To the Editor:

If we allow big business to determine every aspect of our lives, how is that any different than having a government that's too big and too powerful?
People keep saying the government is running our lives but it's really free enterprise that's running the government and our lives. Every time some utility company bribes our state legislators to approve more rate hikes, taxes and fees, that's the big government of free enterprise flexing its muscles.
The City of Atlanta is forcing all street vendors to pay rent to a single contractor and use all the same kiosks. Why? Because they care more about multi-million dollar contracts than the rights of the individual business owner and many will lose their businesses because of it. That's conservative, job-killing government in action! They say they want a smaller government until big business wants to make money or some conservative special interest group wants to target people they don't like, then they use big government to bash us across our heads and take our money and force us to give up more of our rights and dignity.
Whether they're cutting programs for veterans, the elderly, women, children or the poor or picking on certain groups of people by passing discriminatory immigration laws or wanting to drug test people on public assistance, big business and its slave, big government, are always looking for ways to stick it to us and run our lives.

Christopher Murray
Madison
Delivered in person

Printed in the March 1, 2012 edition.