In a last-ditch effort to gin up momentum as the legislative calendar narrows, House and Senate sponsors of the “American Innovation and Choice Online Act” (AICOA) held a press conference Wednesday afternoon and attempted to mount a defense of the bill’s many problems.
Despite their assertions, the bill remains a big government Trojan horse that would give the Biden Administration new power to control American companies and reshape the economy. The bill is the single greatest active regulatory threat in the Democrat legislative agenda. Republican lawmakers should continue to hold firm and reject this bill.
The bill prevents companies with over $550 billion in revenue and 50 million monthly users from promoting their own private-label products or services next to competitors on their own platforms. If a bureaucrat determines that a company has unfairly preferenced its goods or services in a way that “materially harms competition,” a standard that has no precedent in American antitrust law, the government can fine a company up to 10 percent of its revenue. Talk about a chilling effect on new innovation or product development.
Bill sponsors wanting to ram AICOA through Congress before August recess put on a dog and pony show to distract from the bill’s fundamental flaws. AICOA sponsor Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) repeatedly said that he had “no clue” why he was at the press conference, and when attempting to articulate the bill’s impacts, amazingly said: “I don’t understand antitrust law.” Such a statement from the Ranking Member of the House Antitrust Subcommittee is frightening to say the least.
Sponsors seemed to be confused over what the bill actually does. While Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) claimed the bill will have no impact on content moderation, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Rep. Buck insisted that the bill would end Big Tech censorship of conservatives online.
Fact check: the bill contains no provision that would stop or even limit Big Tech censorship or conservatives. Instead, it puts four or five American companies in a “Mother-may-I” relationship with the federal government. If you think Silicon Valley censors are bad, imagine them teaming up with Washington bureaucrats to target even more conservatives online.
The disjointed, contradictory press conference distracted from a few key procedural hurdles the bill faces. AICOA, after over a year of legislative shenanigans, still has not been scheduled for a floor vote in either chamber of Congress. The closest Klobuchar could muster is saying that sponsored “were promised a vote.” None of the sponsors have announced that they have 60 Senate votes to clear the filibuster. As August recess approaches, both of these facts greatly complicate the bill’s journey to President Biden’s desk.
While Klobuchar claims that the bill has undergone well over one hundred changes, the most significant changes the bill has undergone are crony capitalist carveouts for select industries. The latest draft includes explicit exemptions for payment processors and telecommunications companies. While no industry should get whacked by AICOA’s new mandates, it is abundantly obvious that Klobuchar cares far more about securing carveouts for political allies than protecting consumers.
Despite the artificial display of bipartisan unity at the press conference, Democrats are in total disarray over the Klobuchar bill. In late May, Politico reported that several Senate Democrats consider AICOA a political liability because it does not address pocketbook issues voters overwhelmingly care about, like runaway inflation and $5/gallon gas prices. One Senate aide criticized the bill as Klobuchar’s “pet project,” while another aide asked “Does the Klobuchar bill reduce rising costs in the short term for consumers? No. So why would it be a focus between now and the election?”
Prominent Democrats are publicly throwing cold water on the legislation. Obama National Economic Council Director Larry Summers blasted the legislation, saying that the bill could “easily” increase inflationary pressure on American families. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) publicly demanded that the Senate take up gun control and climate legislation before considering any antitrust bills. In a May 10 op-ed for Cyberscoop, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.)came out against the antitrust bill, citing harm to his constituents and pressing national security concerns.
For the most part, conservatives have held together in opposition to the Klobuchar bill. Contrary to the assertions of some Republican supporters, the bill does nothing to stop conservative censorship online. Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist called AICOA“Schumer’s best chance to trick conservatives and Republicans into giving his left wing activists a huge victory.” A coalition of 35 free-market groups and activists recently released a letter opposed to the Klobuchar bill.
The nothingburger press conference made one thing abundantly clear – AICOA is far from a done deal. If sponsors had secured 60 votes or a firm commitment from leadership on a date for a floor vote, they would have said so today. The rest is just noise. Republican lawmakers should continue to hold firm against this Democrat antitrust power grab.