BIG by Matt Stoller

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Anti-Monopoly Midterm Election Candidates Begin to Emerge

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Anti-Monopoly Midterm Election Candidates Begin to Emerge

On the right and left, candidates are asking voters to vote on whether big is bad.

Matt Stoller
Jul 12, 2021
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Anti-Monopoly Midterm Election Candidates Begin to Emerge

mattstoller.substack.com

Welcome to BIG, a newsletter on the politics of monopoly power. If you’d like to sign up to receive issues over email, you can do so here. 

I don’t tend to follow elections, but I’m noticing a trend of candidates who are starting to talk about big business on the campaign trail. What’s interesting is that, like the anti-monopoly movement, it doesn’t break down by party. Here are the candidates I noticed.

  • Wisconsin Democratic Senate candidate Tom Nelson has talked about why it’s so “crucial to fight corporate power.”

  • In his first ad, Ohio Republican J.D. Vance in Ohio called Jeff Bezos and Google members of “the ruling class.”

  • South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who is running for reelection in 2022 to the Governor spot, wrote a long blog post attacking meatpacker consolidation.

  • Here’s Republican Blake Masters in Arizona, attacking “corporations that have gotten so big they think they are bigger than America."

  • Missouri Democratic Senate candidate Lucas Kunce, is pledging to “end monopoly domination of our economy.”

  • And here’s Iowa Democratic Senate candidate Dave Muhlbauer, going after meatpackers and “corporate farms.”

Twitter avatar for @DaveMuhlbauer
Dave Muhlbauer @DaveMuhlbauer
More from @AnkenyAreaDems event yesterday. As a farmer, ag issues are near and dear to my heart. Packing plants are making record profits, consumers are paying double the price they should be paying at the grocery store, and working conditions are horrific. We must do better.
Image
7:00 PM ∙ Jul 11, 2021
36Likes14Retweets
  • TN-05 District - Odessa Kelly is running in a Democratic primary against incumbent Jim Cooper. In this case, both Kelly and Cooper were effusive in praise of the executive order against monopolies.

    Twitter avatar for @OdessaKellyTN
    Odessa Kelly @OdessaKellyTN
    Good. Working people's power starts by limiting the power of corporations.
    Twitter avatar for @nytimes
    The New York Times @nytimes
    President Biden will sign a sweeping executive order on Friday designed to increase competition and limit the power of large corporations across a wide range of industries including agriculture, health care and technology. https://t.co/sYYlO07c5L
    6:13 PM ∙ Jul 9, 2021
    21Likes3Retweets
    Twitter avatar for @repjimcooper
    Jim Cooper @repjimcooper
    YES. This executive order will help everything – from free and open internet access, to protecting workers from noncompete clauses, to allowing hearing aids to be sold over the counter, to making prescription drugs more affordable – for EVERYONE.
    Twitter avatar for @POTUS
    President Biden @POTUS
    Tune in as I deliver remarks and sign an executive order on promoting competition in the American economy. https://t.co/gYwI2vgkAA
    8:17 PM ∙ Jul 9, 2021
    11Likes4Retweets

I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of candidates. If you know of anyone talking about market power and big business on the campaign trail, leave a comment with their name and a link to what they said.

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Anti-Monopoly Midterm Election Candidates Begin to Emerge

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Rob in Germany
Jul 12, 2021

Another story to follow is the right to repair, Biden just signed a right to repair for the military, details here.

https://youtu.be/KUimL241hNs

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vertigo
Oct 3, 2021

Unfortunately, as is a common issue with politics, there's a big difference between professing a particular policy mindset because that's what the voters want to hear (and politicians are known to say what people want to hear, whatever it takes to get votes) and actually following through on that once elected. It's good that the issue is getting more attention, but I'm not holding my breath on most of these people actually doing anything meaningful about it if/when they're elected.

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