Special Interest Groups

On February 25, 2000 Glenn Sheller, Columbus Dispatch Editorial Writer, wrote an article entitled: "Look in mirror for source of politics' flaws." In it he said, "We have met the special interest, and it is us. You are a special interest. So is your grandma. Your neighbor who owns The hobby shop is a special interest. Your niece, the animal-rights activist, is a special interest. Your gay cousin Fred is a special interest. Your uncle in the local teachers union is a special interest. Each of us is part of some group that has an interest in getting the government on our side or at least off our back. The result of trying to balance all these competing interests is, once again, politics."

It prompted me to write him the following:

Dear Mr. Sheller:

Well spoken. Your comments reminded me of an article in the May/98 issue of The Freeman -- "Unrestrained Appetites, Unlimited Government by Jeffrey R. Snyder What we can learn from Wickard v. Filburn." Published by the Foundation for Economic Education, http://fee.org.

Regarding the Supreme Court's decision on Wickard v Filburn, which opened up the "commerce clause" to mean the federal government could now stick it's nose into all sorts of things Snyder said, " . . . that if we were [now]free to vie endlessly with one another to become legally protected predators, we would also be bound to labor perpetually to avoid becoming legal prey. The decision in Wickard wrought a terrible and lasting justice: by giving us what we wanted, the Court insured that we would all get exactly what we deserved."

Your article does an excellent job of pointing out the fact that we are all now reaping the results of that decision. Hopefully, my campaign and the campaigns of my fellow Libertarians will help to turn the tide.

Best regards,

John McAlister
Libertarian Candidate
U.S. Senate
http://JohnForUSSenate.com