Difference between revisions of "Draft GPUS Platform Amendment Anti-Trust Enforcement"

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'''Section subtitle: Restoring democracy, competition, free enterprise and open markets'''
 
'''Section subtitle: Restoring democracy, competition, free enterprise and open markets'''
  
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'''Our position: Greens support tough anti-trust laws and enforcement to curtail the overwhelming economic and political power of large corporations. '''  
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'''Our position: Greens support tough new anti-trust laws and enforcement to curtail the overwhelming economic and political power of large corporations. '''  
  
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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.  
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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'''
 
'''Green Solutions'''
  
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1. The Federal Trade Commission must vigorously oversee mergers where the combined sales of the companies exceeds $1 billion.
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1. Require the Federal Trade Commission to vigorously oversee mergers where the combined sales of the companies exceeds $1 billion.
  
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2. The Justice Department must redefine “relevant market share” in assessing mergers.
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2. End corporate entitlements, tax benefits and tax credits.
  
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3. The Congress must enact its calls for competitiveness by stopping illegal monopolistic practices.
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3. 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.
  
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4. We oppose the largesse of government in the form of massive corporate entitlements.
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4. Increase funding for and strengthen oversight of federal antitrust enforcement.
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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.
 
  
  
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2004 PLATFORM
 
2004 PLATFORM
  
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The national debt is approaching 7 trillion dollars, and the diversion to interest payments is nearly 20 percent of tax revenues. The Green Party calls for immedicate debate and action to stop this transfer of wealth from tax payers to the wealthy.
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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.
  
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For many years the federal government borrowed hundreds of billions of dollars. Money that should have been going into a better “safety net” for the poor, homes for the homeless, environmental and public lands conservation, sustainable jobs, research and development, roads and bridges, schools and the technologies of tomorrow, has been lost to servicing the national debt. We cannot ignore the consequences of our nation’s past deficits and the related costs of debt service.
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1. The Federal Trade Commission must vigorously oversee mergers where the combined sales of the companies exceeds $1 billion.
  
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Working people and the small business community are shouldering a disproportionate amount of the debt burden. Yet the incurrence of the federal debt was, to a large degree, the end product of those who were on watch during the Cold War and military-defense industry buildup. Also, hundreds of billions were lost in the savings and loan bailout, and to loopholes, tax breaks, and multinational corporate tax avoidance. Hundreds of billions were lost due to a failed tax code that has been held prisoner to special interests and has produced historic gross inequities between corporate America and working Americans.
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2. The Justice Department must redefine “relevant market share” in assessing mergers.
  
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During the 1980s, our national debt grew from approximately $1 trillion to over $5 trillion and we refused to fund Social Security, food stamps, public housing, higher education, public transportation, and other services.
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3. The Congress must enact its calls for competitiveness by stopping illegal monopolistic practices.
  
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1. We must continue to move toward reduction of the national debt and compensate for the neglect that the deficits caused.
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4. We oppose the largesse of government in the form of massive corporate entitlements.
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2. We believe a comprehensive approach that forms a basis for a debt reduction plan would include debt payback, increased revenues, and decreased expenditures in some areas.
 
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3. We support increases in domestic and discretionary spending, which is our nation’s essential “safety net” to protect those most in need. We support increases in the portion of entitlement benefits (one-fifth) that go to children, the lowest income, elderly, and disabled. These include food stamps, family assistance, Medicaid, and supplemental security income.
 
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4. We oppose privatization of Social Security. We support increased funding for Social Security, public housing, higher education, public transportation, environmental protection, renewable energy, and energy conservation.
 
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5. To help compensate for our nation’s neglect, we support tax increases on mega-corporate and wealthy interests, defense budget reductions, and entitlement reductions for those who can most afford reductions. Entitlement spending is over one-half of the federal budget. One way to reduce entitlement costs substantially is by means testing, which is scaling back payments to the six million citizens in families with incomes over $50,000 annually.
 
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6. We must revitalize the public sector. As taxes on working people have been unfairly increased, many important public services have been sharply reduced. Corporate-backed politicians are using the anti-government sentiment they have so carefully engineered to kill vital programs that many employers have always despised. If corporations continue to get their way, OSHA will be gutted, our environmental and labor laws will be worthless, our public health system will be dismantled, and the safety net and public universities will be only a dim memory.
 

Latest revision as of 21:39, 9 April 2010

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. End corporate entitlements, tax benefits and tax credits.

3. 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.

4. Increase funding for and strengthen oversight of 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.

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