The owner of Gibson Guitar was faced with the prospect of spending millions of dollars fighting in court or spending a little over a quarter of a million dollars in a settlement rightfully chose to move forward.
The company would have remained in limbo for years in a court fight whereas now Gibson can resume operations to make quality guitars again.
Back in the glory days of mob control of certain sections of inner cities shop owners would come to open their stores to find it had been ransacked. Before they could assess the damage and pick up the phone to call police a few goons would approach the shop keep extolling their sympathy and proposing deterrence for the future.
For a weekly fee this goon squad would insure that this shop owners business would be protected from theft and vandalism. The savvy shop owner knew as he stared into the lifeless eyes of the mob connected soldiers that they in fact were responsible for the damage to his shop. Word had spread fast that if the shop owner were to make the mistake of refusing this protection he could expect a worse threat to his business. The choice to accept the mob protection was an “offer you can’t refuse” or a “Damned if you don’t, damned if you do” false choice called extortion.
If anyone thinks that the Gibson Guitar case is either unique or singular in the many federal agencies and regulations that have put both business and individuals in the crosshairs of government heavy handed authority think again. Below you will find a well written article that delves not only into the government’s heavy handed regulatory authority that is strangling the American Dream but the lesser known use of proposed regulation used by our politicians to fill their campaign war chests.
“ Politicians call legislation that is intended to extort campaign contributions from a business or industry “milker bills” or “cash cows.” As explained by one California legislator, a politician “in need of campaign contributions, has a bill introduced which excites some constituency to urge [the legislator] to work hard for its defeat (easily achieved), pouring funds into his campaign coffers.”7
Another name politicians have given to such legislation is “juicer bill,” since they are designed to “squeeze” cash out of corporate coffers in return for not harming the corporation with proposed legislation and regulation. So-called “fetcher bills” are also said to be capable of “fetching“ gobs of campaign cash.”
It is another level of corruption used by politicians that is less known and not reported that reminds one of a childhood threat. One sibling sees another doing something that their parents have forbidden and the sibling threatens to go “tell on” the child. The worried sibling pleads and offers a bribe to the tattletale for their silence and the secret is kept. (Only the sibling threatening to rat knows that it was a bluff they would not have followed through with even without compensation for their silence.)
These dastardly tricks by our politician to commercial business are long standing and completely acceptable to Americans who are ignorant or have been indoctrinated to jealously loath business. Increasingly we see politicians use this unethical game of threat and coercion yet there remains too few of us that extol the same empathetic reaction to businesses and corporations as we do the extortion of individual property owners harassed by EPA.
All business owners are individuals and yes there are always bad apples among individuals but to paint a sweeping negative image that all businesses are greedy demonic creatures that should be whipped, chained and blamed for all ills in our society is the indoctrination by the left we have allowed far too long.
It is one thing to be offended that corporate lobbyists sit amongst our politicians trying to persuade their vote on legislation but it should anger us much more to realize that these politician create the influence game in a calculated way by propose legislation to “Juice”, “Milk”, and “Fetch” that lobbying attention and campaign contributions purposefully.
To say that the Tea Party movement must change our government’s over regulation and legislative tyranny is true but if we neglect to teach the next generation a pro-capital and limited government mindset that tyranny will return.
Gibson Guitar did what it had to do to in order to remain a viable company in an ever increasing hostile free enterprise America. We need to feel sympathy for the individuals and the businesses being raped against the wood paneling of Washington’s backroom because both banjos are being played for victims that need deliverance from government corruption.
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