Democratic Congress prepares for big Tech
News Highlights: Democratic Congress prepares for big Tech
The ideas echo many recommendations introduced last October in a report by the House Judiciary led by Representative David Cicilline, a Democrat from Rhode Island. But her bill contains no provisions to settle past mergers and other structural reforms, as his report had recommended.
Her bill, as well as other laws proposed to limit the power of the tech companies, will meet strong opposition. In 2020, tech companies again spent more than other industries in Washington. Facebook, with lawsuits from federal and state enforcement officials, spent nearly $ 20 million on lobbying, an 18 percent increase from the previous year. Amazon spent about $ 18 million on lobbying, about 11 percent more than last year.
Regulatory robbery: Amazon wants Biden and Pelosi’s help in killing Main Street Print this article
Amazon has already devastated Main Streets and destroyed mom and pop businesses by the thousands, but that’s no reason for it to stop. For its next assault on small retailers, the corporate titan will call in reinforcements: the Democratic Congress and the Biden White House.
“It’s about time America raised the federal minimum wage,” Amazon is declaring in advertisements aimed at Washington’s ruling class. Amazon has placed these ads in Axios PM, Punchbowl PM, and probably other newsletters and publications. The latest ad in Punchbowl PM reads, “At Amazon, we raised our starting wage to at least $15 an hour in 2018 because it’s good for workers, good for business, and good for communities. It’s why we support raising the federal minimum wage.”
Vendors get M500 subsidy each
MASERU-The government on Tuesday distributed M500 each to over 5 500 Maseru street vendors to help them cope during the lockdown.
Each registered vendor received the funds through his M-pesa and Ecocash mobile money apps.
The money was initially set to be distributed under the Thomas Thabane-led government in April.
The Moeketsi Majoro-led coalition government imposed a fresh lockdown on January following a spike in Covid deaths countrywide.
The lockdown triggered a fresh court battle by street vendors demanding to be allowed to continue their business or they would starve.
The Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Small Business Development, Tankiso Phapano, said the ministry took long to pay the vendors because they were still collecting data from across the country.
Tue, 01/26/2021 - 1:42pm tim
Vermont Business Magazine In a press conference today, incoming Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) joined incoming Senate HELP Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), House Committee on Education and Labor Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA), Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), and Representative Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) to announce the introduction of legislation raising the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2025.
The Raise the Wage Act of 2021 would increase the federal minimum wage to $15 in five steps over the next four years. Beginning in 2026, the federal minimum wage would be indexed to median wage growth. According to an independent analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, the Raise the Wage Act would increase wages for nearly 32 million Americans, including roughly a third of all Black workers and a quarter of all Latino workers.