Theft Isn't Theft When Government Is Doing The Thieving!
As Walter Olson puts it at Overlawyered, "Nice raisin crop you've grown there. Now hand over 47% of it to the state."
He references a pending case, Horne v. U.S. Department of Agriculture, in which the government demanded 47 percent of the Horne's crop -- sans compensation. His Cato colleague Ilya Shapiro writes:
The order -- a much-criticized New Deal relic -- forces raisin "handlers" to reserve a certain percentage of their crop "for the account" of the government-backed Raisin Administrative Committee, enabling the government to control the supply and price of raisins on the market. The RAC then either sells the raisins or simply gives them away to noncompetitive markets--such as federal agencies, charities, and foreign governments--with the proceeds going toward the RAC's administration costs.
Walter explains:
The U.S. government denies that it owes anything to the Hornes under the Takings Clause, and also says that to contest the legality of what has been done to them, the Hornes are obliged to pay the USDA what it demands -- $438,000 for the raisins not handed over, plus $200,000 or so in penalties -- and then sue in the Court of Federal Claims to get it back.
Absolutely disgusting. Imagine if this were your business.
Tobacco Transition Payment Program:
Up until 2004 the government had a hand in quotas for tobacco growers.
The same with peanuts until 2008.
Jim P. at January 28, 2013 8:55 PM
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