ATR Applauds Sen. Rand Paul for Blocking Woke FTC Bailout Bill

Americans for Tax Reform applauds Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for blocking an attempt to fast-track the “Merger Filing Fee Modernization Act” through the Senate. If passed, MFFMA would shovel hundreds of billions into the ultra-woke Biden Administration.

ATR opposes MFFMA and urges lawmakers to delay consideration of all antitrust legislation to the 118th Congress.

Today on the Senate floor, Paul blocked an attempt to pass MFFMA by unanimous consent and slammed those who would weaponize antitrust law for political gain, saying “big is always bad except, of course, when it comes to the size and scope of government.”

Paul went on to say: “the same people who supposedly fear the concentration of power in the marketplace celebrate the concentration of power in the state – a state that inserts itself into and nullifies private contracts, breaks up companies it deems too large, and inflicts punishment on those who succeed in the competition or consumers.”

Thanks to Paul’s leadership, MFFMA is on ice for now. Lawmakers should remain vigilant that progressive lawmakers do not attempt to slip the bill into any end-of-year legislative vehicles.

While noncontroversial on its face, MFFMA would give additional funding to the ultra-woke FTC that is currently run by a radical academic hostile to American business. Some have claimed that the bill will not lead to more money for the FTC or Department of Justice because it does not increase appropriations for those agencies. While this is technically true, it is only half the story. The fees will go to the Treasury Department, which Democrats will then steer back to the FTC and DOJ. As a whole, the bill would shovel hundreds of millions of dollars to the Biden FTC and DOJ.

To get H.R. 3843 through the House, supporters claimed that it was a vote to rein in Big Tech. Nothing in this bill will stop or even limit Big Tech’s consistent targeting of conservative speech online. As Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has repeatedly pointed out, giving unelected Biden bureaucrats even more power and resources will not end well for conservatives.

Progressives will surely continue their quest to expand the size and scope of the federal government via antitrust law as the lame duck session of Congress winds down. Thankfully, conservatives like Sen. Rand Paul understand that new antitrust legislation is a Trojan horse for giving more power to Biden bureaucrats.