The FTC's Top Consumer Protection Official Can't Go After Facebook -- or 100 Other Companies (theverge.com) 75
The Federal Trade Commission's top consumer protection official is prohibited from handling the cases involving 120 different companies, including Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Uber, according to financial disclosure documents published by Public Citizen this week. From a report: Andrew Smith, who heads the FTCs Consumer Protection Bureau, would be in charge of handling investigations into some of the country's largest companies and any consumer protection violations that may occur. But due to his conflicts of interest, Smith is barred from participating in any investigations involving the companies he previously provided legal services for. "It's a big world out there, and the FTC has very broad jurisdictions," Smith said to The Verge. "There are plenty of investigations that I'm involved in." Smith was approved by a 3-2 Republican majority in May.
bullshit story (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes - he can delegate those investigations to other officers under him - just like happens in the Justice Department.
I'm sure the Verge was all up in arms when Maxine Waters was re-upped to the banking committee in the house after she abused her powers to cut out a sweet deal for her husband's bank.
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Each regulatory agency is merely a revolving door between the industry to be regulated and the regulators.
Another horrible example of this is with the FDA....you see leaders and CEO's and the like of agro-businesses leaving their companies, to go into lead the FDA....and we never get good food policies for the nation, as that these guys do NOT recuse themselves from conflicts of interest, but they perpetuate it and fr
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Nope, this is truly a bi-partisian problem.
Not really. While I support somethings he has done and tried, I do not like everything, nor do I count myself as a fan. I do feel he was the lessor of two evils (Hillary/Bernie).
But I think he's an idiot ma
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Although that rarely happens. Mary Jo White did the same when she was appointed by Obama to the SEC. She deadlocked over 50 investigations into some of the biggest banks and companies.
This revolving door system is a continuous problem in Washington DC and happens in all regulatory committees and agencies (FCC, FTC, ...)
Idiots begone (Score:2)
Andrew Smith may head the Consumer Protection Bureau, but doesn't personally investigate companies. That is the job of those below him. So the limitation on him investigating companies is meaningless political drivel.
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Re:Anothe reason why "independence" is bad (Score:4, Insightful)
Independence isn't the problem. The problem is that they hired someone who can't do the job due to conflict of interest.
This would be no different if he was voted in or appointed. Of course, the way the rest of this administration is managed, I can't help but go into conspiracy theory territory and think that this was done intentionally to make it harder for the FTC to do it's job.
Forget 2 cars in every garage (Score:4, Interesting)
tentacles (Score:4, Interesting)
Whether or not the chair of the Consumer Protection Bureau is personally able to head investigations is less important to me than the question of why you would want to appoint a CPB chair who has all these previous financial ties to the biggest companies his agency is supposed to be protecting consumers from?
It's like appointing Mr Fox to be the head of the Henhouse Security Agency and thinking it's OK because he's not personally responsible for protecting the henhouse. I mean, what the fuck else is his job, then and why would you think he's going to delegate that responsibility to someone who has the hens' best interests in mind?
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Sorta like FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Verizon shill.
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Are you noticing a pattern?
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Yeah, it's been going on for centuries. The real pattern, the one that we can fix, is in a different place, hint: it's not the government, well, it is, but its direction is decided by... oh wait, don't want to give that away. It'll wreck the story.
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I am.
The paradigm shift is to return to the days of monopolies. Americans want capitalism to rule.
Also, Americans want to move away from global dominance in the sciences and technology. Americans wish for a return to a White Evangelical Christian majority rule.
Americans are irrationally scared shitless of immigrants to the point of ignoring that immigrants provide a positive influence.
The needle is pegged to the right.
In fairness, that's what America wants. We the People have spoken, and the way forward is
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You know, you could read [gallup.com] before posting.
Did you know that it is not "illegal," for a person to enter the United States without documentation for the first incident?
By way of evidence, consider that first-timers are not charged with anything -- they are simply deported at taxpayer expense.
Did you know that the US has a pretty decent immigration policy that includes administration buildings and staff along the border where a bloke can get a decent meal and a cuppa joe? Congress never funded it.
Your obsess
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I got ten one dollar bills in exchange for one ten dollar bill and I was pretty much neutral regarding the transaction.
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Wait, I've got an even better one.
Trump picked a former Monsanto executive to be head of the Fish & Wildlife Service. No joke.
https://www.apnews.com/aa701b5... [apnews.com]
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The guy who could grab 'em by the pussy because he was a star can rape America because he's the president.
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You could also say, "Washington DC is a bunch of lobbyists and corporate interests looking for politicians and when they get out of lobbying they want jobs working in the public sector."
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Reminds me of a certain landlord during the 1980's (Score:3)
He purposefully hired several lawyers to do simple legal stuff for only one reason.
So a tenant wouldn't be able to hire anyone local if they decided to sue him.
Makes me wonder if some of these large companies do the same thing. Hire lawyers with political ties so if/when they get into power they won't be able to go after them.
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Citizens United (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yeah, and most of them are representative democracies of one sort or another also. Does that say anything? To anybody? We must be in space, because nobody hears the screaming. Ok, technically, we are in space...
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*sigh* That's for the Chinese and North Koreans to deal with.
Man! You'll pull out any distraction you can to avoid seeing the elephant.
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THIS is EXACTLY why we need to pull corporate money out of politics AND reign in lobbyists. Bar lobbyists from serving on high level posts.
I propose reign in by guillotine. Works just as well for politicians as for lobbyists. Throw in international tax dodgers from the Panama Papers and other sources and we'll have a much better society in mere days.
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Implicate all the tax dodgers in the murder/ murder-conspiracy of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and try them under Napoleonic principles of law, Guilty until proven innocent.
I'm not a fan of guilty until proven innocent generally but admittedly if your named in the Panama Papers it seems reasonable. The only good use for the NSA in my mind is tracking down international tax fraud.
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This isn't even lobbyist, this is a revolving door of lawyers stacking government offices at all levels. They get themselves tainted for a few years and then move to a higher position at the same agency. Mary Jo White at SEC did the same and killed over 50 investigation. Maxine Waters did the same thing.
He shouldn't have gotten the job. (Score:1)
If your a lawyer, and your company has defended a crap load of the folks who are under investigation by the Federal Trade Commision, YOU SHOULD NOT BE WORKING THERE. I ANY CAPACITY.
This is exactly whats wrong with Washington. Its the same a working for Universities in finance and financial theory, then working for the Security Exchange Commision, and the working for Goldman or B of A. Its the same vicious circle of insiders running the system with no real policing of bad behaviour.
America isnt a democracy
If only the FCC were the same. (Score:1)
The game seems rigged, once again.