Obama’s antitrust cop to step down

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

President Obama’s top antitrust cop, Christine Varney, is stepping down from her post to join a prestigious law firm, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Varney came into her job with high expectations that she would launch landmark cases against increasingly dominant firms such as Google. But she leaves for a senior position at Cravath, Swaine & Moore amid disappointment from some antitrust watchers and consumer advocates who say the Justice Department has been too soft on industry giants.

Under Varney, the Justice Department approved the controversial marriage of Ticketmaster and LiveNation, Google’s acquisition of a powerful travel software firm, and NBC’s merger with Comcast. In each of these instances, Varney tried attaching limits on how the companies could behave.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obamas-antitrust-cop-to-step-down/2011/07/06/gIQApS630H_story.html

[ixion]

1. So long, and thanks for nothing

[rug]

2. Nothing to do. I think it was a layoff.

[Angry Dragon]

3. Anything too-big-to fail should come under anti-trust

[Wilms]

4. She got what she wanted.

An opportunity to demonstrate her ability to protect the interests of corporations, those she was sworn to scrutinize.

Nice.

To be fair, her Wiki page shows a few decent efforts, but also a number of giants she defended. Her pedigree has a whiff of DLC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_A._Varney

[hay rick]

5. Cop couldn't eat any more doughnuts. nt.

[21st Century FDR]

6. We need some Roosevelt spirits haunting this administration.

FDR on the economic team and cousin Teddy in the Justice department. These recent mergers (Comcast/NBC & Ticketbastard/Live Nation) were appalling. As was Chase taking over Washington Mutual or the pending AT&T/T-Mobile thing

[yourout]

7. Never knew we had one......Has anyone ever been paid more for less accomplishment?

[aquart]

8. Did she have a nice rest?

[Springer9]

9. Looks like Cravath needed an infusion of new blood and an

insider to boot, their profits have slipped a bit,

In 2010, Cravath was ranked fifth in The American Lawyer's annual listing of highest profits per partner. In 2008, Cravath posted profits per partner of $3,300,000—the second most among all firms. While Cravath had for many years generated the highest profits per partner of any large law firm worldwide, rival New York firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, the mergers and acquisitions powerhouse, has generated larger profits during the last several years, earning profits per partner of $4,945,000 in 2008. In addition, several other New York law firms, such as Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft ($2,725,000); Simpson Thacher & Bartlett ($2,875,000); and Sullivan & Cromwell ($3,055,000) have recently generated profits per partner approaching Cravath's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cravath,_Swaine_%26_Moore

[tpsbmam]

10. And who are some of Cravath, Swain & Moore's clients?

...notable roster of longstanding clients, which include JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP’s New York-centered antitrust practice handles litigation, advisory work and investigations, and its traditional strength in litigation has been supplemented by a substantial increase in merger-related work. The firm has experience of working in most industry sectors but has a particularly strong focus in cable, media, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, airlines, consumer products, high-tech hardware and software, and financial services.

What a crock of shit. How the fuck do these people, meaning Obama and his minions, sleep at night?

[Hubert Flottz]

13. "Obama and his minions, sleep at night"

In featherbeds

[hay rick]

17. Rust never sleeps. nt

[0rganism]

11. wait, we had someone doing anti-trust this whole time?

Must've been a black-ops thing, some kind of super-secret squirrel ninja post, cos I've never heard of it (or Varney) before now.

[marasinghe]

12. trustbusting is so early 20th century,

to give her credit, she did try to bring some comic relief to the main agenda.
from the O/P: ".... Under Varney, the Justice Department approved the controversial marriage of Ticketmaster and LiveNation, Google’s acquisition of a powerful travel software firm, and NBC’s merger with Comcast. In each of these instances, Varney tried attaching limits on how the companies could behave ...."

[ashling]

14. Who knew ??

Who knew that Obama had an antitrust cop?:shrug:

[Paulap]

15. That's exacty what I was thinking.

How come I have never heard of this person?

[Thor_MN]

16. We had an anti-trust cop? Didn't Varney die a while back?

I mean, the Ernest Worell thing was funny for a bit, but grew old quickly.