Atrioc

new business podcast LEMONADE STAND 🍋 check it out

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

@NoahZiems Same with internet companies in 01. Radio companies in 1920s.
Electric light companies in 1880s.
Canal companies in 1790s.

Surely different this time tho

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

@mtkonczal 50 pt hike minimum kev @federalreserve

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

@zfg111 Lmaoooo

[NBACentral @TheDunkCentral]

MVP.

[Lina Khan @linamkhan]

Why should Congressional Democrats investigate corporate America if their mandate is to deliver real economic change? Because investigations are a key catalyst for securing reform and legislation. For much of the last century, Congress used to be the main institutional player working to secure an economy that serves working people. A key tool was oversight. Lawmakers routinely investigated complex markets and major corporations, identifying problems and exposing wrongdoing. A major goal of these investigations was to learn what was driving certain problems and figure out how to fix them.

After Democrats took back the House during the first Trump administration in 2019, I joined the House Judiciary Committee as a staffer on the Antitrust Subcommittee. Under the terrific leadership of @RepJerryNadler and then-Rep @davidcicilline, we pursued an 18-month investigation into Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, securing key evidence of how their business practices were undermining competition and harming people, setting the basis for both lawsuits and proposed legislation.

A few lessons from that experience:

1. The quality of legislative oversight depends on the staff and the support of top members to confront power. Committee and Subcommittee Chairs that are focused on getting answers and unafraid to take on powerful corporate interests will make the difference between oversight that doesn’t surrender to their evasion tactics and oversight that aims low or flames out.

Even a relatively small number of dogged, talented lawyers ready to dive in can make a big impact. In the 1930s a single congressional lawyer, Ferdinand Pecora, helped reshape our entire banking system by subpoenaing records and interrogating top financiers, including J.P Morgan. The investigation exposed self-dealing, market manipulation, and tax avoidance, and laid the groundwork for foundational New Deal legislation, including the Glass-Steagall Act and the Securities Exchange Act.

2. Eliminating bottlenecks to moving investigations forward is key. For example, the House should make sure that Subcommittee Chairs can issue subpoenas rather than needing the sign-off of the full Committee or its Chair. A credible threat of sending subpoenas is critical for credible oversight.

3. Ensuring that members can develop the muscle to effectively interrogate CEOs requires investing in real preparation. In the lead up to the hearing with Bezos, Pichai, Cook, and Zuckerberg, the Antitrust Subcommittee spent months reviewing millions of documents collected from the firms, interviewing affected parties, briefing members on key evidence, and conducting practice hearings. Members came into the hearing deeply informed and able to rebut and call out CEO dissembling. The result was some of the most effective member questioning of executives we’ve seen in decades. @TheProspect wrote up a great overview: https://t.co/7BYC3UHFbW

4. For decades, institutional capacity in Congress has been extremely weak. Much of this traces back to the Gingrich Revolution, which was effectively the 1995 DOGE-ing of Congress. Republican leadership fired over 600 professional staffers, eliminated the Office of Technology Assessment, and gutted research capacity. None of that capacity was ever meaningfully restored.

As a result, members have way fewer resources to develop serious expertise or go deep on a new topic. Members should start rebuilding that capacity so the institution can fully play its Article I role, where Congress can again do serious policy development and legislating and serve as a real check on the executive and judicial branches.

5. AI markets should be high on the list of investigations. The business decisions of the major AI firms have huge public ramifications, yet the public is at a severe informational disadvantage when it comes to how these markets work and the choices these firms are making. A congressional investigation will help ensure future legislative action is based on a more complete view of what is going on rather than selective and partial corporate disclosures.

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

@Birdyword 🐐

[Lindsey Graham @LindseyGrahamSC]

If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed.......and we will deserve it.

[YIMBYLAND @YIMBYLAND]

Do you realize how bad you have to govern for this to happen?

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

@C4CEO GOOD CALL !!!

[Saint 🎄 @Saint_Cane]

Yk how bad you gotta be as a president for Texas to flip to blue

[Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump]

When I said that Hillary Clinton got schlonged by Obama, it meant got beaten badly. The media knows this. Often used word in politics!

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

elon bout to start tweeting like this again TOMORROW

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

@justwidle2 @Tesla Don’t buy our car if that’s a problem. People should be free to live their lives where their heart takes them ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤💖🌈

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

we literally got blue texas before gta 6

[Cameron 🇺🇸 🗽🦅 @CameronCorduroy]

if you're online STAY ONLINE.

the moment you stop scrolling is the moment we start losing Senate seats.

[diawlectical @diawlectical]

If you vote in a gymnasium they should let you hoop while you wait!!!

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

@jimcramer Maybe its really over this time...

[Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @NYCMayor]

Just last month, DoorDash couldn’t seem to find the money to pay their deliveristas — until our administration forced them to give back $131M+ in stolen wages and penalties.

This week, they’ve managed to find $17 billion to acquire one of their main competitors.

Corporate consolidation means higher prices, harsher exploitation, and greater economic inequality for New Yorkers.

We’ve stood up to these giants before. That doesn’t stop now.

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

@ddayen 🙏

[chris oldman © @AlsikkanTV]

no joke you might have saved his life

[Atrioc @Atrioc]

@NorthernIion_LP Deep cut LMAO