In New Report, Data for Progress and the Revolving Door Project Show That The Departments of Commerce and Transportation Can Combat Inflation And The Supply Chain Crisis

Today, polling firm and think tank Data for Progress and the Center for Economic and Policy Research's Revolving Door Project released a new installment in their Corporate Crackdown Project series. The "Commerce and Transportation" memo documents how the Departments of Commerce and Transportation can play a vital role in combating rising inflation and the supply chain crisis. The report is accompanied by new polling that shows wide support for utilizing these two departments to respond to supply chain breakdown and associated economic fallout.

The memo documents that agencies within the Department of Commerce can rein in pharmaceutical patent monopolies (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office), bridge the digital divide (National Telecommunications and Information Administration), and help reorient U.S. trade policy by evaluating imports and exports by their impact on workers (International Trade Administration) and national security (Bureau of Industry and Security).

The report also documents how agencies within the Department of Transportation can rein in railroad monopolies (Federal Railroad Administration), and lower costs for airline passengers (Federal Aviation Administration), respond to supply chain disruptions (Maritime Administration), and combat the trucking industry labor shortage (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).

Notable findings of the poll include:

• Wide support for stricter rules on monopoly-enabling patent extensions by a +39-percentage-point margin, which includes independents and Republicans by margins of +39 points and +24 points

• Supermajority (+67-percent) support for ensuring broadband for every American household, seen among independents, and Republicans by margins of +61, and +52 points

• Support for addressing trucking job vacancies through offering higher wages, not lowering the age limit for driving commercial trucks, by a +44 point margin, which includes independents and Republicans by margins of +43 and +47 points, respectively.
  

The "Commerce and Transportation" memo is the third installment of the collaborative Corporate Crackdown Project, following the release of the Voters Want to Crack Down on Corporate Crime report in December. "Our report highlights the powers wielded by the Departments of Commerce and Transportation to rein in the widespread corporate profiteering that is driving inflation, crippling our supply chain, and causing real and enduring damage to the American consumer" said Daniel Boguslaw of the Revolving Door Project, who co-authored the memo.