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☆ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tells pissed-off Swifties to demand the Justice Department break up Ticketmaster after Taylor Swift tickets debacle
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Kelsey Vlamis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Lawmakers have previously called for the Justice Department to investigated the company. Take action with @MorePerfectUS," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted after the news broke, directing her followers to a tweet that said: "Tell the DOJ to break Ticketmaster up here." The tweet also included a link to a form that allowed users to sign up to send an email to the Justice Department requesting the investigation. It's time for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate their conduct and move to break them up." The White House has not indicated whether it plans to investigate Live Nation Entertainment, although President Joe Biden indicated last month federal regulators were working to address "junk fees" tacked onto things like entrainment and travel.

☆ Wall Street finally has the leverage it's been wanting over Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Matt Weinberger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Take one giant step back, and there's one group benefitting from all the tech carnage: Wall Street investors, who finally have leverage over Big Tech after years of having to swallow spending to excess. Wall Street is ready to slice and dice. The balance of power has shifted: With tech companies struggling on the public markets, Wall Street has more leverage than it's held in a long time. Read more about how Wall Street is taking the driver's seat in tech here. Their mutual interest is complicated by fights over licensing and costs, Insider reports here.

☆ White House on Taylor Swift Ticketmaster debacle: Capitalism without competition is exploitation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre answers questions during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, August 9, 2022. Declining to comment on "any potential investigation" by the Justice Department, Jean-Pierre said Biden has been clear on how he feels about companies that hold monopolies. Ticketmaster, part of Live Nation, is facing scrutiny for its roll out of Taylor Swift concert tickets. The New York Times reported Friday the Justice Department had opened an antitrust probe into Live Nation after the fiasco. Live Nation Entertainment is a merger between Ticketmaster and Live Nation in 2010.

☆ Democrats’ next big fight: Which state goes first in the 2024 presidential primary
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Seitz-Wald-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Alex Seitz-Wald | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

With Iowa facing possible eviction from the early states, many expect Democrats to elevate a Midwest state. The DNC’s rules and bylaws committee is scheduled to meet in early December in Washington to discuss the presidential primary schedule. The old system began with caucuses in Iowa, went to the New Hampshire primary, then Nevada and finally South Carolina. This week, Nevada Democrats attempted to leverage their party’s midterm performance into an early state slot — including Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory that decided the Senate majority. A Democrat working on Nevada’s push said the DNC has laid out criteria for early state consideration and voter access is a top concern.

☆ Taylor Swift fans are angry at Ticketmaster's merger with Live Nation after the company's debacle around her concert tickets. An antitrust expert who testified against it said he thinks breaking it up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Taylor Swift tickets queue was once a madhouse, before Ticketmaster canceled its public ticket sale. Some are pointing to Ticketmaster's merger with Live Nation as the reason that prices are high and competition low. An antitrust expert who testified against the merger told Insider that breaking it up "will be a major priority for the antitrust division" of the DOJ. "The value in going to the Taylor Swift concert is Taylor Swift," Balto said. The madness over Taylor Swift tickets has refreshed calls for the merger to be reexamined, with several lawmakers weighing in.

☆ Ticketmaster expected 1.5 million 'verified' Taylor Swift fans on the site but 14 million people were trying to get tickets, Live Nation chairman says: 'We could have filled 900 stadiums'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Britney Nguyen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ticketmaster was only supposed to be opened to 1.5 million "verified" Taylor Swift fans for presale. Live Nation's chairman said 14 million people tried to get tickets, and could've filled 900 stadiums. "Despite all the challenges and the breakdowns, we did sell over 2 million tickets that day," Live Nation's Greg Maffei said. However, among the 14 million fans were bots, "which are not supposed to be there," Maffei said. Maffei said Ticketmaster attempted to build "capacity for peak demand," but Swift's ticket sales "exceeded every expectation."

☆ Tennessee AG says he's probing the Taylor Swift Eras presale meltdown amid customer complaints about Ticketmaster
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti said he's looking into the Taylor Swift Eras presale meltdown. On Tuesday, Swift fans complained of long wait times and outages on Ticketmaster. "You would think Ticketmaster would be prepared," Skrmetti said. At a news conference, Skrmetti said he's investigating consumer complaints about the presale and said antitrust violations "could be an issue," per Bloomberg. He added: "As an industry player, you would think Ticketmaster would be prepared.

☆ Ticketmaster's largest shareholder blames massive demand − including from bots − for Taylor Swift ticket fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Live Nation is sympathetic to fans who couldn't get tickets, Greg Maffei said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" Thursday. "It's a function of Taylor Swift. Liberty also said it would create a new stock called Liberty Live, which will include its stake in Live Nation. People amplified their complaints this week when tickets for Taylor Swift upcoming Eras tour went on presale on Ticketmaster's website. Maffei also defended Live Nation against lawmaker and activist concerns that Ticketmaster and Live Nation are abusing their market power.

☆ Taylor Swift meltdown caused by Ticketmaster abusing its market power, Senate antitrust chair says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Senator Amy Klobuchar criticized Ticketmaster in an open letter to its CEO, saying she has “serious concerns” about the company’s operations following a service meltdown Tuesday that left Taylor Swift fans irate. Ticketmaster and Live Nation, the country’s largest concert promoter, merged about a decade ago. Klobuchar noted that the company at the time pledged to “develop an easy-access, one-stop platform” for ticket delivery. It’s no secret that Live Nation-Ticketmaster is an unchecked monopoly,” Rep. David Cicilline, currently the chairman of the Antitrust Subcommittee, tweeted on Tuesday. The Justice Department and states allowed the Live Nation Ticketmaster merger to go through despite a 2010 court filing in the case raising objections to the merger.

Those were among the driving questions leading up to the midterm elections about Latino voters. Latino voters have long had themes attached to them for elections. Greg Abbott, who declared he would get more than half of Texas' Hispanic vote, finished with 40 percent, 2 percent less than in his last election. That helped create a "bridge opportunity" with Latino voters, said Sanchez, also a University of New Mexico political science professor. George W. Bush was elected with 35% of the Latino vote and did even better in getting re-elected with 40% of the Latino vote.

☆ Fact Check-Most Democrat wins for U.S. Senate races were called by Nov. 9; Dems did not ‘only’ win in states with mail in voting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

For the midterm election on Nov. 8, there were 35 states that had Senate races. Delays were seen in Arizona and Nevada, where the Senate races were called for Democrats on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 respectively. All four projected Democrat wins for the Senate races on election night, after the polls closed. In Illinois and Maryland, known as “Solid Democratic” states, the Senate race was called on election day. Only two of 14 U.S. Senate races resulting in Democrat wins in states that allow mail-in voting were not called by Nov 9.

☆ Ticketmaster meltdown for Taylor Swift tickets sparks outrage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The Justice Department and many state attorneys general have made similar complaints over the years. The Justice Department and states allowed the Live Nation Ticketmaster merger to go through despite a 2010 court filing in the case raising objections to the merger. In the filing, the Justice Department said that Ticketmaster’s share among major concert venues exceeded 80%. Past efforts to rein in Ticketmaster control over the ticket market have failed. The Justice Department and the states gave approval of to the Live Nation-Ticketmaster combination, but did call for some oversight.

☆ Taylor Swift tour ticket fiasco leads to calls for Ticketmaster and Live Nation to break up
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Sarah Whitten | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Taylor Swift accepts an award onstage during the MTV Europe Music Awards 2022 held at PSD Bank Dome on November 13, 2022 in Duesseldorf, Germany. Live Nation, which merged with Ticketmaster in 2010, has faced longstanding criticisms about its size and power in the entertainment industry. People amplified their complaints this week when tickets for Swift tickets went on presale on Ticketmaster's website. "Eras" tour tickets are priced from $49 to $450, with VIP packages starting at $199 and reaching $899. "The [Taylor Swift] portal is not going well for many Swifties," Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., wrote in a tweet Tuesday.

Democrats could have prevailed had their state party — which was busy deflecting progressive criticism of their conduct — marshaled better infrastructure and financial support for swing-district candidates. The icing on this rotten cake is that New York Democrats have no one to blame but themselves. Facing challenging new maps, Maloney and his moderate allies panicked that many of the popular progressives who had already announced their candidacies simply could not win. In a moment of exceptional self-unawareness that only underscored the broader myopia of establishment New York Democrats, Maloney took the news of his loss Tuesday as an opportunity to swipe at Ocasio-Cortez. Seth Wenig / AP fileBetween interparty bad blood and challenging electoral maps, the Democratic Party machine also appeared uninterested or unable to translate Democratic enthusiasm into meaningful on-the-ground organizing.

☆ Adam Laxalt concedes in Nevada race that tipped the balance of the Senate
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Adam Laxalt, the former Nevada attorney general who called the 2020 presidential election “rigged,” conceded his loss on Tuesday in a contest that tipped the balance of the Senate to Democrats. The concession comes days after multiple news outlets on Saturday, including NBC News, had declared his opponent, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, the winner. The race margin was razor-thin, with the latest tally showing Cortez Masto with 48.8 percent of the vote and Laxalt with 48 percent. In the end, Cortez Masto eked out the win by vastly outperforming Laxalt in mail-in ballots. Laxalt noted Cortez Masto and allies spent a "staggering" amount of money against him and he still came within half a percentage point of victory.

“Personalities come and go,” said Dave Ball, the GOP chair in Pennsylvania’s Washington County, who has supported and defended Trump. Trump is preparing to do just that, with a Tuesday announcement expected at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. In Illinois, Republicans had threatened to take two state Supreme Court seats and flip state Senate and House seats. In Pennsylvania, GOP leaders had hoped to at least hold on to the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Pat Toomey. Trump lost the state by narrow margins in 2016 and 2020.

☆ Now that Americans elected Democrats to keep the Senate, here are their 3 major plans to fix the economy and fight inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In addition to abortion rights and fair elections, Democrats appealed to voters on their plans for the economy. Those may be the big takeaways, but Democrats locking down the Senate — and likely only conceding a slim majority to Republicans in the House — also indicate that voters favor Democrats' plan to rein in a tumultuous economy. That's something few economists saw as likely, however, and it looks like Democrats' plan for the economy in coming years gave them at least a slight edge necessary to pull off upset wins. Marginal victories in Nevada and Washington, for instance, were accomplished by candidates in sync with Biden's plan to lower costs for Americans. In addition to Medicare, Democrats like Fetterman have also called for allowing lower-priced drugs to be imported to the US, in addition to limiting drug price costs overall.

☆ Watch: Cortez Masto says she hasn't received concession call from Laxalt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

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☆ Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls for Ticketmaster-Live Nation 'monopoly' to be broken up in response to Taylor Swift pre-sale controversy
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Kayla Gallagher | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Pre-sale tickets for Taylor Swift's upcoming "Eras" tour went on sale Tuesday. Ocasio-Cortez took the opportunity to voice longstanding concern about the 2010 merger of Ticketmaster, the ticket sales and distribution company, and Live Nation, the events promoter and venue operator, into Live Nation Entertainment. "We write in support of strong antitrust enforcement by the Biden Administration, including the live event ticket sales marketplace," the letter begins. Social media influencer Ellie Schnitt tweeted, "When Taylor Swift wrote 'the great war' she was actually preparing us for the Battle of Ticketmaster." — Taylor Swift, but also Ticketmaster after its site crashed.

☆ As Trump readies possible 2024 White House run, GOP megadonors back DeSantis, Youngkin, other Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Sabin contributed $55,000 this year to a pro-DeSantis PAC, Friends of Ron DeSantis, which supported the Florida governor's successful bid for reelection, according to state campaign finance records. Trump, meanwhile, has scheduled a primetime announcement Tuesday night, heavily hinting that it will be his presidential campaign launch. Trump also endorsed dozens of winning House candidates, but many of those Republicans were in firmly red districts without a serious competitor. Ross hosted a fundraiser for Trump at his Hamptons home in 2019 to raise money for Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee. While Levine didn't personally donate to Trump's races, he helped raise campaign cash for several other candidates Trump endorsed in the last cycle.

☆ Marjorie Taylor Greene says she isn't afraid of a GOP civil war: 'We're going to fight it out'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Marjorie Taylor Greene says she isn't afraid of a GOP civil war. Matt Gaetz, a close ally of Greene's, vowed to not support McCarthy for House GOP leader. I'm telling you — I've always said I'm not afraid of the civil war in the GOP. During her conversation with Bannon, Greene broke with her House Freedom Caucus allies and backed McCarthy's bid for House Speaker. I’m not afraid of the civil war in the GOP.

WASHINGTON — Races for more than a dozen House seats remained uncalled as of Monday afternoon, leaving political control of the chamber unknown nearly a week after voting in the 2022 midterms general election cycle concluded. Most of the 18 House seats that NBC News has not called are in California. That includes the competitive race between GOP Rep. David Valadao and his Democratic challenger Rudy Salas to represent the state's 22nd Congressional District. NBC News estimates Republicans will hold 219 seats, while Democrats will control 216 seats, with a plus-or-minus 4-seat margin of error. Members of the House Republican Conference are set to hold their closed-door election to pick their leaders for the new Congress on Tuesday.

"I know I'm a cockeyed optimist," Biden told reporters in Cambodia, referencing a sunny song from the musical South Pacific, "but I'm not surprised by the turnout." A Democratic victory in a Georgia Senate runoff on Dec. 6 would give the party outright majority control, bolstering its sway over committees, bills, and judicial picks. As of Sunday evening, Republicans had won 211 seats and the Democrats 206, with 218 needed for a majority. World leaders at an East Asia summit of ASEAN nations told Biden they are closely following the midterms results, national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One. He has said he will invite Republicans and Democrats to the White House once he returns.

Gary McCullough/AP Green Bay Packers wide receiver Samori Toure is tackled by Detroit Lions safety Will Harris. Norm Hall/Getty Images Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen hurdles Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid as he scrambles for a first down. Allen's fourth quarter touchdown throw to Dawson Knox capped off a 24-20 victory against the Chiefs. Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Minnesota wide receiver Justin Jefferson dives for a two-point conversion during the Vikings' 29-22 victory over the Chicago Bears. Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports/Reuters New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas makes a reception against Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J.

☆ GOP campaign veterans call Rick Scott one of the worst reelection chairs in modern history after 2022 midterms flop: 'Leave the national political arena to the grown ups'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Senate reelection chair Rick Scott is taking heat for not delivering during the midterm elections. "It will take years to undo Rick Scott's mistakes," a former NRSC aide said of the 2022 cycle. The former NRSC staffer who billed Scott as a historic failure said the freshman lawmaker courted disaster by going rogue this spring. "That stuff takes care of itself — if you win," the second former NRSC staffer told Insider. "It will take years to undo Rick Scott's mistakes," the second former NRSC staffer said.

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