Antitrust Chief Hits Resistance in Crackdown

[RamboLiberal]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama’s top antitrust official and some senior Democratic lawmakers are preparing to rein in a host of major industries, including airline and railroad giants, moving so aggressively that they are finding some resistance from officials within the administration.

The official, Christine A. Varney, the antitrust chief at the Justice Department, has begun examining complaints by the phone companies Verizon and AT&T that their rivals — major cable operators like Cablevision and Cox Communications — improperly prevent them from buying sports shows and other programs that the cable companies produce, industry lawyers said.

At the request of some lawmakers, notably Senator Bernard Sanders, independent of Vermont, Ms. Varney is examining whether small agricultural operations are being hampered unfairly by large food processors, particularly in the milk industry, congressional aides said.

Ms. Varney has also challenged agreements that the Federal Trade Commission and consumer groups say discourage pharmaceutical companies from marketing more generic drugs. And she is examining a settlement between Google and book publishers and authors to make more books available online.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/business/26antitrust.html?hp

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I want names of Obama officials who are blocking this kind of thing! I'm getting sick of this crap! That's not what I voted for.

[elleng]

1. I understand your frustration.

Please understand that the 'competition' issues concerning air and rail are long-standing, have been related to political considerations for ages, and simply cannot be resolved quickly, either politically or legally. If you'd like to discuss those, you may pm me.

[strategery blunder]

2. I think it's misdirected.

While I do not deny that antitrust is a major problem in transportation, I want the BANKS broken up first. :grr:

[Vidar]

3. They need to start antitrust action with banking & media first.

[PainPerdu]

5. How about starting with......

WalMart?

After all, they busted up the A&P many years ago .

[DLnyc]

4. This is one of the more hopeful signs I've seen.

Unchecked monopoly power is one of the biggest underlying problems we face, in my opinion. Where we start is perhaps less important than the fact that we do start.

[elleng]

6. Excellent point, DLnyc.

[ShamelessHussy]

7. Wake me when they go after the Big Boyz e.g. Goldman Sachs

They defraud the whole world and then they get PAID to do it all over again.

Crazy.