Congress has a lot on its plate in the coming weeks. When lawmakers leave D.C. for August recess, midterm campaigning will begin and legislative activity will grind to a halt.
The largest active regulatory threat in the progressive agenda is S. 2992, the “American Innovation and Choice Online Act” (AICOA) sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.). If implemented, the legislation would increase government control over the economy and make inflation worse for American families.
Republicans should focus on addressing bread-and-butter issues relevant to voters instead of going along with the left’s antitrust crusade. Despite what bill sponsors claim, recent polling confirms that AICOA has zero authentic public support as issues like inflation and crime are top of mind for American families.
Even though a very small handful of Republican lawmakers have unfortunately expressed support for the Klobuchar bill, the conservative movement sees the bill for what it is – a blatant government power grab. A coalition of more than 45 center-right groups and activists, including Americans for Tax Reform, sent a letter this week to Capitol Hill urging Republicans to reject AICOA.
For conservatives, the Klobuchar bill’s original sin is that it expands government control over the economy by outlawing a slew of routine business activity for companies above a government-determined size. If business conduct is bad, it should be illegal for every business, not just firms that politicians think are too big.
Bill supporters promise that S. 2992 only applies to four or five technology companies, but legislating via market capitalization in this fashion opens the door for future sectoral regulation. While the tech sector may be on the chopping block today, any industry that does not comply with the left’s social agenda will be in the hot seat tomorrow. The bill would hand progressives a permanent weapon to use to bring companies and industries under government control.
Adding insult to injury, the bill does nothing to address legitimate conservative concerns with Big Tech censorship. Some Democrats are even pushing an amendment that would make censorship worse.
These significant problems have made it difficult for the bill to garner any traction with the American people. A new poll from NetChoice and Echelon Insights shows just how little of a priority antitrust reform is for voters, with inflation clocking in as the top priority for Americans. 85 percent of Americans believe that proposals like the Klobuchar bill would make inflation worse. Only 1 percent of voters say tech regulation is a major priority – when asked about specific proposals, only 5 percent of voters named antitrust as a priority.
Voters are right – the Klobuchar bill would make inflation worse, not better. The bill bans targeted companies from promoting their own private-label products next to competing products on the platform, called “self-preferencing.” A self-preferencing ban would deprive shoppers of products that are often more affordable than the name brands – Costco “self-preferences” all the time when it sells Kirkland cereal next to Captain Crunch. As inflation stretches household budgets to their breaking points, the last thing hardworking American families need is less access to affordable household staples.
The Echelon poll dovetails with another recent poll from the Trafalgar Group, which shows a whopping 0.1 percent of voters view antitrust reform as their top priority. Zero percent of voters ages 18-64 named antitrust reform as their vote-moving issue. A recent Gallup survey of 2,000 Americans showed inflation again as the top priority – antitrust reform did not rank. This is hardly the grassroots momentum that bill sponsors bragabout.
The bill’s fundamental flaws combined with zero genuine public support for antitrust reform have made it impossible for Klobuchar to garner the votes to send the legislation to President Biden’s desk. Over and over again, Klobuchar and her allies have breathlessly declared that they have the 60 Senate votes necessary to pass the legislation. Yet, the Washington Post called every Senate office and only found 17 Senators that support the Klobuchar bill.
Despite what supporters say, there is zero genuine public appetite for the sweeping antitrust reforms in the Klobuchar bill. The conservative, free-market community knowsS. 2992 is a Trojan horse for a massive expansion in the size and scope of the federal government. Instead of following progressives down an antitrust rabbit hole, Republicans should listen to the voters and focus on issues that actually matter.
Tom Hebert is federal affairs manager at Americans for Tax Reform and executive director of the Open Competition Center.
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