Tech companies will hate this, but I don’t see any downside for Republicans in siding with employees against the super-wealthy of Silicon Valley. It might even split off some tech-industry support, dividing the Silicon Valley worker bees from the oligarchs. I have Democratic friends who work there and this is a really big issue among them. And who could be against paying a “living wage?” For added fun, have some hearings where fat-cat Silicon Valley oligarchs are grilled about worker exploitation.
Another big Democratic industry is entertainment, and here too there are lots of opportunities. The motion picture industry has been abusing intellectual property laws for years. Hollywood accounting makes even big money-makers look unprofitable. The recording industry is notorious for ripping off artists.
America could use much more in the way of legislation and oversight to remedy these abuses — which, frankly, have been permitted mostly because the entertainment industry and Silicon Valley have been big donors to the Democratic Party for years. The GOP could change all that, and if it’s smart, the Republican-dominated Congress will be passing bills to protect American workers and consumers from the depredations of these industries between now and 2016.
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