You're Probably Getting Screwed... the Reboot

Welcome Back!

We are living in the 2nd Gilded Age where economic concentration works for a few but leaves the majority of us behind. This newsletter is intended to highlight the stories of how regular Americans are getting screwed in this economy. Where I am from, every community has a gas station with a donation box, a pancake breakfast or a GoFundMe to help pay for someone’s medical costs and a lot of the communities haven’t bounced back from the 2008 economic crisis. This newsletter is for those who feel economically left behind.

Welcome to You’re Probably Getting Screwed, a weekly newsletter and video series from J.D. Scholten and Justin Stofferahn about how and why bad actors are working to put politics and profits over working people.

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Hey everyone, we’re back!!! Here’s J.D. with a quick message:

Please help me welcome Justin Stofferahn to You’re Probably Getting Screwed!

Justin Stofferahn is the Antimonopoly Director at the Minnesota Farmers Union where he leads the organization’s antitrust and competition work. Justin has written about the harms of monopoly power and the history of fighting back at publications such as MinnPost, the Minnesota Reformer and The Sling. 

YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:

MERGERS

This week, there were closing arguments in a federal court trial over the U.S. Justice Department's lawsuit to block JetBlue's $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit. Consumers need competition to keep prices down. Shoutout to the Department of Justice for looking out for consumers!!!

INHERITED BILLIONAIRES

You know all we have to do is pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and work hard… Well, a new study shows that billionaires amass more through inheritance than wealth creation.

CORPORATE GREED 

BAD STATE POLICY

In 46 states, once you choose Medicare Advantage at 65, you can almost never leave. One of the biggest selling points of Obamacare was that it would finally end discrimination against patients on the basis of pre-existing conditions. But for one vulnerable sector of the population, that discrimination never ended. Insurers are still able to deny coverage to some Americans with pre-existing conditions. And it’s all perfectly legal.

TOP 20 BILLIONAIRES

COMPANIES THAT PAY LOW WAGES

This is one of my favorite videos of 2023. Well done!

FINANCE CEOs

In absolutely shocking news (this is sarcasm…), Jamie Dimon (the CEO of Chase) was wrong about our economy, as reported by CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere.

BIG EGG

A federal jury recently ruled that U.S. egg producers conspired to fix prices from 2004 to 2008!!! The jury found that the egg suppliers exported eggs to reduce the overall supply in the domestic market, as well as limiting the number of chickens through means including cage space, early slaughter and flock reduction, court documents say.

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

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