Robert Reich should be making ALL Democrats use this stuff for their campaigns. It's sickening......

[a kennedy]

‪Robert Reich‬
‪@rbreich.bsky.social‬

Five corporations control 90% of the US media market.

Airlines merged from 12 major carriers in 1980 to 4 today.

Four giants control 80% of meat processing.

A handful of companies control the pharmaceutical industry.

The evidence of corporate concentration is everywhere

[Hassin Bin Sober]

1. If we had listened to Bernie Sanders we wouldn't be in this mess.

No more wine-cave politics. No more “turns.” No more nepo babies and entitled other family members (spouses and children).

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

2. CVS and Walgreens dominate pharmacy. Supermarkets consolidating more and more

[Ritabert]

5. They tried to merge Kroger and Albertsons. Fell apart for now.

[sunflowerseed]

3. Corporate monopolys! Should be illegal

[Ocelot II]

6. They are, when you have a DoJ that cares about enforcing the Sherman Act.

[IbogaProject]

36. Also takes judges not from the class who own or hope to own lots of stock

It took forever to "break up Ma Bell", it mostly all remerged back into Verizon within 15 to 20 years.

[Mossfern]

20. I thought they were ....

[ProfessorGAC]

22. And, You Were Correct

But, the recent business outcomes suggest the regulators have drastically changed the definition of "monopoly".
Apparently, it's not a monopoly unless ONE company holds 80 or 90% of production, even though "soft" price fixing is obvious.

[Greg_In_SF]

4. I think it would be more wise

to concentrate on the issues that voters themselves say are their top concerns, none of which are included in Robert's list.

[a kennedy]

7. Right, "everything is so expensive" is the concern AND IF THEY UNDERSTOOD WHAT Robert

is saying they might realize why prices are so expensive!!!! Oh, and just my humble opinion.

[DFW]

12. Not included, granted, but not unrelated, either.

Food is more expensive if three guys get together to fix the prices, less expensive if they are prevented from doing it, and forced to compete. As always, it’s more complicated than a few slogans can explain.

[KPN]

13. This does address what is at the top of voters' list ... the economy.

The relative lack of competition today absolutely effects consumer prices and worker wages.

[IbogaProject]

37. This consolidation also harms job mobility

It is easier to get black balled if there are only a few Human Resource departments in your industry.

[mwmisses4289]

8. Does sorta contradict that whole "we love competion, it's good for the market" nonsense these ceos keep spouting,

doesn't it?

[WestMichRad]

10. If you have two companies in a given business...

… that’s enough for competition, right?

[ProfessorGAC]

23. It Does, Indeed

And, the markets have been rigged to reduce competition.
Take the refining industry, for instance.
Allowing the refined product (gasoline, kerosene, diesel) to be market commonditized, the incentive to compete to being the low cost provider evaporated.
They simply don't have to compete on price. And, the move to move to this "market model" was done by the very people that have always trumpeted the value of competition.

[JustAnotherGen]

9. It would fall flat in the NJ 7th

People here are mad about:

Threats to ACA Subsidies
The SALT Cap lift was not put back where it was
Our money being given to people who look down on us and then misused
Threats to our commute times
Energy Costs

Also - Many work in big Pharma. So that point isn't going to move them.

[TheRickles]

11. We're well on our way to Vonnegut's RAMJAC corporation that owned just about everything in America.

[DFW]

14. Or Robert Ludlum's Matarese Circle.

All “per nostro circolo.”

[comradebillyboy]

33. A thoroughly engrossing pot boiler from the

distant past.

[state of stupid]

17. Either that or BNL from WALL-E that did seem to own everything including the government.

[Farmer-Rick]

15. That is what you call Monopolies

Monopolies always cause prices to increase, unless regulations control their pricing. If you can only get a thing from two or three companies it doesn't take a genius to figure out how much each company is charging. Then they continually increase their prices at the same time, going up and up and up..... because there is no competition. It's indirect price fixing.

Monopolies are the cause of much fewer jobs, especially if you are in a hollow service economy. If you have 10 companies doing the same thing and they buy each other out to the point where there are only 2 companies, then 8 of those companies will be laying off all their workers.

It's pretty easy to figure out why just a few number of companies in each business causes inflation and price increases. Unless our democracy steps in to stop these job layoffs and surging prices they will continue to monopolize, cut jobs and up the cost of everything.

[Puppyjive]

16. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern

This is a merger to be worried about. It will be a monopoly if it is approved. They haul everything you could imagine and will monopolize on shipping prices. I feel like we are going backwards, towards the Gilded Age.

[Dave says]

35. We're well past the dimensions of the Gilded Age

[popsdenver]

18. Orwell had it right in 1984

except for one thing.......it isn't the government we should watch out for, it was the Corporations.......

US Republican owned/operated Corporations, especially since CITIZENS UNITED, has been directly and indirectly in charge of all the Republican Politicians.

The Republican Party is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Corporations........
Any day now, I expect the Republican House and Senate, with the blessing of the Republican Supreme Court justices will change the name,
from the United States of America, to their new name: The United Corporations of America....or The Fascist Corporations of America....
(They are already 99.99% there folks, like it or not)

[ret5hd]

25. fascism is the appropriation of...

government by corporations.

[pansypoo53219]

19. and AMAZON is not a monopoly........

[S/V Loner]

21. If we had listened to those that wanted to be much tougher on...

the Confederacy we wouldn’t be where we are now.

[BaronChocula]

24. It would be effective... eventually

It wouldn't move the needle in the upcoming cycle since support for Dems is already baked in without that wisdom. But long term, it would help for every Dem to repeat those points always. That's what it takes for slightly more esoteric messages to get through to thick skulls.

[NCDem47]

26. Trump and allies are going to move heaven and earth

..to get some RW multi-billionaire to snatch up Warner Brothers (home to HBO, CNN, Discovery Channel).

[Midnight Writer]

27. Can anyone think of a corporate merger/takeover that resulted in better service and value for the customer?

I'd like one example. I can't think of any.

I can, however, go on at length about business takeovers that screwed the customers and the workers that built the business.

[SharonAnn]

30. And then declared bankruptcy after stealing all the assets.

[GiqueCee]

28. And the magnitude of their evil...

... can only be measured in astronomical terms.

[Clouds Passing]

29. ENFORCE THE SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST ACT!

[Kid Berwyn]

31. Same monopolists who own all that own Washington DC.

Not every individual, but the institutions: Wall Street-on-the-Potomac owns the White House, Congress and Supreme Court.

[Wounded Bear]

32. Don't see how Reich can compel any Dem to use his numbers in a campaign...

Great sounding idea, but candidates will run their own campaigns, for better or worse.

Congresscritters and candidates for the job need to morph those numbers into facts that fit their local district. All politics are local.

[Beowulf42]

34. I have

Been saying this for years. The rich don't want some of the money. They don't want most of the money. They want all of the money. When the competition for the richest person is over it will be one man or woman standing on the dead heap of our nation. Alone. But the richest.