{"articles":[{"reaction_config":[{"text":"Support","color":"#2ca788","stance":"support"},{"text":"Oppose","color":"#ef3e42","stance":"oppose"}],"id":23337,"title":"Elizabeth Warren’s Trust-Busting Plan Eyes Silicon Valley Mergers","html_content":"

by Axios | 3.11.19

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren on Friday unveiled a tech trust-busting plan that would theoretically undo some of the past decade's most influential mergers, including Facebook's 2012 acquisition of Instagram, Google's 2007 deal for DoubleClick, and Amazon's 2017 purchase of Whole Foods Markets.

What to watch: Other companies affected could theoretically include Apple and Walmart, although Warren didn't explicitly call them out. Warren has repeatedly said on the campaign trail that she is a capitalist, not a socialist, but that she believes America's current application of capitalism is so lawless as to be counterproductive.

Silicon Valley, so far, is largely rolling its eyes. Warren remains a long-shot to get the Democratic Party nomination, let alone win the presidency.

Even if elected, she couldn't implement her plan by fiat. She'd need Congressional help for much of it, including approval for her hand-picked regulators, and inevitably would face court challenges on forced divestitures.
President Trump expressed opposition to AT&T's Time Warner acquisition during the campaign and his DOJ sued to block the deal. He lost.
Big tech believes that consumers are more concerned with privacy than with power.

I spoke to several tech deal-makers over the weekend, and none of them said that Warren's plan is causing even a tentative hiccup in their active pipeline.

But, but, but: Donald Trump was a long-shot to get the Republican Party nomination, let alone win the presidency.

There well could be Congressional support for such a plan if Democrats take control of both chambers, particularly given that it's really a tech-targeted version of the \"Better Deal\" plan released in mid-2017.
Courts are currently hamstrung a bit by current antitrust law, which hasn't been updated much since J.P. Morgan was known more as a person than as a bank. Change the laws, change the rulings.
Big tech has been shown to have a tin ear when it comes to the consequences of its actions.
Tech deal-makers don't care if they close a merger tomorrow that gets unwound in three years. The advisory fees don't get refunded.

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Constitutionalist. Reformed liberal feminist. 💙 🇮🇱","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"tituswife","issue_count":13,"is_following":null,"influence_score":1260,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":36,"following_count":33,"position_count":450,"id":"zmJ7JBA9","partner_id":null},{"name":"ManfromNebraska","vote_count":463,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/BZe7DYq9/large_bze7dyq9-1544809772.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/BZe7DYq9/small_bze7dyq9-1544809772.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/BZe7DYq9/tiny_bze7dyq9-1544809772.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/BZe7DYq9/following","followers":"/api/users/BZe7DYq9/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"manfromnebraska","issue_count":28,"is_following":null,"influence_score":4790,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":149,"following_count":115,"position_count":467,"id":"BZe7DYq9","partner_id":null},{"name":"Mark","vote_count":208,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/zmJ1aJnZ/large_zmj1ajnz-1535417296.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/zmJ1aJnZ/small_zmj1ajnz-1535417296.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/zmJ1aJnZ/tiny_zmj1ajnz-1535417296.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/zmJ1aJnZ/following","followers":"/api/users/zmJ1aJnZ/followers"},"about_me":"Conservative. Shocked I was once a registered Democrat. I stayed the same but the Democrat party moved so far to the left it lost me. Permanently. My Favorite Quote is from Margaret Thatcher: The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money to spend.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":56,"is_following":null,"influence_score":5020,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":192,"following_count":466,"position_count":195,"id":"zmJ1aJnZ","partner_id":null},{"name":"KAG-2020","vote_count":117,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9XKgrVB7/large_9xkgrvb7-1563238770.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9XKgrVB7/small_9xkgrvb7-1563238770.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/9XKgrVB7/tiny_9xkgrvb7-1563238770.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/9XKgrVB7/following","followers":"/api/users/9XKgrVB7/followers"},"about_me":"It’s Easier to Fool People- Than to convince them that they have been fooled: Mark Twain. For Decades- the world has been dominated by a process called Globalization- the securitization of the worlds political and economic systems- that hollows out and erodes a counties traditions, customs, and religions- all the while conditioning populations to rely on the expertise of a tiny class of technocrats for every aspect of their social and Economic lives. Globalization/The Left/DNC aim to Fool/Scare and Threaten Americans by means of 24/7 MSM/Media Matters/Groups such as Soros Open Society Foundation/ANTIFA/BLM and Indoctrination-Grade Threats on College Campuses and School Districts to force this new cultural concept on all Americans. The Left represents Total Control/Fascism of American lives and culture. This is abundantly clear with DNC actions on Bills/Laws at the state level and Congress. 1A and 2A are under attack- should this fall- the remainder is a cake walk for a Fascist/Globalist DNC Government. DNC supporters speak of returning to Honor and Honestly- and have no concept they have been Fooled by false heavenly narratives of Globalization- which will ultimately ENSLAVE them- and all Americans. When they willing give up their Individual rights for the FALSE notions of the Greater good and Fairness for All- and then realize they have become powerless. The greater good is Always Individual Powers/rights, Individual Choice and Individual culture. The Current Democratic’s want to take this away from you- and you’ll never get it back. Go to bed at night knowing the DNC wants Total Control of your Life, Speech, Thinking and Checking Account. They will stop at nothing to take that from you. The question remains- How did we get here??","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":"","slug":"kag-2020","issue_count":11,"is_following":null,"influence_score":1530,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":59,"following_count":59,"position_count":102,"id":"9XKgrVB7","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":763799,"body":"Apple, Facebook et al, are not the targets here. Companies like Walmart are. Liberal social med companies are the friends of Democrats, and will not be harmed. ","parent_type":"Article","parent_id":23337,"created_at":"2019-03-11T20:30:01.888Z","liked":false,"like_count":3,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/comments/763799","likers":"https://www.causes.com/api/v1/likers?likeable_id=763799&likeable_type=Comment"},"article_id":23337,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/comments/763799.png","note":{"text":"Oppose","color":"#ef3e42","stance":"oppose"},"note_text":"Oppose","note_color":"#ef3e42","user_id":"zmJ7JBA9","liker_ids":["BZe7DYq9","zmJ1aJnZ","9XKgrVB7"]}}

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