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1. One of the best changes in recent years is the GOP abandoning libertarianism. Here's GOP Rep. Greg Steube: “I do think there is an appetite amongst Republicans, if the Dems wanted to try to break up Big Tech, I think there is support for that." https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/house-republicans-say-forced-considering-breaking-up-big-tech
2. And @RepKenBuck, who offered a thoughtful Third Way report on antitrust law in 2020, weighed in quite reasonably on Biden antitrust frameworks. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/22/biden-silicon-valley-hires-461196
3. I believe this change is sincere because it's so pervasive and beginning to result in real policy changes. Example: The North Dakota GOP is taking on Apple's app store. https://twitter.com/doctorow/status/1359940794774290432
4. And yet there's a problem. The GOP establishment is still pro-big tech. Trump, despite some of his instincts, appointed pro-monopoly antitrust enforcers. Antitrust chief Makan Delrahim helped big tech, and the antitrust case happened bc he was recused. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/06/opinion/trump-antitrust-laws.html
5. At the other sleepy antitrust agency, the Federal Trade Commission, Trump appointed commissioners
@FTCPhillips and @CSWilsonFTC are both pro-monopoly. Both voted *against* the antitrust case on FB. That case was 3-2, with a GOP Chair and 2 Dems teaming up against 2 Rs.
@FTCPhillips and @CSWilsonFTC are both pro-monopoly. Both voted *against* the antitrust case on FB. That case was 3-2, with a GOP Chair and 2 Dems teaming up against 2 Rs.
6. Despite Trump's disdain for Jeff Bezos, his FTC, which has jurisdiction over Amazon, did nothing. Trump FTC Commissioner @FTCPhillips's advisors Jasmine Rosner and Amy Posner both left the Federal Trade Commission to go to... you guessed it, Amazon! https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-posner-2a35449/
7. There's more. Morgan Kennedy, top advisor to Trump FTC Chair Joe Simons, helped structure the weak YouTube settlement over child privacy violations. Now she's a lobbyist at... Google! https://www.linkedin.com/in/morgan-kennedy-99005730/
8. And Bilal Sayyed, Trump's Director of the Office of Policy Planning at the Federal Trade Commission, just joined Google/FB/Amazon trade association Tech Freedom. https://techfreedom.org/bilal-sayyed-joins-techfreedom-as-senior-adjunct-fellow/
9. I don't have a problem with people working in the private sector. But I do have a problem with people in the public sector working on behalf of big tech monopolies. That's what happened under Trump. It's why antitrust cases only came in the waning days of his administration.
10. Pro-monopoly commissioners @FTCPhillips and @CSWilsonFTC are going to continue to advocate for monopolists in the pharmaceutical, tech, defense, and every other sector out there, even as Republicans in Congress rail against big tech.
11. That's something that needs to change, if the Republicans are going to make good on their new philosophy of opposing big tech monopolies. I think they will. But their libertarian lawyers are still standing in the way.
12. And another antitrust revolving door move from Trump. The Pentagon's head antitrust officer, Ellen Lord, just moved to mergers and acquisitions investment bank and consulting firm the Chertoff Group. https://www.chertoffgroup.com/press/the-chertoff-group-expands-senior-advisor-team-with-the-honorable-ellen-lord
