Eisenhower Coined a Phrase, and Biden Just Retooled it

When he delivered his farewell address to Americans on Wednesday night, President Biden warned that too much power was being concentrated in the hands of a small group of uber-rich people. And just as President Eisenhower famously warned of a "military industrial complex" and the "potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power" in his farewell address six decades ago, Biden warned of a "tech industrial complex" in modern America.

• "Today an oligarchy is taking shape in America—of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, a fair shot for everyone to get ahead," said the president. He likened today's business titans to the "robber barons" of the 19th century. Read the full transcript.
• A quick analysis from Bloomberg: "Taken as a whole, it offered a direct and populist critique of successor Donald Trump and his allies—many of whom are drawn from the ranks of the country's business and financial elite."

• Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos have been among those courting favor with the president-elect, notes the Washington Post. "The stark comparisons underscored how a president who has often heralded the 'possibilities' afforded by America and proclaimed himself an enduring optimist is ending a 50-year career in public service with deep concerns that the nation's promise is being eroded by its wealthiest citizens," observes the story.
• Biden did not name names in his warning, including that of Trump, notes Politico. "But the stark warning represented an unusual use of a farewell speech that traditionally serves as an opportunity to tout accomplishments and express confidence in the future—a sign that Biden still harbors deep reservations about handing the presidency to a man that he once warned was 'willing to sacrifice our democracy' to attain power." In fact, Biden called for a constitutional amendment stipulating that "no president is immune from crimes."
• A critic on the right takes issue with Biden's line of attack. "What Biden means is that he doesn't like billionaires who oppose his party's agenda, which is an authoritarian mindset whereby supporters are rewarded while dissenters are maligned and punished," writes Bonchie at RedState. "Never mind that income inequality, whatever that's worth as a statistic, has grown during his term."
• Both the RedState post and another by Ed Morrissey at Hot Air point out that Biden just gave billionaire George Soros a Presidential Medal of Freedom. The president is "attempting to exit like Dwight D. Eisenhower, while being nothing like Ike in the least, let alone in Ike's honesty."

(More President Biden stories.)