SCOTUS - Barrett - Sept. 2020

The latest parlor game around the nation’s capital involves predicting the punishment for activity that is allegedly inappropriate and illegal. Of course, I am writing about the antitrust case brought by the Department of Justice against Microsoft. The government claims that Microsoft is using its operating system as leverage to corner the market on Internet browsers. If Microsoft were found guilty, the case would move to a penalty phase. At that point, regulators will be hard pressed to implement a remedy that would not harm consumers.

Oregon legislators are considering a proposal that would modernize the regulation of the telecommunications marketplace. This would be achieved by redirecting the focus of regulators from companies toward consumers.

In a letter delivered to Congress today, Paul Beckner, President of Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) Foundation, called attention to recent activities that refute the Department of Justice's (DOJ) antitrust claims, as well as the DOJ's attempts to stifle innovation and competition through their pursuits against Microsoft Corporation. The text of the letter follows:

Following is the text of a letter sent today to George M. Reider, Jr., President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, from James C. Miller III, Counselor to Citizens for a Sound Economy:

One year ago, Bill Clinton promised to "save every penny" of the budget surplus for Social Security. Today, with budget surpluses projected well into the next century, Clinton’s FY 2000 budget proposes to grab nearly half of any future surpluses for new spending. Just as remarkable, Clinton calls for a net tax increase, not a tax cut, even though his budget assumes that Americans will pay war-era levels of tax revenues for at least the next decade. If enacted, the president’s FY 2000 budget plan would mean:

Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) Foundation today criticized Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt's attempt to circumvent full-fledged peer review of the Florida Re-Study. The Re-Study project involves scrapping South Florida's current water-delivery system in order to redirect water into the Everglades. Project sponsors, in particular the Army Corps of Engineers, claim the plan is necessary to restore the Everglades ecosystem and to ensure a plentiful, clean water supply for South Florida's residents into the next century.