You're Probably Getting Screwed...

By Oligarchs

Welcome to You’re Probably Getting Screwed, a weekly newsletter and video series from J.D. Scholten and Justin Stofferahn about the Second Gilded Age and the ways economic concentration is putting politics and profits over working people.

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One narrative coming out of the Republican National Convention (RNC) this week was about the working class because J.D. Vance mentioned those words in his speech. But the real economic policy Republicans are pushing are huge tax breaks for the super wealthy and corporations. But don’t just take my word for it, listen to the House Majority Leader, Congressman Steve Scalice in his speech at the RNC:

Who likes this plan? Billionaires! Making money is one thing but being a billionaire and using your money and power to benefit yourself while we could be investing in things that could benefit the entire country (e.g. universal healthcare, improving public education, research and development, etc…) is entirely different.

That’s why we’re seeing billionaires (especially ones who made their money in tech) give so much money to Republicans right now. And no one is shocked that Elon Musk is only looking out for Elon Musk while he plans to give $45 Million a month to a Trump Super PAC.

These oligarchs are a threat to our democracy. In 2022, in a contested primary in Ohio where J.D. Vance won with only 32% of the votes, billionaire Peter Thiel gave $10 million in PAC money to impact the primary.

There are contribution limits to Federal candidates. But since the Citizens United ruling, it’s become a bit like the Wild West… One thing that best exemplifies what’s happening right now is that the federal contribution limit, which is currently $3,300, is “indexed for inflation in odd-numbered years,” meaning it basically raises each election cycle, but the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 since Jul 24, 2009 (next week will be 15 years!!!).

Finding a way to limit the oligarch’s thumb on the scale of our democracy needs to be a top priority! Otherwise, the 99% of us are going to lose.

Lastly, there are certain thins you can’t buy…

YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:

Centralization 

“Concentrated economic power amplifies the scale of our vulnerabilities. When giants stumble, entire industries feel the tremors.” This was the conclusion of an excellent write up by the Canadian Anti-Monopoly Project about several recent examples, including Ticketmaster, that show how dangerous massive centralization is. 

Junk Fees

Accountable.US is out with a new analysis that found Bank of America and PNC Bank generated billions in the first quarter of 2024 by ripping off consumers with junk fees like overdraft and maintenance fees. 

Tax Cheating Millionaires

In September the IRS announced it would be increasing its scrutiny of millionaires with more than $250,000 in tax debt and last week that initiative hit a milestone of having collected more than $1 billion from wealthy tax cheats.

Hospital Monopolies

At least 41 Iowa hospitals have shuttered their labor and delivery units since 2000 according to this story by NPR. Not mentioned in that story? Since 2010 Iowa’s hospital market has gone from highly consolidated to super consolidated and has none of the guardrails on mergers that other states have. 

Major League Baseball

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was asked by reporter Chelsea James about this week’s All-Star Game being hosted by the Texas Rangers, the only big league club that does not have a Pride Night. Manfred decided to answer by highlighting that MLB prioritizes communities where policymakers have handed over taxpayer money to the billionaires that run the sport. 

Faux Populists

Robby Starbuck is one of these activists that pretends to care about corporate power by attacking “woke capitalism” and celebrated this week when John Deere issued a statement that it will end a variety of diversity initiatives. However, nothing in Deere’s statement says that it will stop reaping record profits by using its monopoly over tractor manufacturing and repair to screw over farmers and independent repair technicians.

Capitalists

Despite all the rhetoric from billionaires and monopolists about the importance of free markets, a new paper by law professor Mark Lemley (Free the Market: How We Can Save Capitalism from the Capitalists) details the many ways monopolists undermine free and competitive markets to their benefit.   

SOME GOOD NEWS

Some Actual Populism

There is a lot of talk this week about economic populism, but a story from Verge on the ways Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter is remaking the division is a good reminder that there are policymakers currently in power that are working to crack down on corporate monopolies. 

“Kanter said in a speech that the division had brought more cases under Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act (the antimonopoly law) in the last year than in the previous 25.”

Pennsylvania Cracks Down on PBMs

With significant bipartisan support the Legislature has passed a bill that will help reign in the abuses of pharmacy benefit managers in the state, something Governor Josh Shapiro called for in his Budget Address in March.

  

San Fran Targets Price Fixing

SF Supervisor and mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin introduced legislation on Tuesday that would ban property owners and managers from using algorithm-based tools that recommend or set rental prices. 

BEFORE YOU GO

Before you go, I need two things from you: 1) if you like something, please share it on social media or the next time you have coffee with a friend. 2) Ideas, if you have any ideas for future newsletter content please comment below. Thank you.

Standing Tall for All, 

J.D. Scholten