“We have to make it so painful that generations from now CEOs will flinch at the idea of business corruptly teaming up with government.”
Corporations and broligarchs who pander to Donald Trump need a reality check. He will not be in power forever. And when MAGA ends up in the dumpster fire of history, much of Trumpdom will be undone.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) has some words of warning to those who manipulate Trump to bypass fair business practices.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) warned business leaders who he sees as cozying up to President Donald Trump to get mergers approved that once Democrats return to power, “we’re going to break up your companies.” Gallego made the comment to Semafor, and it was included in a larger piece about Democrats weighing “how harshly to go after firms that courted Trump.” The article ran amid the news that Paramount, a company owned by Trump ally David Ellison, is moving closer to a takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery – which would include major media properties like CNN. If the merger were to go through, CNN, CBS, HBO Max, and various other media behemoths would all be under one roof. “Once we take power, whoever the president is, we’re going to break up your companies,” Gallego told Semafor. “So all the investment you did to create these mergers are going to be for naught. Your investors are going to be pissed at you, and you’re likely going to end up getting fired as the CEO because you wasted so much money and corrupted yourself in the process.” The Arizona Democrat later added on social media, “We have to make it so painful that generations from now CEOs will flinch at the idea of business corruptly teaming up with government.”
Antitrust laws are being ignored. During the Progressive Era of the early 20th century, Standard Oil was broken up into 39 separate companies. In the early 1980s, AT&T's near monopoly over telephone service and phones was ended.
The growing 21st century monopolies in tech, communications, and entertainment are bad enough by themselves. What makes them worse is that they and their owners are having an inordinate influence on government. This is corruption at the highest level and needs to be ended.
