Note to Fiorina: "Big Government" Regulations Do Not CREATE Monopolies, They PREVENT Them.

[TrollBuster9090]

I get a little sick of the conservative trope that 'big government regulations' are what creates corporate welfare and socialism for the rich. In fact, those regulations were exactly what PREVENTED corporate welfare for most of our history; and only failed to do so when the White House was occupied by corporate cronies who practiced STEALTH DEREGULATION. (Stealth regulation being where you keep the regulatory agencies, but you either starve them for funding so that they can't do their job; or staff them with people who don't believe in what they're doing. Reagan and Bush Jr. were famous for doing both. It's like having a police department, but staffing it with police who never go out of the police station, and then turning around and saying "see? Having laws and police did nothing to lower crime, so we may as well get rid of them.&quot

HISTORY LESSON: In the late 19th Century most Americans were being oppressed under the weight of GIANT MONOPOLIES, CARTELS and TRUSTS who monopolized everything from water, to food, to transportation; and fleeced their customers with price fixing and lack of competition.

The United States did not enjoy an ECONOMIC BOOM, and a lowering of the cost of living until PROGRESSIVES brought in LAWS that actually BANNED MONOPOLIES and PRICE FIXING, and FORCED big companies to compete with each other. Those laws included:

The Sherman Act of 1890
The Clayton Act of 1914
The Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914

If you want an example of what life in the United States would be like without "Big Government Regulations" on business, just go back to 1850. But please, don't take the rest of us with you.

[elleng]

1. Did she really say that???

Couldn't watch for more than 5 minutes.

[TrollBuster9090]

4. I'm afraid she did, and I'm still cleaning the vomit off of my carpet. nt

[left on green only]

2. I Really Hope That Someone Publishes A MSM Fact Check On That Entire Debate

and then photo shops a group photo of all of the candidates standing on stage with their long noses.

[TrollBuster9090]

6. Hah! I wish! :) nt

[bullwinkle428]

3. THANK YOU. I was screaming "SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST" when she brought that up.

[TrollBuster9090]

5. I'm glad at least we progressives know the truth. Just sad that not one of the so-called

so called 'economic' pundits on the panel said anything.

[SDjack]

7. When she was CEO of HP, she bought Compaq, with the clear

intention of moving HP in position to be a monopoly in manufacturing PC in USA. Looks like to me that CEOs make monopolies.

[TrollBuster9090]

9. Yep. I don't know what else you can call it when a company that makes computers absorbs a company

that makes printers than the beginnings of an attempt to corner the market on a particular technology. Left to their own devices, businesses try to ELIMINATE competition. Who wouldn't? It's only natural. Why that would be a surprise to anybody is a mystery to me.

Probably the most insidious lie to come out of the Reagan era was the idea that deregulation of business always leads to better outcomes, lower prices etc.; and that the free market can solve every problem.

[SDjack]

14. In the late 1990s, I had a Compaq PC. It was compatible with the

IBM PC, thanks to a successful reverse engineering. Would have bought another, but Carly bought Compaq, likely to get that work. When my Compaq died, I got a Toshiba -- an excellent machine that was undermined by the MS operating system. Mid-1990s, got a Mac and never regretted it. I never considered getting a HP machine after Carly became its CEO. She is about profits at the expense of quality.

[ibegurpard]

8. theoretically

Unless regulatory agencies are staffed by industry insiders or politicians responsible for funding said regulatory agencies are doing the bidding of interested industries. Regulations are only effective when you have a government that is not corrupted. We must overhaul our campaign system with constitutional protections.

[HughBeaumont]

10. Libertarians use this "GUBMINT CAWSES MUNOPOLEES" a lot.

Bullshit then and bullshit now.

[TrollBuster9090]

13. Absolutely! The only problem is that in the good old days people used to laugh at them.

Now that ridiculous notion has become "common knowledge."

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. Counterpoint: Martin Shkreli

"Government regulation" is the entire reason he can charge whatever he wants.

[TrollBuster9090]

12. Pappa John's Pizza

"Obamacare is why I'm doubling the price of my pizzas, and cutting your wages."

We've really got to start calling them on their bullshit.

[Captain Stern]

15. She doesn't need your note.

She's not ignorant or uninformed, and she's certainly not stupid. She knows what she's saying is bullshit. All of them do.

They know that the things they say aren't true. They are just banking on enough of the rest of us to believe them.

[TrollBuster9090]

16. I agree. nt