Administration Plans to Strengthen Antitrust Rules

[depakid]

Source: NY Times


Christine Varney of the Justice Department’s antitrust division.
---------------

President Obama’s top antitrust official this week plans to restore an aggressive enforcement policy against corporations that use their market dominance to elbow out competitors or to keep them from gaining market share. The new enforcement policy would reverse the Bush administration’s approach, which strongly favored defendants against antitrust claims. It would restore a policy that led to the landmark antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft and Intel in the 1990s.

The head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, Christine A. Varney, is to announce the policy reversal in a speech she will give on Monday before the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy research organization. She will deliver the same speech on Tuesday to the United States Chamber of Commerce.

The speeches were described by people who have consulted with her about the policy shift. The administration is hoping to encourage smaller companies in an array of industries to bring their complaints to the Justice Department about potentially improper business practices by their larger rivals. Some of the biggest antitrust cases were initiated by complaints taken to the Justice Department.

Ms. Varney is expected to say that the administration rejects the impulse to go easy on antitrust enforcement during weak economic times. She will assert instead that severe recessions can provide dangerous incentives for large and dominating companies to engage in predatory behavior that harms consumers and weakens competition. The announcement is aimed at making sure that no court or party to a lawsuit can cite the Bush administration policy as the government’s official view in any pending cases.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/business/11antitrust.html?_r=1&hp

[elleng]

1. EXCELLENT! WONDERFUL! FABULOUS!

Been waiting for this for 8+ years!

[elleng]

2. FIGHTS the Shock > Doctrine!

'administration rejects the impulse to go easy on antitrust enforcement during weak economic times. She will assert instead that severe recessions can provide dangerous incentives for large and dominating companies to engage in predatory behavior that harms consumers and weakens competition'

[safeinOhio]

10. Small companies hire

large ones fire.
Best news for employment in years.

[elleng]

20. Yes it is!!!

.

[Downwinder]

3. Dust off the Standard Oil and AT&T files and we are ready to go. n/t

[anonymous171]

4. FUCK YEAH!

:woohoo:

[w4rma]

5. Extremely awesome!

"She may also be reviewing the conduct of some in the financial services industry, which is now undergoing a wave of consolidation as a result of the financial crisis."

[Lasher]

8. If I could break up large corporations, top priorities would be in the financial services industry

News media conglomerates would be next.

But let us take a lesson from Microsoft. They dragged their antitrust case out in the courts until a 'ahem' more supportive administration came along. Case closed, Microsoft won. If Obama is going to do more than spin his antitrust wheels, he needs to bring cases to a timely conclusion.

[digidigido]

6. Unfortunately there have been 8 years of Corporate judges appointed that will

try the cases these peolpe bring

[DCKit]

7. Internet providers to offer cheap, fast service to prove they don't need to be regulated...

like health insurance companies are offering to save U.S. trillions in health care costs? Between this DOJ and Obama's FCC, we may see an upgrade.

The Obama administration is not only moving faster than a speeding bullet on many issues, they're scaring the pants off corporate Amur'ka as well. But I'm kind of lost. If the corporations haven't done anything wrong, why make all these concessions to avoid further regulation and possible investigation?

[Norrin Radd]

9. Good good good.

Now bust the media monopolies.

[No Elephants]

11. Restore the checks on "too big to fail" that Reagan and his successors dismantled.

That moran started us down the path that led to global economic collapse. If he were still alive, and the public knew that, he'd have been tarred and feathered. Between de-regulation and allowing the growth or K Street....Then again, maybe not. Phil Gramm, Bill Clinton. Barney Frank and the other Congressional minions of the financial industry still seem to be doing just fine. Sigh. I love Barney, but the entire Congress is too far gone. IMO, we need to primary most of them and start fresh--right after we knock down K Street and ban paid lobbyists.

[annabanana]

12. PLANS are just GOOD INTENTIONS on paper. .

And we know the pavement on that Road to Hell very very well.

There's a lot of rich applecarts on that journey.

[bulloney]

13. This needs to be done on a global basis. Otherwise, companies will just position themselves

in other countries so they don't have to follow the U.S. antitrust laws.

I've called for enforcement of antitrust laws for years. But a University of Missouri professor who's spent much of his life studying market concentration and its effects pointed out the need for global enforcement and it makes a lot of sense.

[Demeter]

14. I'll Believe It When I See It Applied to Bank of America

which the government has bloated up for its own purposes.

[tclambert]

15. Antitrust laws? I'll have to look that up in the archive.

Put on your mask, it's pretty dusty down there. Could you hand me that flashlight? Oh, wait, I remember, we had IBM record that old stuff on punch cards, then Microsoft transferred it to floppy disk, and we put it in a safe deposit box at Bank of America. I'll just call over there on my AT&T phone.

[progressoid]

16. That's a decent start.

[Vidar]

17. About time. Start with the media & Microsoft.

[WriteDown]

22. And Apple...

I shouldn't be forever tied to itunes.

[Zorra]

18. Excellent. Our President seems to want to rein in the corporations,

something that is immediately necessary and vitally critical to repairing our country.

The "Blue Dogs" will do everything in their power to sabotage any effort by our President (or anyone else) to lessen corporate control of the government and the People.

[bobthedrummer]

19. K&R+ "Politicizing the Justice Department, Bush takes a page from his father" by Lucy Komisar

(May 27, 2007 Komisar Scoop)
http://thekomisarscoop.com/2007/05/27/politicizing-the-justice-department-bush-takes-a-page-from-his-father/

Reform will take awhile, but it's underway.

[Turborama]

21. k&R

[elleng]

23. Justice Plans New Antitrust Effort.

Source: nyt/ap

The Obama administration warned corporate America on Monday that the government will more aggressively investigate big firms that hurt smaller competitors, contending that lax enforcement by the Bush administration contributed to the current economic troubles.

Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney said the Justice Department is abandoning legal guidelines established by George W. Bush's administration in September 2008. Critics complained that the earlier instructions made it difficult to pursue antitrust cases against big firms.

Varney laid out the new policy in a speech to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank.

She said some of the economy's problems were due to the lack of enforcement in the previous 10 years -- a clear jab at the Bush administration, which, she said, raised too many hurdles to antitrust investigations.



Read more: http://nytimes.com/aponline/2009/05/11/us/politics/AP-US-Antitrust-Enforcement.html

---

AP analysis of Chief Varney's speech today.

[Captain Hilts]

24. This is good. Kudos to the Obama Administration. nt

[asp64064]

25. "Go Girl" You Can Start With The Following Cases - Better Build More Prisons

8 YEARS OF "LAW-LESS-NESS"

Samuel Lipari v. Novation 0816-04217
Appeal WD-70001 from case 0816-04217
Appeal SC-89644 from case WD-70001
Appeal WD-70534 from case 0816-04217
Appeal WD-70832 from case 0816-04217

Samuel Lipari v. GE Company 0616-07421
Transfer 06-0573 from case 0616-07421
Transfer 07-0849 from case 0616-07421
Appeal 08-3115 from case 07-0849

Samuel Lipari v. US Bancorp, NA 06-01012 From Case 0616-32307
Appeal 08-3087 from case 06-01012
Appeal 08-3984 from case 06-01012

Samuel Lipari v. US Bancorp, NA 07-02146
Appeal 08-3287 from case 07-02146
Appeal 08-3428 from case 07-02146
Appeal 08-3338 from case 07-02146
Appeal 08-3345 from case 07-02146

MSC v. Novation et al 05-0210
Transfer 05-2299 from case 05-0210
Appeal 06-3331 from case 05-2299
Appeal 08-3187 from case 05-2299

MSC v. GE Company 03-2324
Appeal 04-3075 & 04-3102 from case 03-2324

MSC v. US Bancorp, NA Appeal 03-3443 from case 02-2539