Crony Capitalism 101

John Stossel reports on Crony Capitalism. What happens when congress tries to decide who wins and loses in business through government handouts and bailouts? Everyone loses. John Stossel is reported to vote democrat, but he gets an A+ in my book for reporting on issues like this.  The videos are a bit long, but it is worth the watch!

***The first video features Annette Meeks of the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota and WCRW’s February guest speaker!***

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog post are not necessarily those of the Washington County Republican Women. This blog is for discussion purposes only.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzqTXTHe2ZE

I will be adding the book “The Big Ripoff” to our recommended reading list!

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Butter to Cigarettes to Airplanes, what is next? This feels like a scary infomercial, “But wait, there’s more!” Government at its worst.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmw8hZSdOI]

Even kid’s toys are not safe from extreme government regulations! They even go so far as to make extreme “suggestions” for people holding garage sales:

“You may want to hire a qualified trained person in your area who can quickly screen all your suspect products with a handheld device called an X-Ray Fluoresence (XRF) machine.” – CPSC

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nahyeLS16zw]

Capitalism caused the recession? Not likely.

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Stossel compares the size of the Constitution to the amount of government rules and regulations in business

We need to learn the difference between a free market, which is based on raw competition and a level playing field and crony capitalism, which is based on connections and privilege.  What is the solution? Stop letting the government micromanage our lives and the free market. Government regulation just lets big business use their money and connections to cheat and defeat competition by rigging the game. Stop letting them hide from fair competition through rules and regulations. Make government follow the Constitution.