antitrust

Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) withdrew the cloture petition for S.146 at the request of its sponsor Senate Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee Chair Herb Kohn(D-MN) and Senate Commerce Chair John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV).  The bill would have eliminated present law railroad antitrust exemptions, restored railroad antitrust authority to the Justice Department and the FTC, and empowered states attorneys general and private parties to sue to stop anti-competitive mergers and acquisitions.  The Consumers Federation of America estimates that overcharges of "captive shippers" amount to $3 b., or 37% of the $8 b.