Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan is sworn in before testifying to the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on July 13, 2023 in Washington, DC.
Beware the Corporate Democratic Donors With Knives Out for Lina Khan
Khan is the first real antitrust champion America has had in years. But will leading Democrats have the guts and integrity to defend her?
We’ve recently learned about Project 2025, the GOP’s scheme to let corporate agents take over our government. But there’s also a less visible effort by some donors to also make Democrats install corporate-subservient officials to expand their monopoly power.
High-finance finaglers of Wall Street and Silicon Valley are quietly demanding that Kamala Harris commit to appointing their designated toadies to oversee America’s so-called “free-enterprise” structure. Their primary target is the Federal Trade Commission, a little-known agency meant to protect and extend economic competition.
The FTC is now headed by Lina Khan, a tenacious opponent of anti-consumer, anti-worker mergers and takeovers. She rightly recognizes that the “free” in free enterprise is not an adjective but a verb, requiring aggressive public action to free up the enterprise of people who are now routinely shut out of the market by monopolistic giants.
If we really want free markets, Khan says, then let’s free them.
Oh, how the money vultures screeched! “She’s a dope,” raged takeover bully Barry Diller in a dopey fury.
Since many of the monopolistic titans who are offended by Khan’s otherwise very popular progressive populism are from the high-dollar donor class, they have undue clout. Thus they are bluntly demanding Khan’s head as their price for financially backing Harris’s presidential run. Commissioner Khan, they exclaim, simply does not understand “the way the Washington game is played.
Oh yes she does — and she’s flat out rejecting it. Khan is the first real antitrust champion America has had in years. But will leading Democrats have the guts and integrity to defend her? Or will the business-as-usual powers be ushered back in?
The answer to that will be an early measure of Harris’s commitment to economic democracy.
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. In a few short weeks, US voters will have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
We’ve recently learned about Project 2025, the GOP’s scheme to let corporate agents take over our government. But there’s also a less visible effort by some donors to also make Democrats install corporate-subservient officials to expand their monopoly power.
High-finance finaglers of Wall Street and Silicon Valley are quietly demanding that Kamala Harris commit to appointing their designated toadies to oversee America’s so-called “free-enterprise” structure. Their primary target is the Federal Trade Commission, a little-known agency meant to protect and extend economic competition.
The FTC is now headed by Lina Khan, a tenacious opponent of anti-consumer, anti-worker mergers and takeovers. She rightly recognizes that the “free” in free enterprise is not an adjective but a verb, requiring aggressive public action to free up the enterprise of people who are now routinely shut out of the market by monopolistic giants.
If we really want free markets, Khan says, then let’s free them.
Oh, how the money vultures screeched! “She’s a dope,” raged takeover bully Barry Diller in a dopey fury.
Since many of the monopolistic titans who are offended by Khan’s otherwise very popular progressive populism are from the high-dollar donor class, they have undue clout. Thus they are bluntly demanding Khan’s head as their price for financially backing Harris’s presidential run. Commissioner Khan, they exclaim, simply does not understand “the way the Washington game is played.
Oh yes she does — and she’s flat out rejecting it. Khan is the first real antitrust champion America has had in years. But will leading Democrats have the guts and integrity to defend her? Or will the business-as-usual powers be ushered back in?
The answer to that will be an early measure of Harris’s commitment to economic democracy.
We’ve recently learned about Project 2025, the GOP’s scheme to let corporate agents take over our government. But there’s also a less visible effort by some donors to also make Democrats install corporate-subservient officials to expand their monopoly power.
High-finance finaglers of Wall Street and Silicon Valley are quietly demanding that Kamala Harris commit to appointing their designated toadies to oversee America’s so-called “free-enterprise” structure. Their primary target is the Federal Trade Commission, a little-known agency meant to protect and extend economic competition.
The FTC is now headed by Lina Khan, a tenacious opponent of anti-consumer, anti-worker mergers and takeovers. She rightly recognizes that the “free” in free enterprise is not an adjective but a verb, requiring aggressive public action to free up the enterprise of people who are now routinely shut out of the market by monopolistic giants.
If we really want free markets, Khan says, then let’s free them.
Oh, how the money vultures screeched! “She’s a dope,” raged takeover bully Barry Diller in a dopey fury.
Since many of the monopolistic titans who are offended by Khan’s otherwise very popular progressive populism are from the high-dollar donor class, they have undue clout. Thus they are bluntly demanding Khan’s head as their price for financially backing Harris’s presidential run. Commissioner Khan, they exclaim, simply does not understand “the way the Washington game is played.
Oh yes she does — and she’s flat out rejecting it. Khan is the first real antitrust champion America has had in years. But will leading Democrats have the guts and integrity to defend her? Or will the business-as-usual powers be ushered back in?
The answer to that will be an early measure of Harris’s commitment to economic democracy.