By With everything happening in the world, whether it’s war in the Middle East or inflation impacting everything, whether the price of a mortgage payment or gas prices, Democrats have been anxious as they think about the upcoming presidential election. If they have to stick with one of the most unpopular presidents in history, they need to find a suitable enemy to pin all of America’s problems on.
Enter Elizabeth Warren, Senator from Massachusetts, the hero Democrats need to deny the fact that her party’s massive spending policies have driven inflation.
The once well-paid Harvard Law professor who has long been obsessed with “big business” has identified the real culprit: sandwich shop monopolies.
We don't need another private equity deal that could lead to higher food prices for consumers. The @FTC is right to investigate whether the purchase of @SUBWAY by the same firm that owns @jimmyjohns and @McAlistersDeli creates a sandwich shop monopoly. https://t.co/mAFuuFYA5A
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 26, 2023
Subway announced in late August that it reached an agreement to sell the family-owned sandwich chain to private equity firm Roark Capital in a deal reportedly worth more than $9 billion. The firm owns sandwich shops such as Jimmy John’s, Arby’s, McAlister’s Deli and Schlotzky’s, according to Fox Business.
The private equity firm’s holdings prompted the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to launch a probe earlier this month to examine whether the deal gives the company a monopoly over sandwich shops and other brands in the fast-food industry, according to a report by Politico.
“We don’t need another private equity deal that could lead to higher food prices for consumers,” Warren wrote on X. “The FTC is right to investigate whether the purchase of Subway by the same firm that owns Jimmy John’s and McAlister’s Deli creates a sandwich shop monopoly.”
Social media had a field day mocking Warren’s concern over the sandwich monopoly.
our government is focused on, “the foot-long industrial complex” 🤦😂@linakhanFTC any chance you can take on salads and Starbucks next?
if there was a theoretical sandwich monopoly, you do realize people can make a sandwich at home for $3 and brown bag it—I do this!
Also,…
— @jason (@Jason) November 26, 2023
Big Sandwich must not win! pic.twitter.com/qT5rcsJoWN
— Not Jim Cramer (@CramerTracker) November 26, 2023
Tom Joyce, a writer in Massachusetts, explained the absurdity of his home state’s most prominent senator. Writing for the Washington Examiner, he noted, “Let’s ignore the absurdity of Warren complaining about McAlister’s Deli, given that the chain has zero locations in Warren’s home state of Massachusetts. The most bizarre part is her notion that the private equity firm would constitute a sandwich shop monopoly following its Subway purchase.
A monopoly exists when one company has total control of a commodity or service. Creating a sandwich shop monopoly is nearly impossible in a country of over 330 million people. Independent sandwich shops, grocery stores, restaurants, food trucks, and sandwich chains not owned by Roark Capital exist throughout the country, including Massachusetts.
Also, most people, including children, know how to make a sandwich. Many people even pack homemade sandwiches for lunch when they go to work or school. That said, if someone wanted to start a sandwich shop, he or she could succeed by offering different or better options than shops such as Subway.
Although Warren enjoys class-warfare politics, stoking resentment against success, there is nothing wrong with a company owning multiple different sandwich chains. Roark Capital does not have a monopoly on the sandwich industry, as consumers have choices in the sandwich market. The firm’s acquisition of Subway does not prevent them from getting sandwiches elsewhere or choosing to eat a different type of food.”
Warren’s move epitomizes how liberals often take a mile when they’re given an inch, so long as they’re the ones who get to measure. Reason writes, “The original purpose of antitrust laws was to prevent the Cornelius Vanderbilts of the world from using their ownership of the commanding heights of the economy to raise prices and gouge consumers. Libertarians have long criticized such statutes, arguing that an existing monopoly can’t sustainably charge consumers above-market prices as long as new competitors armed with new technologies are allowed to undercut them. And indeed, even tech companies that once seemed invincible are now being laid low by competitive pressures.
If markets can work in that arena, we surely don’t need the government to police who owns businesses that specialize in putting cold cuts between slices of bread.”
In the end, your local deli probably has better-tasting sandwiches anyway, but just to make sure, you can thank your lucky stars that Elizabeth Warren is on the case, protecting you from inflation caused by the evil Sandwich Monopoly.
If you want to learn what’s really driving inflation, you can find the answer here:
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