With Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the Democratic ticket, the role of a state attorney general is getting more attention than ever. Her success in holding the big banks accountable and standing up to Big Tech to protect kids are both models for the work I am now doing in Colorado.
And the current Biden-Harris administration is committed to holding irresponsible companies that artificially drive-up prices accountable, including investigating allegations of big oil colluding with foreign nationals and OPEC to raise prices at the gas pump for American families. As president, I know that Harris will continue providing important federal leadership and strong collaboration on vigorous antitrust enforcement and efforts to protect consumers and workers from irresponsible companies that don’t play by the rules and flout our laws.
As Colorado attorney general, one of my core priorities is to protect consumers and stand up for people who are harmed. That includes taking on irresponsible companies who deceive consumers, violate our antitrust laws, or mistreat consumers. We are not afraid of taking on any company—whether Big Pharma, tech giants, or corporate landlords—who hurts Coloradans.
Vice president and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris applauds the crowd after speaking at a campaign event at Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin, on Sept. 20.
MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
Over the last year, we took on a number of companies for harming consumers. Just recently, we sued a company called RealPage for enabling collusion that raises the cost of rent—artificially and illegally driving up housing costs for thousands of Colorado renters. And after prevailing in our antitrust case against Google, we are now leading a bipartisan coalition of 38 state AGs to hold Google accountable for its illegal use of monopoly power in the online search market and restore competition to the Internet search and search advertising markets. And we took on Walmart for failing to charge customers the same price at the checkout counter as they do on the shelf price listings—leading to a multi-million-dollar settlement against the company.
As vice president and as a candidate for president, we know that Kamala Harris has a record of fighting for consumers. In line with our actions in Colorado that made insulin affordable, she and President Biden have addressed the rising cost of insulin and the terrible impact it had on people with diabetes. In 2020, for example, Medicare enrollees were paying $1 billion in out-of-pocket costs for the medication, leading to worse health outcomes and rationing of supplies. In 2022, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration capped costs at $35 per month, impacting nearly 4 million seniors on Medicare with diabetes.
Americans want an economy that works for them—not just billionaires and top corporate executives. At the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, I’m proud to stand on that line to protect Colorado’s working families and ensure they get a fair shake and aren’t taken advantage of by those who would skirt our laws to take more from Coloradans’ pocketbooks. This fall, we have the opportunity to elect a president committed to these principles and being a partner with our office.
Phil Weiser is Colorado’s attorney general.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
