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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

1. Last week, Antimonopoly Counsel filed this 68-page objection on behalf of a group of public interest organizations in response to a proposed class-action settlement in one of the Nation’s most important antitrust litigations. www.demandprogresseducationfund.org/consumer-adv...

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

12. Press release on the objection and the full document are available here: www.demandprogresseducationfund.org/consumer-adv...

demandprogresseducationfund.org

Demand Progress Education Fund

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

11. That is why the antitrust laws commit all such decisions to “the judgment of the elected representatives of the people” — and forbids the Court from approving the Proposed Settlement.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

10. “Private forces,” Justice Marshall explained, “are too keenly aware of their own interests in making such decisions,” while “courts are ill-equipped and ill-situated for such decisionmaking.”

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

9. As Justice Marshall has written, “the antitrust laws are the Magna Carta of free enterprise” in this country. “If a decision is to be made to sacrifice competition” and “free enterprise” in any market, the antitrust laws do not permit that decision to be made “by private forces or by the courts.”

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

8. In effect, the Proposed Settlement asks the Court to grant Visa and Mastercard’s a shared monopoly in exchange for vague promises that they will use this monopoly to ameliorate—rather than exacerbate—their taxation of the Nation’s merchants. Such a settlement is not only foolish; it is unlawful.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

7. As we state in the objection, “this is not a settlement that will deliver antitrust relief to merchants; it is a joint monopolization scheme masquerading as a settlement.”

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

6. It gets worse! Since the settlement allows Visa and Mastercard to fix the parameters of price competition between them, it will likely further entrench Visa and Mastercard against upstart credit card networks—giving them *more power* to raise swipe fees after the 5-year settlement period is up.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

5. As proposed, this settlement would trade away merchant’s antitrust claims for a mere 0.10% “rollback” in the average swipe fee (effective for just 5 years) and cosmetic changes in Visa and Mastercard’s policies that would leave their duopoly and their anticompetitive schemes in place.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

4. A few months ago, attorneys who are supposed to represent a nationwide class of 20 million merchants asked a court to approve a settlement they secretly negotiated with Visa and Mastercard.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

3. Those fees operate like a ~2-4% sales tax on every non-cash consumer purchase, and amounted to a total of $198.25 billion last year — or about double what they were before the pandemic.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

2. For more than a decade, America’s merchants have been fighting to break up Visa and Mastercard’s duopoly on payment card transactions and tear down their various anticompetitive schemes to raise the “swipe fees” paid by merchants whenever someone uses a credit or debit card.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

thank you, fren! I’m not often here — miss your wit, wisdom, research, commentary and all the rest on the Hell Site, especially with the scams multiplying like never before! :) 😄😭

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Louise Seamster @louiseseamster.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

vindication for @basel.bsky.social!!!!!

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Hal Singer @halsinger.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

This @economist.com cover is wild. Apparently, anyone who supports price controls, wealth taxes, nationalization—no matter what the circumstances—is deemed a “socialist” and must be fought back against. This is a signal of the old guard neoliberals losing the debate. A few more thoughts coming..

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

1. Next week, I'll be joining a panel at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' 94th Annual Meeting in Long Beach, CA, to discuss the monopolization of fire apparatus manufacturing and other critical industries for public safety, its impact on cities and emergency responders, and how mayors can fight back.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

2. I'll be in Long Beach on Thursday and Friday (June 4-5) and possibly Saturday (June 7). If you're also attending the conference (or just in the area) and would like to meet, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

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Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future @livablefuture.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

New Unconfined Episode! Managing attorney of the Antimonopoly Counsel, Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social, breaks down how the companies dominating food & agriculture have grown too powerful & why that matters for all of us. clf.jhsph.edu/unconfined-p... #publichealth

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Just got an email from a high school junior in FFA who read Kings Over the Necessaries of Life and now wants to learn how we can fight back against agricultural monopolies 🥺

media.tenor.com

a man wearing a blue and white striped shirt is holding his hand to his chest .

ALT: a man wearing a blue and white striped shirt is holding his hand to his chest .

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

You have so many correct opinions. More drinks should be lemony-gingery zingers, absolutely.

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

The Daily Beast @thedailybeast.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

RFK Jr.’s supporters are furious after he sided with his boss over the movement that helped put him in power.

trib.al

MAHA Moms Turn Against Trump After Stunning Betrayal

It’s lose-lose for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Hahaha me, not so much, but this — it’s so fucking rad 😂

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Yesterday, our team got a rare treat in legal practice: The court complimented our briefs *and* ruled in our clients’ favor 🥳

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Anna Dorman @annalovesvoting.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

You will never convince me this should be legal

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

highly productive, super billable time, anyone who says otherwise is incredibly wrong, incredibly

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

I'm making polenta in the slow cooker at 12:30AM, so it's ready for breakfast. Tomorrow is going to be so great.

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Would you have preferred if I just said "corporatists"?

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

et tu, Brian? Anyhow, I did confront the argument, in my tweets on the subject, which I screenshotted and posted on this wierd site above

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

The Sling @theslingutah.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

In the latest Slingshot Podcast, @halsinger.bsky.social and Darren Bush interview @basel.bsky.social on all things eggs, beef, housing, and abundance. Check it out! www.thesling.org/video/slings...

thesling.org

Slingshot Episode 27 - The Sling

Basel Musharbash of the Antimonopoly Counsel explains the cause of skyrocketing prices for groceries and housing.

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Tanya Tussing @tanyatussing.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Looking forward to watch this sometime soon. @basel.bsky.social has dug deep into a few big affordability issues in the last few years --eggs, beef, housing

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Why do corporatist neoliberals like Stephen insist on lying / talking confidently about industries they clearly don’t understand?

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Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

You made up the “no relief in sight“ thing. You’re also making up the notion that prices are back to their pre-surge levels — when they’re actually double where they were before 2022. Quick talking about shit you don’t understand, dipshit.

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Dan Osborn @osbornforne.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

Tyson Foods over the last few months: • Approved 43 MILLION shares in stock buybacks • Spent $196 million buying back its own stock to juice up the price • Announced closure of Lexington plant: 3,200 workers in a town of 11,000 people Then what happened?

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Dan Osborn @osbornforne.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

What happened the week Tyson announced it was laying off 3,200 workers from its plant in Lexington, NE? The profits from the Big 4 Meatpackers hit their HIGHEST level since 2022. This is what a cartel looks like.

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Dan Osborn @osbornforne.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

THIS. 👇

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Dan Osborn @osbornforne.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

In a competitive food system, a meatpacker like Tyson would try to SELL a plant rather than close it. But Tyson DOESN’T want to sell to a competitor! They want to retain as much monopoly power as possible. Listen to Tyson’s own words, it wants to “right-size” its business...

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

3. The USDA (@usdagov.bsky.social) should immediately commence proceedings to enforce the law to the fullest extent — and seek to compel Tyson to either keep the plant open or sell the plant to an upstart rival who will introduce honest competition into this cartelized industry.

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Reposted by Basel Musharbash

Basel Musharbash @basel.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

2. If this kind of conduct doesn’t violate Section 202(e) of the Packers and Stockyards Act — which makes it illegal for any meatpacker to "engage in any course of business or do any act for the purpose or with the effect of manipulating or controlling prices” — then nothing does.

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