MIKE DAVIS: Congress must finally kill the hidden tax in your online shopping cart

The article argues that Amazon and other Big Tech platforms act like gatekeepers that raise costs for consumers and small businesses by charging high marketplace, advertising, and fulfillment fees, and by favoring their own services in search rankings. It frames the Senate’s reintroduction of the bipartisan American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), along with the Open App Markets Act and the AMERICA Act, as a major antitrust effort aimed at restoring competition and lowering prices. The piece claims these laws would curb anti-competitive behavior, reduce the “tollbooth” Big Tech extracts from online commerce, and help Main Street businesses compete more fairly. The market impact is mainly regulatory risk for Amazon and peers, with potential pressure on margins and platform economics if the bills advance.