January, 26 2021, 11:00pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
David Rosen, drosen@citizen.org, (202) 588-7742
Robyn Shapiro, rshapiro@economicliberties.us, 201-819-2526
Key Senate Committees Should Reject Antitrust Enforcement Nominees with Ties to Big Tech
WASHINGTON
Senate committees with jurisdiction over antitrust enforcement should reject Big Tech executives, lobbyists, lawyers, and consultants who are nominated for senior antitrust enforcement roles in the Biden administration, Public Citizen, the American Economic Liberties Project and 22 other groups said in a letter sent today (PDF) to U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
"We believe that eliminating the decades-old revolving door between Silicon Valley and our antitrust agencies will not only help deliver just outcomes to American workers, consumers, and businesses, but help restore trust in the integrity of government," the letter reads.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently joined a group of state attorneys general in filing an historic antitrust suit against Google, and bipartisan groups of states have filed two additional suits. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) also filed an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook in late 2020, and the same day a coalition of state attorneys general filed their own Facebook antitrust lawsuit. Both agencies reportedly are investigating Amazon and Apple as well.
Top appointees to the DOJ or FTC with ties to Big Tech would have to recuse themselves from these resource-intensive, high-profile suits, and would jeopardize the historic bipartisan state-level efforts currently underway.
"We can't risk losing ground by appointing sympathetic enforcers," the letter notes.
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google are widely understood to wield monopoly power in ways that harm consumers, workers, independent businesses, and democracy itself. Recent polling by the Pew Research Center shows that nearly half of Americans want to see the government step in and regulate Big Tech. And additional polling by Data for Progress and the American Economic Liberties Project found that substantial majorities of Americans did not want the Biden administration to appoint individuals who had worked on behalf of Big Tech while these investigations and court cases are pending.
The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America's system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.
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Youth Organizers Launch 'Protect Our Power' Campaign to Reelect the Squad
House progressive "have shifted the political narrative to center young people's leadership on the most pressing issues of our generation—from climate justice, labor rights, and abortion access, to anti-war foreign policy."
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A coalition of youth organizers this week launched the "Protect Our Power" campaign to help reelect progressives in Congress who are under attack from pro-Israel lobbyists for their criticism of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault of the Gaza Strip.
"We are among the leaders of the most diverse and progressive generation in U.S. history," says a fact sheet from organizers. "We've met each other on Zoom calls, college campuses, campaigns, rallies, and parties. Spanning across a range of organizations and movements, we're united by our generation's common fight for peace, justice, a livable world, and a multiracial democracy."
"Over the past few years, we've experimented with a diverse set of tactics to grow our power—our involvement in elections being one of them," the organizers noted. "Today, we not only occupy the streets but Congress itself. With just a handful of insurgent electeds known as 'The Squad,' we have forced our generation's priorities to the forefront of American politics and reinspired young people to be involved in the political process."
"We're united by our generation's common fight for peace, justice, a livable world, and a multiracial democracy."
The Squad began with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.)—younger progressive women of color all elected in 2018. The informal progressive group has since expanded to include Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Summer Lee (D-Pa.).
Young progressives in the U.S. House of Representatives recently dubbed "Squad-adjacent" by Slate's Alexander Sammon include Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), and Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.).
Tlaib—the only Palestinian American in Congress—and Bush led the first Gaza cease-fire resolution effort in Congress, just days after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, which has retaliated over the past six months by killing more than 33,000 Palestinians, injuring another 75,000, displacing most people in Gaza, and devastating civilian infrastructure.
While global condemnation of Israel grows—a genocide case against the country at the International Court of Justice continues to garner support—the dark money affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) plans to spend $100 million trying to unseat congressional critics of the Israeli government this election cycle.
Reporting on those plans led to the recent creation of Reject AIPAC, a coalition of progressive groups working to take on the group and its affiliated super political action committees (PACs). Members include Justice Democrats, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, IfNotNow, Working Families Party, Sunrise Movement, Democratic Socialists of America, and Gen-Z for Change.
Youth organizers from some of those same organizations are involved with the new Protect Our Power effort.
"The only thing that beats organized money is organized people," the young organizers argued. "Fortunately, that's what we know how to do best. Over the next few months, we'll build out a cohort of committed young leaders across the country and equip them with the training and tools to bring their own networks into this work."
"We'll work with these leaders to mobilize their networks to engage in a variety of tactics to defend the Squad," the organizers said. "For some groups, that might mean making texts, calls, and knocking on doors. For others, that could mean birddogging, targeted and disruptive demonstrations, oppo research, and much more. Then, once we win, we'll frame our victories as a governing mandate to shape the Democratic platform and agenda in the 2024 general election."
Before November, progressives targeted pro-Israel groups are working to win their primaries. In Pennsylvania, voters are set to head to the polls on April 23. Lee's primary challenger is Bhavini Patel, who is taking money from rich right-wingers; a previous challenger, Laurie MacDonald, is now running a write-in campaign as a Republican.
The New York primary elections are on June 25. Bowman faces an AIPAC-backed Westchester County Executive George Latimer—who last week was accused of "straight-up genocide denial" for his comments on the mass slaughter in Gaza.
Bush and Omar are both set to face locally prominent primary challengers in August.
Those four incumbents "and the rest of the Squad have shifted the political narrative to center young people's leadership on the most pressing issues of our generation—from climate justice, labor rights, and abortion access, to anti-war foreign policy," the Protect Our Power coalition said on social media Thursday.
"Help us reelect the Squad and guarantee that our allies in Congress can continue to represent young people across this country," the group added. "Join us this Sunday for our kickoff."
The coalition is made up of "over 100 youth organizers across issues, including students from 30+ universities," according to spokesperson John Paul Mejia. "We're defending the Squad and our generation's political power from right-wing, billionaire-funded organizations that want to silence us."
I am forever indebted to the squad for holding the line & making sure congress pass the biggest federal climate bill \u2600\ufe0f\n\nWe need their moral clarity & conviction in the Congress. I am excited to join 100+ youth organizers to @protectourpwr against the right wing super PACs\u270a\ud83c\udffc— (@)
Among the campaign's supporters is climate activist Magnolia Mead, who warned this week that "our movements can't afford to lose their critical voices in Congress. Now and in the coming months we have a chance to throw down and protect them."
Kavi Shrestha, an Oregon-based leader with College Democrats of America, similarly stressed that "our generation cannot stand by as right-wing billionaires and PACs attack the representatives who stand up for our interests—Medicare for All, a habitable planet, and an immediate cease-fire."
"While they have money," said Shrestha, "we have numbers."
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The chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, is facing scrutiny this week for pushing back against efforts incorporate climate risk in global financial rules.
"European central bankers have been advocating for the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to agree on requiring lenders to disclose their strategies for meeting green commitments," according to Bloomberg. "In closed-door meetings, U.S. officials have cited their narrow mandate and concerns that the Basel Committee was overstepping its purpose."
Powell said in a Wednesday speech that "policies to address climate change are the business of elected officials and those agencies that they have charged with this responsibility. The Fed has received no such charge. We do, however, have a narrow role that relates to our responsibilities as a bank supervisor."
The Federal Reserve blocked a proposal making climate risk a focus of financial rules that would require banks disclose their strategies for meeting green commitments. https://t.co/ey49Yl3uek
— Consumers' Research (@ConsumersFirst) April 5, 2024
Anne Perrault, senior climate finance policy counsel with Public Citizen, said Friday that "millions of consumers, communities, and financial institutions are at the brink of a financial disaster due to climate change."
"U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has described it as a significant concern for our economy and an existential threat—one that could create an uninhabitable world for our grandchildren and great grandchildren," she added. "If Yellen's dire warning doesn't prompt action by the Fed, what will?"
Powell had to be escorted out of a speech when climate protesters came to disrupt an event in October.
"We will remain alert to the risk that there will be pressure to expand [the Fed's] role over time. We are not, nor do we seek to be, climate policymakers," Powell said Wednesday.
Powell has framed the issue as a "partisan political fight." He said the Federal Reserve doesn't want to get involved in these debates.
"Jerome Powell's latest claim that acknowledgement of the clear relationship between climate change and financial stability would make the Fed a 'climate policymaker' is outrageous," said Revolving Door Project senior researcher Kenny Stancil. "When an ostrich buries its head in the sand, potential predators do not disappear. Likewise, Powell's ostrich-informed strategy, which waves away obvious climate-related financial risk, is doomed to fail."
"The Fed's decision to carry this intransigent posture to the international standard-setting stage is a disgraceful move that threatens a true global regulatory response to the ongoing crisis," Stancil added. "The bottom line is that the abdication of responsibility by the Fed would usher the banks right into a crisis that would be disastrous for the U.S. economy. There's no reason to wait until it's too late. The time is ripe for the Fed to step up and provide enforceable rules that would protect the public and ensure stability of the U.S. financial system."
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) have previously pushed for the Federal Reserve to get more involved in addressing climate-related financial risks.
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U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine on Friday became the latest centrist Democrat to display a shift in tone regarding the Biden administration's continued support for Israel—and despite months of intensifying demands from progressive lawmakers and the international community for President Joe Biden to push for a change in policy from Israel, the newly minted critics have appeared to have more success.
The Virginia Democrat, who serves on both the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees, cited the killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers this week in a lengthy statement in which he said Israel's "current approach is not working" and pushed back against the White House's opposition to an independent investigation into the attack.
"The United States should join in the call for an independent and international investigation into Monday's strike on World Central Kitchen volunteers, in which an American was killed," said Kaine. The senator also renewed his call for the administration to "prioritize the transfer of defensive weapons in all arms sales to Israel while withholding bombs and other offensive weapons that can kill and wound civilians and humanitarian aid workers."
Kaine's comments came a day after Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)—said to be Biden's closest ally in the Senate—told CNN that the U.S. is approaching a point at which it must consider placing conditions on military aid to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
"If [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu were to order the IDF into Rafah at scale... and make no provision for civilians or for humanitarian aid, I would vote to condition aid to Israel," Coons said, referring to the southern Gaza city where Israel has threatened to start a ground offensive and where 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are staying in shelters and makeshift tents. "I've never said that before, I've never been here before."
Late Thursday, Biden for the first time warned Netanyahu that the U.S. could condition military aid—of which the White House has provided billions of dollars in weapons since October in addition to nearly $4 billion annually—based on whether humanitarian aid is reaching Gazans, who have been starved by Israel's near-total blockade.
As Common Dreamsreported, Israeli officials approved the reopening of the Erez crossing between Israel and northern Gaza soon after the call.
Also this week, former George W. Bush administration official Richard Haass told MSNBC that Biden's previous warnings to Netanyahu about ensuring civilians are protected from strikes sound "empty" and demanded to know why the White House hasn't responded to Israel's push for settlement expansion in the West Bank as he questioned the level of aid the administration has provided.
"Why does Israel need 2,000-pound bombs to be used in high-density populated areas?" Haass asked, echoing progressive outrage over the administration's repeated weapons transfers even as the death toll in Gaza has surged past 33,000.
While progressives on Friday expressed some relief that Biden's shifting approach to Israel could soon result in more aid getting to Palestinians, Palestinian rights advocates mourned the fact that Israel's killing of more than 33,000 Palestinians, the orphaning of at least 17,000 children, the deaths from starvation of more than two dozen children, and the displacement of over 75% of Gaza's population did not push the president's allies to join progressives sooner.
"It may seem wrong that, after more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza have perished, it took the deaths of just seven international aid workers to stir Western governments into a sense of outrage, but that is the reality," read the opening lines of The Independent's leading editorial on Thursday.
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