From Emily Birnbaum's "Biden Team to Push ‘Ambitious’ Antitrust Crackdown on Big Tech in Congress" posted Friday on the Bloomberg:
The White House is planning a post-midterms push for antitrust legislation that would rein in the power of the world’s largest tech companies, a last-ditch effort to get a stalled pair of bills through Congress before a predicted Republican takeover in January.
“We are very committed to moving ambitious legislation in this area,” Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, said in a phone interview.
The lame-duck period after Tuesday’s US election may be the last shot to pass the landmark legislation, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act and Open App Markets Act. The bills, which would prevent the tech companies from using their platforms to thwart competitors, would be the most significant expansion of antitrust law in over a century.
Even before the reinvigorated effort, tech companies have been grappling with economic uncertainty that has prompted them to freeze hiring and even cut entire departments. Shares of Amazon Inc. and Alphabet Inc. have fallen more than 40% this year, while Apple Inc.’s have fallen 23%. Meta Platforms Inc., meanwhile, lost about three-quarters of its value.
Republicans have made it clear that they won’t support the bills if they retake control of either chamber of Congress. That has supporters urging the White House to mount a push in the final weeks before a new Congress is seated early next year.
My take: Throwing Klobuchar a lame-duck life line. May be too late.
It’s telling (and not in a good way) this bill is about “who gets the money” rather than about “who gets the data.” The US needs something like Europe’s GDPR.
Considering the razor-thin “majority”, it’s pretty impressive that they accomplished as much as they did.
And while I think Apple should be taken out of that bill, I also think the others definitely need some wing-clipping done.
But let’s just agree to disagree and steer clear of politics.
Hate to disagree, but…
From “What Joe Biden Has (and Hasn’t) Accomplished”, posted Monday by The Atlantic:
The signing of just three enormous bills—the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, the roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law, and this summer’s climate-and-health spending bill—made Biden’s first two years among the most productive of any president in the past half century. The initial pandemic bill, also known as the American Rescue Plan, was about the size of Barack Obama’s two biggest legislative achievements—his initial economic stimulus package and the 2010 Affordable Care Act—combined. The legislation sent $1,400 checks to Americans across the country, nearly doubled the child tax credit, shored up state budget accounts, and funded testing, treatment, and vaccines to fight the pandemic. The politically named Inflation Reduction Act is actually the largest climate bill in U.S. history and allows Medicare to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs for the first time.
Beyond those headline bills, Biden more quietly amassed a bevy of smaller legislative wins, often with bipartisan support. A modest gun-safety bill expanded background checks (although not universally), made it easier to prosecute illegal gun trafficking, and provided federal funding for so-called red-flag laws. Congress also passed the CHIPS Act to boost domestic production of semiconductors, a long-stalled postal-reform bill, substantial military aid for Ukraine, and a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act—all with fairly broad support from both parties. Biden’s executive actions on student-loan forgiveness and pardons for marijuana possession answered a pair of progressive demands.
Large companies are allowed to use their size and spending power to negotiate favorable terms. Why shouldn’t the American government be able to do the same to benefit their citizens?
Those are valid points, but it’s relatively rare (thank goodness) that one party has effective control of all the legislative branches and IMO the Democrats should have been more prepared for their opportunity. It took far too long to pass the three bills you mentioned, and ended up as major distractions from the rest of the “important legislative bills” the Democrats promised to address.
IMO, when back to a more normal economy and balanced oil and energy production, the good Senator may need to create newer, cleaner, healthier, and better jobs making solar panels, semiconductors, iPhone Assembly plants, etc. But that also means a better educated and capable workforce and labor pool, so education and training / retraining is concurrently important. Assuming that’s what his state wants, which is not necessarily a given? My 0.02.
I think Republican push back at this stage of the election cycle has everything to do with a desire to gain numerical control of Congress, and not Biden’s legislative agenda. After the election, should the Republicans succeed in wresting control from the Democrats, I see Republicans re-introduce some Democrat initiatives as their own, and adding some not supported by Democrats.
First mistake is thinking big tech is one thing. Second is the confusion between power and abusive of power (data being the empowering force.) There’s plenty more they don’t understand.
“Russian Oligarch Yevgeny Prigozhin said Russia interfered in past U.S. elections, and said it continues to interfere in U.S. politics.”
Anyone who doesn’t agree media manipulation is rife in this country either has their head buried in the sand or has an ulterior motive for denying it.
Reason enough for going after some Big Tech.
Nobody, on either side of the aisle, wants this enough to expend political capital to see their particular vision through.