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'Come on! Is there a trade secret about what's inside that patty?' Biden criticizes the non-compete clauses between McDonald's and Burger King in speech attacking big business

  President   Joe Biden   ridiculed the non-compete clauses companies like Burger King and McDonald's have in place in advance of signin...

 President Joe Biden ridiculed the non-compete clauses companies like Burger King and McDonald's have in place in advance of signing an executive order Friday getting rid of them.  

'Come on! Is there a trade secret about what's inside that patty?' Biden asked at an event in the State Dining Room.    

Biden signed a sweeping executive order with 72 initiatives meant to boost competition – declaring himself a 'proud capitalist' as he undertook a special effort to impose competition on Big Tech and other market powerhouses. 

President Joe Biden ridiculed the non-compete clauses companies like Burger King and McDonald's have in place in advance of signing an executive order Friday getting rid of them

President Joe Biden ridiculed the non-compete clauses companies like Burger King and McDonald's have in place in advance of signing an executive order Friday getting rid of them

McDonald's food
Burger King food

'Come on! Is there a trade secret about what's inside that patty?' Biden asked, talking about non-compete clauses between employees who work at McDonald's (left) and Burger King (right) 

'Rather than competing for consumers, they are consuming their competitors,' he said. 

But in his remarks he focused on smaller scale initiatives that may get the attention of consumers – like an effort to take limits off the sale off hearing aids, and clawing back 'non-compete' agreement that Biden said one-third of U.S. companies use.

'Workers should be free to take a better job if someone offers it. If your employer wants to keep you, he or she should have to make it worth your while to stay,' Biden argued. 

He used examples of a fast-food worker who wasn't allowed to go work for a rival across town, or a woman who was a good worker at her job but was being denied a raise and couldn't join a rival company who knew she was being undervalued.

'I didn't know until five years ago the incredible number of non-compete clauses for ordinary people that are done for one reason - to keep wages low,' Biden said. 'Period.'    

'You’d feel powerless. Disrespected. Bullied. Trapped. That’s not right,' the president continued.       

Biden said lack of competition costs the median family $5,000 per year. 

He assured those in the room ''I’m a proud capitalist,' noting how he spent most of his career representing the 'corporate state of Delaware.'     

'But let me be very clear. Capitalism without competition isn’t capitalism. It’s exploitation,' Biden said. 'Without healthy competition, big players can change and charge whatever they want and treat you however they want.'

He said market concentration 'holds our economy back.'

'We’ve seen it in Big Agriculture and Big Tech and Big Pharma – the list goes on,' Biden said.

He did not dwell on Big Tech conglomerates in his remarks, even though some of the order's most consequential provisions were expected to impact massive mergers and high-stakes acquisitions in the industry. 

Intead, Biden invoked the trust-busting of Teddy Roosevelt. 'He took them on, and he won. And he gave the little guy a fighting chance,' Biden said. He also saluted the anti-trust initiatives enacted under F.D.R.  

The order will touch on a dozen agencies, including regulators of the tech giants that have grown their market share and formed an increasing presence in people's lives. 

When he signed the order, he gave the first pen to Lina Khan, who has an anti-trust academic background and is the new chair of the Federal Trade Commission. 

Biden will also target dominant companies such as Amazon, Facebook and Apple by directing agencies to closely scrutinize mergers where the tech firms gobble up smaller firms in efforts to freeze out competition through 'killer acquisitions.' 

The White House announced the so-called crackdown amid questions over why Biden isn't doing more to try and break up the huge firms and pressure in Congress as lawmakers try to get six antitrust bills targeting Big Tech passed.

President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order with 72 initiatives, including those seeking to crack down on Big Tech mergers and business practices

President Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order with 72 initiatives, including those seeking to crack down on Big Tech mergers and business practices


The White House, referencing the antitrust efforts of President Theodore Roosevelt more than a century ago, said there would be a 'whole-government effort' to target Silicon Valley, along with healthcare, manufacturing and telecoms.  

He also will encourage the Federal Communications Commission to boost competition within the broadband and cable industry – companies that regularly draw consumers' ire for high pricing and structures. 

To push more 'transparency' in the broadband area, he will revive a Obama-era 'Broadband Nutrition Label' meant to crack down on services the White House says can cost 40 per cent more than advertised. 

The order goes after corporate monopolies across a broad swath of industries such as technology, banking and airlines and pushes government agencies to consider how their decisions will impact competition in an industry.

'Inadequate competition holds back economic growth and innovation,' the White House fact sheet said. 'The rate of new business formation has fallen by almost 50% since the 1970s as large businesses make it harder for Americans with good ideas to break into markets.' 

Some of the measures in the executive order include directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to carefully review mergers that are leaving fewer options for small businesses and direct the agencies to enforce antitrust laws vigorously.

It directs the FTC to issue rules to address competition concerns from Big Tech companies and ban or limit non-compete agreements.

The White House said there would be an Administration policy of 'greater scrutiny of mergers, especially by dominant internet platforms, with particular attention to the acquisition of nascent competitors, serial mergers, the accumulation of data, competition by “free” products, and the effect on user privacy.' 

He also wants the Federal Trade Commission to establish rules on surveillance and accumulation of data on consumers. 

The order also encourages the FTC to issue rules that prevent manufacturers from limiting the ability of consumers to repair their own devices or equipment, with respect to a number of industries, including the tractor industry. 

The order also establishes a White House Competition Council, led by the Director of the National Economic Council, to monitor progress on finalizing the initiatives in the order.

It also touches on myriad issues of interest to consumers, including airline baggage fees.

Biden will 'encourage' regulators to ban or limit noncompete agreements, which have become an increasing phenomenon in the workforce and which companies use to keep their workers from jumping to the competition – a practice that can dampen wages. 

CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg walks with COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg after a session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 08, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Trump's order calls on agencies to enforce antitrust laws against Big Tech

CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg walks with COO of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg after a session at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 08, 2021 in Sun Valley, Idaho. Trump's order calls on agencies to enforce antitrust laws against Big Tech

The order seeks to stop tractor companies from imposing proprietary rules machine repairs

The order seeks to stop tractor companies from imposing proprietary rules machine repairs

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