Republican Scorecard: Big Business Beats Small Government Every Time

From the Sublette Examiner in Pinedale, WY:

In 1779, Thomas Jefferson wrote that "to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves, is sinful and tyrannical."

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the mandatory $1 per head fee imposed on the cattle industry, calling it valid government speech on a 6-3 vote. The nation's highest court rejected arguments by members of the beef industry that the program violates constitutionally protected speech rights.

Lest you think these were just some deadbeat cattle ranchers who wanted to get out of funding advertising that benefits them in order to have more bucks to blow in Vegas, it's worth mentioning that the ranchers who brought this lawsuit in the first place (and prevailed at every step along the way to the Supremes) believe that all beef is not equal and that to lump it all together in an ad campaign actually hurts them in the marketplace.

From dissenting Justice Souter:

This message, the ranchers say, ignores the fact that not all beef is the same; the ads fail to distinguish, for example, the American ranchers' grain-fed beef from the grass-fed beef predominant in the imports, which the Americans consider inferior.

As someone who believes that grain-fed beef really is inferior to grass-fed beef, I have to go along with the deadbeats on this one. Why should I have to pay more for the beef I buy because the government is forcing the rancher to subsidize an ad campaign they don't believe in and that actually weakens their market position?

Now, I wouldn't really care about this at all if it weren't for the fact that these small government guys are all too ready to cut day care subsidies, ratchet back coverage for veterans'  health care, reduce funding for school lunch programs, and in general cut all kinds of social programs that I'm very happy to fund with  my tax dollars and my consumer choices, but never seem to want to do anything that would make big business feel the pain, too.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The only thing the Republicans like more than small government is big business.