Draft GPUS Platform Amendment Anti-Trust Enforcement
Section title: Anti-trust Enforcement
Section subtitle: Restoring democracy, competition, free enterprise and open markets
Our position: Greens support tough new anti-trust laws and enforcement to curtail the overwhelming economic and political power of large corporations.
The Green Party supports strong and effectively enforced anti-trust laws and regulation to counteract the concentration of economic and political power that imposes a severe toll on the economy. The anti-trust division of the Justice Department has had its scope and powers reduced. An explosion of unregulated mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, and leveraged buy-outs has overwhelmed the federal government’s capacity to provide effective oversight. Financial and trading markets have become particularly vulnerable to insider trading. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation of these markets has seriously fallen short.
Green Solutions
1. Require the Federal Trade Commission to vigorously oversee mergers where the combined sales of the companies exceeds $1 billion.
2. The Justice Department must redefine “relevant market share” in assessing mergers.
3. Congress must enact its calls for competitiveness by stopping illegal monopolistic practices.
4. We oppose the largesse of government in the form of massive corporate entitlements.
5. We support legislation to identify all corporations the federal government deems “too big to fail” and break them up, so that their failure will not threaten our country’s economic stability.
6. Increase funding for federal antitrust enforcement.
2004 PLATFORM
The Green Party supports strong and effectively enforced anti-trust regulation to counteract the concentration of economic power that imposes a severe toll on the economy. The anti-trust division of the Justice Department has had its scope and powers reduced. An explosion of unregulated mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs, and leveraged buy-outs has overwhelmed the federal government’s capacity to provide effective oversight. Financial and trading markets have become particularly vulnerable to insider trading. Securities and Exchange Commission regulation of these markets has seriously fallen short. Overall, what we see in unchecked market power is self-serving abuse of the democratic political process, price gouging, loss of productivity and jobs, reduced competitiveness, and of predatory and monopolistic practices.
1. The Federal Trade Commission must vigorously oversee mergers where the combined sales of the companies exceeds $1 billion.
2. The Justice Department must redefine “relevant market share” in assessing mergers.
3. The Congress must enact its calls for competitiveness by stopping illegal monopolistic practices.
4. We oppose the largesse of government in the form of massive corporate entitlements.
