SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
For Immediate Release
August, 05 2024, 04:12pm EDT
Contact:
Jimmy Wyderko: jwyderko@economicliberties.us
AAG Kanter’s Antitrust Division Beats Google in Biggest Antitrust Trial of the Century
In response to news that Judge Amit Mehta has sided with the Department of Justice Antitrust Division in its case against Google—ruling that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act by maintaining its monopoly in general search services and general text advertising through its billion dollar exclusive default deals—the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statements.
“This is one of the greatest antitrust victories in history and sends a resounding signal that the antimonopoly movement is here to stay,” said Nidhi Hegde, Interim Executive Director of the American Economic Liberties Project. “In finding Google to be an illegal monopolist for its unlawful search default deals, this ruling is a vindication of the Biden Administration’s reinvigorated competition agenda and a huge win for consumers, small businesses, and tech innovation. There is now broad recognition of the harm monopoly power poses to markets and a clear validation of the antimonopoly movement’s approach to governing — which sets a powerful precedent for future cases. Make no mistake: Antitrust law is back, and corporate America is now on notice.”
“Congratulations to AAG Kanter and the entire Antitrust Division team for delivering this unprecedented win against one of the most powerful companies in the world—while severely under-resourced in comparison,” added Hegde.
“This decision strikes at the core of how hundreds of millions of Americans experience the internet,” said Lee Hepner, Senior Legal Counsel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “It illustrates how Google has become one of the most powerful companies in the world while undermining innovation and degrading the quality of its core product. The remedy must match the Court’s striking verdict in this case. At a minimum that means an end to Google’s exclusive default agreements and breaking up business lines that have allowed Google to extend its monopoly into every corner of the internet
“The promise of antitrust enforcement is that it will fully restore competition where it has been lost,” added Hepner, “and we’ll be advocating that the court use all of its power to do so.”
Learn more about Economic Liberties here.
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.
LATEST NEWS
Bannon Tells GOP: 'Seize the Institutions' of Government Now or We're 'Going to Prison' After 2028
"Steve Bannon motivating Democratic voters," said one historian in response to comments by the former Trump White House advisor.
Nov 07, 2025
Far-right podcaster and former top presidential advisor Steve Bannon told a crowd of aspiring conservative staffers on Capitol Hill this week that the job of Republicans between now and the midterm election next year is to seize complete control of government institutions and turn as many of President Donald Trump's executive orders as possible into law as a way to avoid politic defeat in the coming years and, ultimately, keep MAGA loyalists from being tried and sent to jail.
"I'll tell you right, as God as my witness, if we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison," Bannon told the crowd Wednesday at an awards event hosted by the Conservative Partnership Academy, a group that offers training and certifications to aspiring right-wing ideologues working in politics and government.
Bannon, who has already served time in prison for refusing to submit to a congressional subpoena related to his role as a top aide to Trump during his first term, included himself among those who might be targeted if Republicans lost power.
In his remarks, Bannon said Tuesday's election results in New York City, Virginia, New Jersey, and elsewhere—where Democrats swept the GOP—should be seen as a warning to Trump's MAGA base, but called for an intensification of the agenda, not a retreat.
Steve Bannon: If we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison, myself included.
pic.twitter.com/O1iyPipz0n
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 6, 2025
"They're not gonna stop," Bannon said of Democrats and progressives aligned against Trump's authoritarian push and Republican economic policies that have focused on lavishing ever-larger tax cuts for corporations and the rich while gutting government programs, including cuts to Medicaid, food assistance for the poor, devastating environmental policies, and dismantling of healthcare subsidies leading to a surge in monthly premiums for millions of families.
Trump's opponents, warned Bannon, are "getting more and more and more radical, and we have to counter that."
His advice to Republicans in power and the right-wing movement that supports them is to counter "with more intense action" and more "urgency" before it's too late. "We're burning daylight," Bannon said. "We have to codify what Trump has done by executive order."
In what seemed like a reference to Trump's recent talk of going "nuclear" on the filibuster in the US Senate and other efforts, Bannon said, "We have to get beyond these structural barriers" in Washington, DC, that he believes are hindering the president from consolidating his power even further.
Speaking about discussions behind the scenes, Bannon said he has been in touch with Republicans in the Senate who he says are asking him to go through for them what he means and that in the coming days people may be surprised by who "in the conservative movement" are coming around to his thinking, mentioning "institutionalists" like Sens. Josh Hawley of Missouri and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, as those he's been speaking with.
"These are what I would call heavy-hitters on the limited-government constitutionalists, in our movement," Bannon said of other unnamed individuals, "and they're about to come out in the next couple of days and make this argument because I said, 'Look, we have to understand that if we don't this to the maximum—the maximalist strategy—now, with a sense of urgency, and in doing this, seize the institutions... if we don't do this now, we're going to lose this chance forever, because you're never going to have another Trump."
In an interview with Politico following Tuesday's elections, Bannon said the win by democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to become New York City's next mayor "should be a wakeup call" to Trump's right-wing nationalist movement. "These are very serious people," Bannon said of Mamdani and others who support his affordability agenda that focuses on the needs of working people, "and they need to be addressed seriously."
As such, Bannon called for the Justice Department, the State Department, and the Department of Homeland Security to target Mamdani specifically by going after his US citizenship and calling for him to be deported. Mamdani is a naturalized US citizen who came to the United States with his parents when he was seven years old.
As the video clip of Bannon's remarks about jail time if the Republicans lose in the upcoming elections made the rounds online Thursday, reactions were predictable along partisan lines.
"Steve Bannon motivating Democratic voters," said Aviel Roshwald, a Georgetown University professor of history with a focus on nationalist movements.
Bannon's call for "seizing the institutions" has been a mainstay on his popular War Room podcast for months, but critics warn that his open embrace of the demand should not make it any less shocking or worrisome.
"He’s preparing his audience to see violence and institutional takeover as 'necessary.' And he’s counting on Democrats and independents being too divided or too polite to call it what it is," warned Christopher Webb, a left-leaning political writer on his Substack page last month.
Bannon and his allies, continued Webb, "do not give a damn about the law, the Constitution, or democracy. They only care about control. And if we keep treating their words as 'just talk,' it will be too late when it stops being talk."
He concluded: "This isn’t going to end well."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Senate GOP Kills Bill That Would Block Trump Boat Bombings and War on Venezuela
"Shame on the Republicans who continue to shirk their duty and deny their constituents a voice," said one retired US Army general.
Nov 06, 2025
Senate Republicans on Thursday rejected a bipartisan war powers resolution aimed at stopping the Trump administration from continuing its bombing of alleged drug boats or attacking Venezuela without lawmakers' assent, as required by law.
US senators voted 51-49 against the measure introduced last month by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Two Republicans—Paul and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—joined Democrats and Independents in voting for the resolution.
"It's sad that only two Republicans voted in favor," Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the peace group CodePink, said on X following the vote. "So much for 'America First' and for upholding their constitutional authority by stopping the executive branch from taking illegal military actions."
Retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, a senior adviser to the group VoteVets, said in a statement that President Donald Trump "is waging a war that he unilaterally declared and refuses to get approved by the American people via their representation in Congress."
"It isn't just criminal and unconstitutional, it betrays those who did fight on battlefields and spilled blood to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States," Eaton added. "Shame on the Republicans who continue to shirk their duty and deny their constituents a voice."
VoteVets' MG Paul Eaton (Ret) blasts GOP Senators for rejecting Senator Tim Kaine's War Powers Resolution. He says Trump is waging a "criminal and unconstitutional" war and betraying the principle that Americans shouldn't die without having a say in the matter, through their elected representatives.
[image or embed]
— VoteVets (@votevets.org) November 6, 2025 at 3:06 PM
The War Powers Resolution was passed over then-President Richard Nixon's veto in 1973 to affirm and empower Congress to check the president’s war-making authority. The law requires the president to report any military action to Congress within 48 hours and requires congressional approval of troop deployments exceeding 60 days.
It's been 63 days since the first-known Trump-ordered the first strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. At least 67 people have been killed in 16 such reported strikes since September 2, according to the Trump administration, which argues that it does not need congressional approval for the attacks.
Speaking on the Senate floor ahead of Thursday's vote, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said:
As we speak, America’s largest aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, is on its way to the Caribbean. It is part of the largest military buildup in our hemisphere that we’ve seen in decades. According to press reports, Donald Trump is considering military action on Venezuelan territory. But it also sounds like nobody really knows what the plan is, because like so many other things with Donald Trump, he keeps changing his mind. Who knows what he will do tomorrow?
Trump has also approved covert CIA action in Venezuela and has threatened to attack targets inside the oil-rich country. The government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro recently claimed that his country’s security forces had captured a group of CIA-aligned mercenaries engaged in a “false-flag attack” against the nation.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said after Thursday's vote: “Today, I was proud to once again cast my vote for Senator Kaine’s war powers resolution. President Trump is acting against the Constitution by moving toward imminent attacks against Venezuela without congressional authorization. In doing so, he is risking endless military conflict with Venezuela and steamrolling over the right of every American to have a say in the use of US military force."
“Asserting Congress’s constitutional role in war is not some procedural detail; it is fundamental. Our government is based on checks and balances, and Congress’s authority to declare war is a core principle of what makes America a democracy," Markey added. "Going to war without consulting the people is what monarchies and dictatorships do. Strong democracies must be willing to debate these issues in the light of day.”
Keep ReadingShow Less
As Americans Live Paycheck to Paycheck, Tesla Shareholders Approve Musk's $1 Trillion Package
"Americans understand we're living in a rigged economy," said Sen. Bernie Sanders. "Together, we can and must change that."
Nov 06, 2025
Elon Musk is the world's richest person, with an estimated net worth of nearly $500 billion, but the Tesla CEO could become the world's first trillionaire, thanks to a controversial pay package approved Thursday by the electric vehicle company's shareholders.
Ahead of the vote, a coalition of labor unions and progressive advocacy groups launched the "Take Back Tesla" campaign, urging shareholders to reject the package for its CEO, who spent much of this year spearheading President Donald Trump's so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which prompted nationwide protests targeting the company.
Musk's nearly $1 trillion package would be the biggest corporate compensation plan in history if he gets the full amount by boosting share value "eightfold over the next decade" and staying at Tesla for at least that long. It was approved at the company's annual meeting after the billionaire's previous payout, worth $56 billion, was invalidated by a judge.
The approval vote sparked another wave of intense criticism from progressive groups and politicians who opposed it—including on Musk's own social media platform, X.
"Musk, who spent $270 million to get Trump elected, is now in line to become a trillionaire," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote on X. "Meanwhile, 60% of our people are living paycheck to paycheck. Americans understand we're living in a rigged economy. Together, we can and must change that."
The vote came during the longest-ever federal government shutdown, which has sparked court battles over the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. A judge on Thursday ordered the full funding of 42 million low-income Americans' November SNAP benefits, but it is not yet clear whether the Trump administration will comply.
The Sunrise Movement, a youth-led climate group, noted the uncertainty over federal food aid in response to the Tesla vote, saying: "Meanwhile, millions of kids are losing SNAP benefits and healthcare because of Musk's allies in DC. In a country rich enough to have trillionaires, there's no excuse for letting kids go hungry."
Robert Reich, a former labor secretary who's now a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said: "Remember: Wealth cannot be separated from power. We've seen how the extreme concentration of wealth is distorting our politics, rigging our markets, and granting unprecedented power to a handful of billionaires. Be warned."
In remarks to the Washington Post, another professor warned that other companies could soon follow suit:
Rohan Williamson, professor of finance at Georgetown University, said Musk's argument for commanding such a vast paycheck is largely unique to Tesla—though similar deals may become more prevalent in an age of founder-led startups.
"No matter how you slice it, it's a lot," Williamson said. But the deal seeks to emphasize Musk’s central—even singular—role in the company's rise, and its fate going forward.
"I drove this to where it is and without me it's going to fail," Williamson said, summarizing Musk's argument.
"No CEO is 'worth' $1 trillion. Full stop," the advocacy group Patriotic Millionaires argued Wednesday, ahead of the vote. "We need legislative solutions like the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, which would raise taxes on corporations that pay their executives more than 50 times the wages of their workers."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular