2020 has been a year of unprecedented chaos and drama, and now we’re facing an election of immense importance. There are ample reasons to support Republicans at the ballot box (or in your mail box), such as ending the activism of the Supreme Court and ensuring that our economy can revive after the pandemic. And now we have yet another imperative to vote conservative: Congressional Democrats just published an antitrust manifesto that would empower unelected bureaucrats to command and control the economy that would make any socialist blush.
Vice President Biden, Senators Harris and Warren, and Rep. David Cicilline want to discard President Reagan’s competition rules — rules that have enabled the American economy to be the most innovative and influential in human history — and replace them with rules to advance social justice policies. The Democrats’ report also calls for banning stores like Costco from selling generic brands like Kirkland.
Of more concern to conservatives is House Democrats’ bid to advance social justice policies by refocusing antitrust law away from protecting consumers and towards advancing their woke ideals. This progressive antitrust law would allow bureaucrats to advance policies that favor immigration, control wages and benefits, and redistribute wealth based on race. Moreover, a Democrat administration could weaponize this new activist antitrust law to restrict fracking by conditioning energy company acquisitions on carbon emission mandates, and to advance single-payer health care by threatening to break-up hospital networks.
Thankfully, Rep. Jim Jordan and House Republicans just took a stand against what I’ve called “gangster antitrust,” by refusing to endorse the Democrats’ recommendations. As Rep. Jordan put it, “Unfortunately, the Democrats’ partisan report … advances radical proposals that would refashion antitrust law in the vision of the far left.”
At the same time, I share the concerns of Rep. Jordan about anti-conservative bias on social media. But as I’ve said, bending the tech companies on conservative bias should not be taken to the extreme of breaking up businesses that are turbo charging our economy while playing by the rules. While small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, big tech platforms are the arms and legs that help small businesses reach audiences and customers everywhere, extending America’s global influence and protecting Americans from foreign economic dominance.
Busting America’s big tech businesses is taking a sledgehammer to a problem that requires thoughtful precision to deal with the unfair treatment of conservatives by online media. I am convinced that fragmenting big social media audiences that enabled conservatives to directly reach broad audiences will only put the mainstream media back in charge. Not a good outcome. This will also hit our pocketbook and retirement accounts, since stock market gains have largely relied on American’s big tech innovators.
For Americans in this election, the choice is clear. We can either continue to support our business-driven economic success story, or we can let Elizabeth Warren and House Democrats break-up our most successful companies and abandon our position as the world’s most free and dynamic economy. If Democrats get their way, we will be less free, less prosperous and more under the thumb of the deep state in Washington.
Rick Santorum represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007.