The managed economy. Not to be confused with the free market economy.
I could provide dozens of examples, but this one, concerning University Hospitals in Cleveland, as reported in the Plain Dealer, works about as well as any.
Ohio’s legislators in DC are already naming the price at which their votes can be bought for the Obamacare bill: earmarks for University Hospitals.
Apparently, this is not a move that all hospitals in Ohio would agree upon. Cleveland Clinic decried the move as favoritism.
Many voters are catching on to this trend of political manipulation of the marketplace since Obama took office, but, unfortunately, our pay-to-play legislators have been picking winners and losers in the marketplace for years. It happens at the state level, too, so there’s not a level playing field, and we’ve seen up close how that drives business away from Ohio.
In a free market economy, consumers do the picking and choosing.
If we want to return to a free market economy, government will have to relinquish the reins and stop trying to micromanage it. That’s partly why I feel a campaign slogan of “DO LESS!“ would appeal to me, as a voter.
Buckeye RINO 
September 27, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I once looked up “fascism” because I had a disagreement with a co-worker about what it meant. Ironically the behavior that you are describing is the one common thread in all governments that are described as fascist: fostering certain businesses while curtailing others. Maybe we aren’t dealing with comrades after all…
September 28, 2009 at 12:38 am
DJW,
Just wait until the Big O turns the entire economy over to the G-22. It was no mistake that the major foreign policy business of last week was done here rather than at the UN.
September 30, 2009 at 8:57 pm
James, Tim Higgins, are either of you running for Congress? You have my blessing if you do, especially if “DO LESS” is part of your mantra.
September 30, 2009 at 9:14 pm
High praise indeed, and my thanks for it.
Doing less is in fact a good part of my manta, hence the concept of “running” for anything seems inappropriate.
When I left the floor in production printing to go into management, I was told that having half of my brain removed was a requirement. When I went from there into sales, they insisted on the other half. While this may appear to qualify for political office, the fact that they left my spine precludes such a position.
September 30, 2009 at 11:17 pm
ROTFL!