WSJ Op-Ed: “Reagan Wouldn’t Sue Google”

An epic debate is unfolding among Republicans about our vision for the nation. While I support strengthening our governing philosophy by putting it through the crucible, I’m concerned by what appears to be the jettisoning of the principles that made the GOP great. Chief among them is our commitment to free markets and competition.

While the Democratic Party has never met a problem it doesn’t want to address with federal intervention, the GOP correctly sees government’s role as limited. It’s disconcerting then to see members of Ronald Reagan’s party join the left’s ranks, cheering as a more muscular Washington settles scores against U.S. businesses. This is doubtless a welcome shift for competitors looking to sic regulators on their rivals, but it’s bad news for the millions of Americans who are stuck with a diminished standard of living.

The consumer’s will is increasingly being trampled by steps such as the antitrust lawsuits the federal government and state attorneys general have brought against tech companies. Consider the Justice Department’s suit against Google and the Federal Trade Commission’s suit against Amazon. Both cases allege the companies have maintained unlawful monopoly power over their peers. Yet both cases are built on complaints from competitors—not consumers—who lost fair and square and are now crying foul to government referees.

Read the rest of the piece, here at the Wall Street Journal.