The Faux Morality of Big Government and Anti-Gouging Laws
Published in The Tennessean , Sunday, November 11, 2012 and in FORBES with archives . by Richard J. Grant I am less afraid of hurricanes than I am of voters. Luckily I live in a place where the danger from either is limited. That is a roundabout way of saying that I live in an inland “red state” where my neighbors have refrained from voting to tax my employment income, do not require me to join any trade union, and do trust me to carry a handgun. When a hurricane struck the Northeast, my family and I were not directly affected. But when voters in the Northeast went to the polls, we were affected. That is not to suggest that anyone in my state would begrudge the use of federal funds to provide emergency assistance, though they might believe that state and local governments are much better suited for the planning and delivery of such emergency services. They might also question the wisdom of cycling the funds through Washington, DC. My state is also the source of volunteers, pe...