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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.
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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.
Frustrated with what’s going on in D.C.? We’re taking action in Iowa with a 3 day 3 We The People rallies across Iowa. Now is the time we need to come together and stand up to the billionaires that are running our government!
Sioux City - Link to Facebook Event
March 14 (Friday) at 6 pm
at the Marquee (225 4th St, Sioux City)
Des Moines - Link to Facebook Event
March 15 (Saturday) at 1 pm
at xBk Live (1159 24th St, Des Moines)
Davenport - Link to Facebook Event
March 16 (Sunday) at 5 pm
At Raccoon Motel (315 E 2nd St, Davenport)
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YOU’RE PROBABLY (ALSO) GETTING SCREWED BY:
Elon Musk (Have we mentioned he sucks?)
In an interview with Fox Business, Shadow President Musk claimed that Social Security, which provided benefits to over 71 million Americans in 2024, is the biggest Ponzi Scheme of all time. Musk claimed that $500-$700 million in fraud must be eliminated from the program despite estimates from Social Security’s inspector general that just $71.8 billion in improper payments were made between fiscal years 2015 through 2022. That’s less than 1% of benefits paid out.
If all of that wasn’t enough, the DOGE Bros proposed eliminating phone service for Social Security recipients, requiring folks to either show up to a Social Security office in person or the web, which would have been particularly harmful to seniors.
Speaking of Musk and DOGE
Thanks to prompting by Senator Elizabeth Warren, an unlikely government official helped highlight the impacts of eliminating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Hospital Mergers
“Bigger bonuses, higher executive salaries and a few eye-popping retirement payouts.” That is how The Beacon in Kansas City described the results of a merger last year between St. Luke’s Health System and BJC Healthcare. The Beacon analyzed recently released tax returns and found St. Luke’s paid “one-third more in bonuses and incentives to its top-earning employees in 2023 compared to the previous year.”
Wealth Inequality
A new study from the nonpartisan RAND Corporation estimates that since 1975, $79 trillion in wealth has been transferred from the bottom 90 percent of earners to the top one percent! In 2023 alone, $3.9 trillion in wealth was redistributed to the richest Americans according to the study. If average wages had kept pace with pre-1975 trends (a time when antimonopoly enforcement was at its peak) the average worker would have earned an additional $32,000!
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Speaking of Wealth Inequality
President Trump’s proposed tax cuts for the wealthy have even drawn the ire of MAGA influencer Steve Bannon. “We haven't [had] any real wage growth. People are working like crazy — people working two and three jobs... It's a racket.”
Another Tax Break for Oligarchs
Tariffs
Walmart has since gotten an earful from the Chinese government on this, but something to keep an eye on.
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Egg Prices
We recently interviewed antitrust attorney Basel Musharbash about his investigation into a private equity firm that has monopolized the manufacturing of firetrucks. Basel has a new fascinating and in-in-depth investigation in Matt Stoller’s BIG newsletter on the monopolies driving up the cost of eggs. Check out Part 1 and Part 2.
SOME GOOD NEWS
DOJ Investigating Egg Producers
Regarding those egg prices, the Antitrust Division of the US Department of Justice is investigating to see if major egg companies are sharing information about supply and pricing, possibly contributing to price increases. Given that a jury found major egg producers guilty of price-fixing in 2023, along with Basel’s reporting above, there is ample reason to believe they are continuing the practice.
Antitrust Continuity
There are real reasons to believe that there could be some real continuity in antitrust enforcement between the Biden and Trump Administrations. I still worry that it is only a matter of time until Musk turns his sights on antitrust enforcers, but we need all the good news we can get these days. FTC and DOJ are using Biden’s stronger merger guidelines, DOJ reaffirmed the push to break up Google, and the FTC is challenging private equity rollups. For the past 40 years we had a pro-monopoly consensus in DC, so anything that turns us towards an antimonopoly consensus is worth celebrating.
People’s Town Hall
For those in Minnesota, Justin wanted to invite folks to attend one of several “People’s Town Halls” organized by Minnesota Farmers Union. All are welcome to join and you can find more details and register for one (or more!) here.
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BOOK CLUB
A reminder about March book club. March's book is “Democracy in Power” by Sandeep Vaneesan, the legal director at the Open Markets Institute.
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You can purchase “Democracy in Power” here. And be sure to send in your questions for Sandeep by commenting below.
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.
Standing Tall for All,
J.D. Scholten
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