Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumIf Warren President, Facebook's Zuckerberg Will Sue: 'You go to the mat and fight'
July should have been a relief for Facebook. The company accepted a $5 billion fine from the Federal Trade Commission over privacy issues, after having essentially set the terms of the agreement itself. It settled a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleged that it had misled investors about the risks of user data being mishandled, for a relatively paltry $100 million. And Facebook reported stellar quarterly earnings on July 24th, beating investor expectations and sending its stock price up.
But inside the company, the mood remained anxious. Several 2020 presidential candidates, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), had called for Facebook to be broken up. Libra, a Facebook-created cryptocurrency, had run into strong resistance from regulators around the world who worried that it could destabilize the global financial system.
Employees had questions about Zuckerberg himself Why had the CEO declined multiple requests to appear at government hearings in Europe? and worried about Facebooks increasingly dim reputation among their peers.
"You have someone like Elizabeth Warren who thinks that the right answer is to break up the companies ... if she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge. And does that still suck for us? Yeah. I mean, I dont want to have a major lawsuit against our own government. ... But look, at the end of the day, if someones going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight."
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/1/20756701/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-leak-audio-ftc-antitrust-elizabeth-warren-tiktok-comments
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)one of them.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
DrFunkenstein
(8,745 posts)Amazon wasn't demised before Whole Foods and Marketplace.
You're being ridiculously alarmist, and sounding ridiculous in the process.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)vehicle right now, repeal the tax cut, give back the mortgage deduction and stop taxing the sale of homes for the middle class, deal with the economy...because it is slipping. Let's have a manufacturing plan which incorporates green energy to help with jobs in the rust belt and the south...replace shuttered factory jobs of old. I also question whether making this an issue will work in the general. Let's put our efforts into a public option...and tax reform so that companies like the ones mentioned in the articles pay their fair share.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
DrFunkenstein
(8,745 posts)Heres my plan for that: Invest $2 trillion over the next ten years in green research, manufacturing, and exporting linking American innovation directly to American jobs, and helping achieve the ambitious targets of the Green New Deal.
My plan has three elements:
Green Apollo Program a commitment to leading the world in developing and manufacturing the revolutionary clean energy technology the world will need, like the way we invested in innovative science to win the race to the moon. That means $400 billion in funding over the next ten years for clean energy research and development more than ten times what we invested in the last ten years. It means the creation of a National Institutes of Clean Energy. And it means provisions to ensure that taxpayers capture some of the upside of their research investments and that our research dollars result in manufacturing in the United States, not offshore.
Green Industrial Mobilization a commitment to using the full power of the federal procurement process to spur innovation and create demand for American-made clean energy products, like how we mobilized our industrial base during World War II. That means a $1.5 trillion federal procurement commitment over the next ten years to purchase American-made clean, renewable, and emission-free energy products for federal, state, and local use, and for export. The United States is currently projected to spend roughly $1.5 trillion in the next ten years on defense procurement a bloated number thats far beyond what we need to keep ourselves safe. We should spend at least that much on purchasing American-made clean energy technology to address the climate crisis that threatens us all.
Green Marshall Plan a commitment to using all the tools in our diplomatic and economic arsenal to encourage other countries to purchase and deploy American-made clean energy technology. This includes a new federal office dedicated to selling American-made clean, renewable, and emission-free energy technology abroad and a $100 billion commitment to assisting countries to purchase and deploy this technology.
https://medium.com/@teamwarren/my-green-manufacturing-plan-for-america-fc0ad53ab614
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
jcgoldie
(11,631 posts)FFS... GOP talking points much?
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)They now encourage medicaid expansion where available and tough shit if it is not available. Why no mention of this? I have a bank and a 401 k..I want the economy to grow...as for talking points, these are concerns for many Americans...and candidates discount this at their own peril. I don't believe breaking up the banks, going after Wall Street etc...are issues that will win voters over to our side.
I also keep in touch with family on Facebook.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
DrFunkenstein
(8,745 posts)Around six-in-ten U.S. adults (63%) say the nations economic system unfairly favors powerful interests, compared with a third (33%) who say it is generally fair to most Americans, according to the Pew Research Center.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
DrFunkenstein
(8,745 posts)The surfacing of grievances between Ms. Warren and Mr. Zuckerberg has the effect of publicly pitting one of the leading Democratic candidates for president against the head of the worlds largest social network, at a time when Silicon Valley in general and Facebook in particular continue to be scrutinized for their efforts to combat disinformation and prevent election interference in 2020 and beyond.
...
In her proposal, Ms. Warren argues that the tech giants have essentially developed monopolies they have bulldozed competition, used our private information for profit, and tilted the playing field against everyone else.
Her plan calls for legislation that would prohibit platforms like Amazon from both offering a marketplace for commerce and participating in that marketplace; appointing regulators to undo some tech mergers; and rolling back some acquisitions by tech giants, such as Facebooks deals for WhatsApp and Instagram.
By offering a steady diet of detailed policy proposals, Ms. Warren has grown her following significantly and risen to the top of the polls. Her plans to reshape the government extend to areas like the economy and education, where she has called for a wealth tax and canceling student loan debt.
We have these giant corporations do I have to tell that to people in Long Island City? that think they can roll over everyone, Ms. Warren told a crowd there earlier this year, after Amazon pulled out of plans to build a new campus in the neighborhood. Im sick of freeloading billionaires.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-mark-zuckerberg-facebook.html
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)with much of that. I also think the courts will knock it down.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
NoMoreRepugs
(9,435 posts)and it be proven Facebook is a threat to national security I wouldn't hold my breath on it surviving intact.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BeyondGeography
(39,374 posts)Big Money attacks only make her supporters more loyal. They also have the effect of growing her base.
Carry on, Zuck.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)but perception is reality. It will not grow her base IMHO...might make her current base more faithful but won't help with the general. These are not kitchen table policy initiatives which will appeal to voters outside of her base.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
BeyondGeography
(39,374 posts)Good to see you keeping your record intact.
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)appetite for this outside of the base. Where I live, we are facing an economy hit hard by the GM strike...hubs will be out of a job soon if this continues...and honestly at this moment, I don't give two shits about Facebook or breaking up banks.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
bullwinkle428
(20,629 posts)do care about how Facebook is regulated with regards to the 2020 election.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)And we should be careful not to make laws that will later be abused by the GOP.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
DrFunkenstein
(8,745 posts)Elizabeth Warren released a sweeping new trade plan Monday that would seek to defend American jobs by negotiating to raise global labor and environmental standards.
"As President, I won't hand America's leverage to big corporations to use for their own narrow purposes -- I'll use it to create and defend good American jobs, raise wages and farm income, combat climate change, lower drug prices, and raise living standards worldwide," Warren wrote in a new Medium post.
"We will engage in international trade -- but on our terms and only when it benefits American families."
She will take her pitch to the Rust Belt with a campaign event in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday night ahead of the two-night second Democratic debate in Detroit, Michigan, hosted by CNN.
The Massachusetts senator wrote that she would not strike any trade deals unless partner countries meet a series of ambitious preconditions regarding human rights, religious freedom and labor and environmental practices, among other issues.
She said she would renegotiate existing free trade agreements to ensure other countries with meet the higher standards some of which the United States itself doesn't currently meet, such as being a party to the Paris climate agreement as well.
She also pledged to push for a new "non-sustainable economy" designation to give her the ability to punish countries with poor labor and environmental practices.
The far-reaching plan fits with her record on trade issues, highlighting her focus on protecting labor interests over those of big corporations, as well as holding countries the United States trades with to tougher standards. The trade agenda is the third proposal in Warren's "economic patriotism" theme unveiled earlier this year.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/29/politics/elizabeth-warren-trade-policy-proposal/index.html
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Demsrule86
(68,586 posts)I am not in favor of more agreements. I am talking domestic policy...where you use tax code and cash to get things going-green energy...she seems to be in favor of free trade. I am not. After Biden Voted for NAFTA he saw the error of his ways and knows we get screwed with the current agreements which will never work anyway...Trumps tariffs were dumb...but we need to make sure that folks who won't allow our products to be sold in their home market don't get to sell their products here...Japan and Korea come to mind/...quite simple really. Also, she is assuming that much of the green energy will be done abroad and our folks will have to 'compete' for the jobs so raise the standards ...heard that before...many of our competitor's industries are subsidized...it is just more of the same as far as I can tell. Biden understands the situation here in the mid west. We need a manufacturing plan that is combined with green energy jobs here...not globally.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Crowman
(27 posts)After Z's audio leaked, Warren responded....
What would really suck is if we dont fix a corrupt system that lets giant companies like Facebook engage in illegal anticompetitive practices, stomp on consumer privacy rights, and repeatedly fumble their responsibility to protect our democracy. https://t.co/rI0v55KKAi
Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) October 1, 2019
There is no candidate like Liz!
primary today, I would vote for: Undecided
Response to DrFunkenstein (Original post)
NYMinute This message was self-deleted by its author.
PhoenixDem
(581 posts)Facebook has not violated the Sherman act in order for anyone to break his company up.
Yes, he was clueless and missed the Russian meddling but so did Twitter and others. Even major media were fooled.
Zuckerberg is progressive and has always donated to progressive causes. This going after companies just because they are wealthy is unamerican.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden