Firing Line: Amy Klobuchar

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) talks about monopolies in America and how to best combat them.

Throughout her whole life, she has supported entrepreneurship and capitalism in America. However, she said that tech companies have started controlling the gateways for capitalism.

“I believe in this market economy, but we have always from the very beginning believed you need checks and balances,” she said.

She cited Teddy Roosevelt as someone who not only came from money, but also respected capitalism and he knew that monopolies were wrong. She said that if he was alive today, he would be horrified by modern day monopolies.

One thing she made clear is that there is nothing wrong with big companies competing against each other. However, things are problematic when that competition has eroded. One area that she pointed out is how companies merge together to stifle competition.

Although, she is not afraid on taking on large companies, she said that Congress is afraid of them.

“We haven’t gotten one thing done. I have 25 ideas of things we can move forward on, and all right now it is, is a bunch of talk,” she said.

She said that this year must be the year for both parties to work on addressing the rising power of tech companies. She hopes that her bill, through Republican support, can help split up and break down monopolies.

There are three basic things that she said both political parties in Congress should work together on.

“How do we stop exclusionary conduct, and how do we change the merger standing going forward, and how do we make sure the agencies are funded so they actually do their jobs?”