When government intervenes in the economy, it’s often to protect the politically powerful from competition. Most politicians don’t understand this or won’t admit it. This week, Sen. Mike Lee decided to fight the collusion between Big Government, and, well, Big Egg.
The Deseret News has the story:
The Utah Republican sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack calling for an investigation into the American Egg Board and its alleged anti-competitive campaign against Hampton Creek’s “Just Mayo” vegan mayonnaise.
Recent news reports revealed a series of emails that contain “compelling” evidence that the board and its president might have violated federal laws and rules governing commodity checkoff programs, the letter says.
The 600 pages of correspondence suggest that board members, USDA officials and top executives in the egg industry engaged in a campaign to use the power and resources of the federal government to undermine Hampton Creek, based on their fear that the food startup’s product is a “crisis” and “major threat” to the egg industry, according to the letter.
This is what government and industry do when they get together. They try to take away your choices and crush startups who would do things differently.
Timothy P. Carney, The Washington Examiner’s senior political columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. His column appears Tuesday and Thursday nights on washingtonexaminer.com.
