hill. The op-ed details the fractured Democratic effort to rush sweeping antitrust reform through Congress.
The reality of the current political landscape contrasts significantly from the false narrative that Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) is presenting regarding the momentum for such a radical antitrust effort, which Hebert details:
In an interview last week with Axios, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said that the momentum for sweeping antitrust “reform” is on her side and once again called for abolishing the filibuster in order to pass her progressive agenda. In reality, Jayapal’s legislative package is dying on the vine and nowhere close to being ready for a floor vote.
A similar case exists in the Senate, where Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is struggling to convince the Senate to pass her own radical antitrust legislation, the American Choice and Innovation Online Act, despite her public expressions of confidence. Hebert explores this parallel situation:
In January, the Senate Judiciary Committee marked up the “American Choice and Innovation Online” Act, legislation that would ban targeted companies from promoting or selling private-label goods alongside the name brands. Senators offered a staggering 117 amendments to the Klobuchar bill, a fairly clear indication that a lot of work on the bill remains to be done. Even though Klobuchar has publicly stated that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) promised to bring these antitrust bills to the floor, Schumer’s office has told advocates that he is only willing to call up legislation that can get 60 Senate votes.
These bills contain radical attempts to transform antitrust law, which, as Hebert explains, make them particularly difficult for conservatives to support:
All of the bills create an unprecedented “covered platform” designation that targets a select few companies based on market capitalization and monthly users, opening the door to rampant crony capitalism. Most bills set the designation at $600 billion in market cap and 50 million monthly users, but lawmakers have shown a willingness to tweak the designation to exempt their preferred companies. If a business practice is bad, it should be illegal for every business, not just businesses with high stock prices.
These bills address these progressive priorities, without tackling any actual conservative concerns with Big Tech, such as conservative censorship. Hebert concludes by summarizing the failing nature of this current leftist antitrust effort and suggesting that congressional priorities shift towards dealing with more urgent issues for American families:
All of the bills create an unprecedented “covered platform” designation that targets a select few companies based on market capitalization and monthly users, opening the door to rampant crony capitalism. Most bills set the designation at $600 billion in market cap and 50 million monthly users, but lawmakers have shown a willingness to tweak the designation to exempt their preferred companies. If a business practice is bad, it should be illegal for every business, not just businesses with high stock prices.
Click here to read the full op-ed.