Fascinating dynamic at this hearing on antitrust and big tech. You got three Brandeisians testifying, two moderate Dems, two big tech libertarians, and anti-monopoly conservative @rachelbovard.
Ugh, @Jim_Jordan is such a dumb blowhard. In a serious hearing about monopoly power he's continuing to allege that big tech promotes progressives and censors conservatives. Then goes after Dems for trying to "radically rewrite antitrust laws."
Every single Republican on this subcommittee is serious except @Jim_Jordan. Some of the Rs don't want to change the laws, some do. But no one is a clown like Jordan and his clown staffer Tyler Grimm.
Obama Antitrust chief Bill Baer is saying that antitrust law went dark for 25 years, and blames the Chicago School. That's not what he was saying in 2016 when he was in charge.
"From oilfield services—our most recent success—tax prep, online ratings, cable/internet, canned tuna, cooking appliances, cell phones, equipment for next-generation semiconductors, to monopolization of airport slots, we have done our job." - Bill Baer justice.gov/opa/speech/act…
1. There are four parts to the Democratic Party, and only one matters right now. There are media Dems, policy Dems, donor Dems, and regular Democrats. Only the regulator Democrats matter. Who are they? They are the electeds, unions, black preachers - those who deal with voters.
2. Each has their role. Media Dems communicate the message. That's the NYT and Washington Post, MSNBC, black radio, etc. Most deny they are partisan but sure Jan and all that. They want Biden to step down.
3. Policy Dems think about governing. That's progressive think tanks, law firms, corporate lobbyists. Donor Dems think about money and access. That's everyone from billionaires in Silicon Valley to 'ladies who lunch.'
1. Let's talk economic termites, the companies you don't notice, but behind the scenes overcharge you in ways you don't see. Today we're going over CDK Global, a software company that raises the price of cars. thebignewsletter.com/p/economic-ter…
2. CDK Software is business software for auto dealers, managing service, parts and inventory, vehicle financing, accounting, payroll, insurance information, customer information, etc. 15,000 auto dealers use it nationwide. thebignewsletter.com/p/a-supreme-co…
3. Though it's business software, the price gets added to the cost of your car. A small dealership pays $150,000 per year, mid-size dealership groups (5 to 10 stores) pays $1,500,000 or more per year, and large dealerships pays $5,000,000 per year. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco…
"It is perhaps immoral to repossess a prosthetic limb but it's not the state's role to prohibit a private equity fund from doing so." - former Senator Pat Toomey, probably
The spread of Walmart in the 1980s shattered Southern politics, that’s *purely* a trade and antitrust story. The civil rights movement is not why the South went to the right.
Also West Virginia was never Republican. The story of civil rights delivering the south to the right makes no sense!
The myth of modern liberalism is rooted in southerners being racist instead of Jimmy Carter and Ted Kennedy deregulating airlines and trucking to crush labor. It’s just rich kid story time.
Obviously civil rights broke the Jim Crow machines and that put the South in play for a whole suite of new interests, and flipped a bunch of whites to the GOP. But that just made the region competitive.
Can we admit Obamacare was a disaster and Obama was a bad President yet? Or are we still pretending that Biden is the problem because he’s not cool? time.com/6279937/us-hea…
If the Rs has an alternative beyond ‘feed sick people into a woodchipper’ they would have implemented it already.