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Welcome to You’re Probably Getting Screwed, a weekly newsletter and video series from J.D. Scholten and Justin Stofferahn about the Second Gilded Age and the ways economic concentration is putting politics and profits over working people.
Has America entered it’s Golden Era? Or an Oligarch Era? It needs a Trustbusting Era.
You can find the FTC’s “Summary of Key Accomplishments” here [ [link removed] ].
Oligarchy is here, but it is not inevitable. As President Biden noted in his farewell address [ [link removed] ], Americans have risen before to take on robber barons and protect democracy. We can do so once again, but we need leaders committed to the fight!
YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:
Concentrated Wealth
Just a reminder from one of the earliest trustbusters…
Trump’s Economy
Rolling back corporate regulations, lowering taxes for business and implementing tariffs will most likely mean record corporate profits and higher costs of living [ [link removed] ].
Most economists are expecting what is known as a K Shaped economy, meaning there will be some people who make a lot of money while others will struggle [ [link removed] ]. We saw this with the economic response to the pandemic.
From the [ [link removed] ]Financial Review [ [link removed] ]: The financial insecurity – amplified by the evaporation of pandemic savings, higher debt and maxed-out credit cards – will take time to overcome through the current growth rate in wages and job opportunities.
Biden’s Antitrust Heroes and What’s Next
A huge thank you to former Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Jonathan Kanter 👏👏👏
The Antitrust Division’s work inside the courtroom laid a foundation with staying power for wielding century-old competition laws to police corporate concentration at scale [ [link removed] ]. A push to ramp up enforcement was an “investment in the future,” Hetal Doshi, who led the Department of Justice’s antitrust litigation program, told Bloomberg.
Donald Trump’s election victory in November threatens to upend that agenda. It’s unclear what the new administration will want to do with the litigation program.
Here are the 9 ongoing civil court matters:
Meatpackers
Yet again… the Department of Labor found meatpackers using child labor. Perdue Farms and JBS will each pay $4 million after federal investigations revealed they had illicitly employed dozens of children [ [link removed] ] through staffing agencies.
Cargill
The country’s largest privately held company, Cargill, laid off thousands of employees last month, while the company's owners made $2 billion from stock buybacks and one-time dividends [ [link removed] ], according to Fitch Ratings.
As was mention in the video, oligarchs
Oh and those oligarchs again…
Our readers already know… “Searches for ‘What Is an Oligarchy’ Spike After Biden’s Warning [ [link removed] ]”
What’s in Your Wallet…
Capital One is being sued for cheating millions of consumers out of more than $2 billion in interest [ [link removed] ]!!! Allegedly, they unlawfully misled consumers about its 360 Savings accounts and obscured its higher-interest savings product from them.
John Deere
Along with layoffs and shipping jobs overseas, John Deere is now being sued by the Federal Trade Commission over the issue of Right-to-Repair.
“After years of complaints about “unlawful” repairability policies, the FTC is suing tractor manufacturer Deere & Company. Repairability advocates are calling it a milestone for consumer rights [ [link removed] ].”
Good News
Here’s an Open Call to Launch New Working-Class Organizing
Do you have an idea of a group of people, a place, or a model to organize more working-class people? This is your chance - an open call for organizers with a good idea and track record to reach people who are unlikely to be reached otherwise.
To learn more, go here [ [link removed] ].
BEFORE YOU GO
Before you go, I need two things from you: 1) if you like something, please share it on social media or the next time you have coffee with a friend. 2) Ideas, if you have any ideas for future newsletter content please comment below. Thank you.
Break ‘Em Up,
Justin Stofferahn

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