Too 'Complex'?: Part III

[Terri]

By Thomas Sowell
May 15, 2008

In one of those typical San Francisco decisions that makes San Francisco a poster child for the liberal left, the city's Board of Supervisors is moving to block a paint store from renting a vacant building once used by a video rental shop.

That paint store is part of a chain, and chain stores are not liked by a vocal segment of the local population. Chain stores are already banned from some parts of San Francisco, and at least one member of the Board of Supervisors plans to introduce bans on chain stores in other areas.

Chain stores have been disliked for decades, at both local and national levels. Taking advantage of economies of scale that lower their costs of doing business, chain stores are able to charge lower prices than smaller independent stores, and therefore attract customers away from their higher-cost competitors.

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[FlaJim]

[font="Tahoma"][color="Blue"]Property rights have been the most distinguishing feature of America and our Constitution. Without their guarantee, we are free to be harassed at any time by a government with which we disagree. Yet this right is continually being chipped away with the smiling connivance of the courts who can see penumbras but apparently don't understand the plain English of the Fourth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments.

In Florida, we have a stupid law prohibiting price gouging following a natural disaster. Sounds good on the surface but what right does the government have to set pricing? If there's a supplier and a willing buyer, there might be some grumbling by the buyer but it's better than no supply at all. The law is basically an improper 'taking'.

We also ban smoking in restaurants that has resulted in the loss of business and jobs. Another improper 'taking'.

Mr. Sowell is quite correct. The Constitution isn't difficult to understand - unless you have a problem understanding English.