Gallego Speaks on Corrupt and Unfair Corporate Consolidation at American Economic Liberties Project Event

“We need to set the standard that everything that’s happened under this administration is not normal.”
WASHINGTON –Today,Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ)joined the American Economic Liberties Project for a conversation with former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra on how unchecked corruption and corporate consolidation are driving up costs for working families.
Senator Gallego has beenoutspokenon the need to break up corrupt and unfair mergers that punish honest businesses and everyday consumers.
Watch the conversationHEREand read excerpts below:
On Corrupt and Unfair Corporate Consolidation:
“We need to set the standard that everything that’s happened under this administration is not normal. If you engage in that type of practice, there’s going to be consequences – both in terms of if there are any consequences on the penal side of this, but also on the economic side by forcing them to break up and deal with the fallout of that.”
“It’s very scary that a couple of very, very powerful and rich families are going to be able to control potentially all means of communication. And we’ve already seen some of that influence happen. You’ve seen Elon Musk essentially has changed Twitter to make it a right-wing talking point view, and we’re already seeing what’s happening at CBS. It scares me that more and more of these mergers are happening and the administration is deeply involved in it.”
“The only way that we could potentially have some type of break [up] now – because it’s not the administration that’s gonna stop – is if we put the fear of God into the shareholders, into the businesses, so they know that there’s going to be a lot of unraveling that comes with the next administration.”
On Reining In Corrupt Actors:
“Number one […] is social pressure. Making sure that it’s known that as senators, Democratic senators, these firms that are engaged can’t just be hanging out with us as if nothing happened. Because what does happen, and I’ve seen this a little too many times, is that the people that we’re mad at, next thing you know, we’re all sitting next to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and they’re like nothing’s happening there. There needs to be a general agreement that when you do shitty stuff, we should treat you like shit. And that just doesn’t happen anymore in Washington, DC. So that’s why everything kind of keeps escalating more in a very corrupt way.”
On How Corporate Consolidation Translates to Higher Prices for Working Families:
“It’s a silent tax on working-class people, especially with things that are directly impacting them. […] I was with [AELP] about a month ago on the food processing breakups. That is a really good example of a direct cost to the everyday consumer, to the cattlemen, everything else like that. The fact that there are mergers like that happening every day that are going to end up costing so much [in] other areas.”