California has become increasingly hostile to private-sector businesses—and especially to mergers. Leading that charge is Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose aggressive antitrust agenda prioritizes ideology over consumer welfare. By opposing deals that could strengthen struggling companies, such as the blocked JetBlue-Spirit merger, Bonta’s approach has frequently left consumers, workers, and taxpayers worse off. Now, reports suggest his next target could be a Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, risking yet another case where consumers become collateral damage.
Early last month, most of California’s Democratic congressional delegation expressed concern to Bonta over Paramount’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, urging a careful review to ensure it doesn’t harm workers and consumers. A careful review is absolutely necessary, as former California AG Lockyer recently noted, but it seems these politicians have already concluded that the AG should oppose this merger.
Yet, before lawmakers rush to “save” Americans from harms that exist largely in esoteric antitrust theories rather than in the real world, they should learn some lessons from Bonta’s role in aiding Spirit Airlines’ demise by blocking its proposed merger with JetBlue. He characterized his successful lawsuit defeating the merger as a “big win for consumers.” Hardly.
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