And the Worst Bastard of the Year Award goes to...

The US Supreme Court: for allowing manufacturers to ' price-fix '

The US Supreme Court just killed a 96 year old law forbidding Companies from getting together and price-fixing...forcing the consumer to bear whatever cost they set it at...essentially eliminating price competition in the marketplace if companies go ahead and fix prices

Justices End 96-Year-Old Ban on Price Floors

Striking down an antitrust rule nearly a century old, the Supreme Court ruled today that it is no longer automatically unlawful for manufacturers and distributors to agree on setting minimum retail prices.

The court struck down the 96-year-old rule that resale price maintenance agreements were an automatic, or per se, violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In its place, the court instructed judges considering such agreements for possible antitrust violations to apply a case-by-case approach, known as a “rule of reason,” to assess their impact on competition.

Justices End 96-Year-Old Ban on Price Floors - New York Times