WASHINGTON – In a policy briefing held recently on Capitol Hill, Competitiveness Coalition member, President of the American Action Forum and former Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Holtz-Eakin raised alarm bells about the left’s approach to antitrust reform and the harm it threatens to inflict on consumers. The conversation focused on the American Innovation and Choice Online (AICO) Act, S.2992 and Open App Markets Act, S.2710.
Consumers should be concerned that policymakers are making decisions on their behalf without consultation and “overriding the power of consumer choice…that’s not the way America was built,” warned Holtz-Eakin.
The misguided antitrust efforts led by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) are not principled, rather, “there’s ad hoc criteria that are imposed instead… that changes the focus from the consumer, who we should care about, to how many competitors there are… and what’s happening to those competitors,” Holtz-Eakin commented further.
Holtz-Eakin was joined at the briefing by former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien, who detailed the national security threats and implications of the activist-backed AICO Act. O’Brien said leading Chinese technology companies would be popping champagne in celebration should Congress pass the proposed antitrust legislation.
The event was moderated by Scott Brown, former U.S. Senator and Ambassador to New Zealand, and hosted by the Competitiveness Coalition.
Additional video links to notable excerpts from the event can be found below. For more information, please visit competitivenesscoalition.com. Members of the press can contact the coalition at press@competitivenesscoalition.com.
Doug Holtz-Eakin: The AICO Is An Example Of Overriding The Power Of Consumer Choice
Doug Holtz-Eakin: No One Has Ever Confused Europe As A Hot Bed Of Innovation
Doug Holtz-Eakin: The Klobuchar Approach Changes Focus Away From The Consumer
Ambassador Robert O’Brien: The AICO Act Will Stifle American Tech Innovation
Ambassador Robert O’Brien: We Cannot Allow The Chinese Communist Party To Dominate Tech
Ambassador Scott Brown: It’s Telling That Left Wing Politicians Are Supporting The AICO