Initially lawmakers were going to get 10 minutes at a time to question Bezos, Zuckerberg and the other CEOs. Now they'll just get 5 minutes. The CEOs will get saved by the bell repeatedly. prospect.org/power/big-tech…
Now there will be unlimited rounds of questioning, and @RepCicilline will get as many questions as he wants at the end. So tech reporters - THAT'S THE PART TO WATCH. Don't write your stories early. prospect.org/power/big-tech…
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NEW: Frank Bisignano, Trump's nominee to run the Social Security Administration, is CEO of an oligopoly for back-office banking services, buoyed by at least 40 acquisitions in the last 34 years. SSA could be his latest conquest. 🧵
Fiserv is one of three "core providers" that provide back-office support to 72 percent of all banks and nearly half of all credit unions. Smaller banks have routinely complained about complex, expensive long-term contracts and substandard services. prospect.org/health/2025-03…
Though Republicans marveled at Bisignano as a savior who could use his skills as “a leader in payments and financial technology,” what Fiserv does has nothing to do with what SSA needs, said one expert: prospect.org/health/2025-03…
NEW from me: The Trump administration will likely change the Biden-passed broadband buildout so Elon Musk's Starlink can get more of the $42.5 billion pie. But there's another way to hand Starlink critical infrastructure for its business: through government spectrum sales. 🧵
Currently the FCC isn't authorized to conduct spectrum auctions. Some Republicans want to reauthorize but also accelerate auctions & dictate what spectrum should be sold. This is an accounting gimmick to "raise" money to offset the tax cuts, by pulling spectrum revenue forward.
Defense hawks hate this because they want to reserve spectrum for military communications. But the Trump administration appears ready to sell off spectrum. And at the same time, the wireless industry is campaigning to get the most lucrative frequencies:
I got a message last week from the White House. They pitched a new writer for us: Joe Biden. Today, @TheProspect is publishing the 46th president explaining his economic agenda: what he accomplished and why he did it.
See below for details.
The president writes that he wanted to reverse the failed approach of trickle-down economics, the offshoring of jobs, the high cost of things like prescription drugs. Here's what he sought to do instead: prospect.org/economy/2024-1…
He divides the essay into 3 sections: investing in the future through infrastructure spending and industrial policy, supporting workers and unions, and promoting competition and small business. He closes by saying America is stronger from these policies. prospect.org/economy/2024-1…
tl;dr: Lina Khan is successful at working legal levers of power to uphold the law, and as conservatives we hate that oversight.house.gov/wp-content/upl…
This alleged rampant illegality starts with pro-monopoly conservatives grousing that Khan was appointed to a White House council. Can you imagine!
Then, get this, the chair of the agency responsible for merger challenges issued guidelines for merger challenges, as has been done by practically every FTC chair in history. The scoundrel!
And she CHANGED. A. FORM. (The form changes got a 5-0 commission vote)
We are rolling out a special issue today. It's about the states. We're calling it the Cold Civil War. And I want to explain why we did it. 1/ prospect.org/politics/2024-…
We've noticed two major trends over the past few years. One is that, while Trump led a shadow government in his mind, the locus of power in the conservative movement is really at the state level, where all the ideological extremism has come from.
As a result, state policy has really diverged, on abortion and guns and LGBT issues, but also on the welfare state, on paid leave, on the minimum wage, and a host of other issues. This is part of a 30-year cycle. prospect.org/politics/2024-…
Financial advisers went to court and blocked a rule that they have to act in the best interest of their clients. They sued to steal your retirement money, and won.
The rule in question has a 15-year history. It starts in 2009 with one public servant in the Department of Labor named Phyllis Borzi. It took her the entire 2 terms of the Obama administration, through sheer will, to get the rule done.
The 5th Circuit then blocked it in 2018.
Fast forward through Trump to the Biden administration. Borzi retired but others took it up. It took nearly the entire first term this time to finalize it.
Two district courts in Texas then blocked it a week ago.