Should a government bureaucrat have the power to arbitrarily decide who’s allowed to start a business and who isn’t? Most readers of this website — and most Americans — have a ready answer to that question: No.
But in many cities and states, government officials have the power to do just that.
Consider the case of Julie Crowe.
A veteran of the Marine Corps now in her 50s, Julie worked for years as a shuttle van driver in her hometown of Bloomington, Illinois, taking Illinois State University students to and from downtown bars at night. She liked the work, and her customers liked her — especially young women who preferred a female driver who would make sure they got home safely in their inebriated state after nights on the town. Her customers also preferred riding in her relatively small van to riding in what many of the other vehicle services in town offer: giant “party buses” where fights, vomiting and overcrowding are the norm.
Last year, Julie, like so many entrepreneurial Americans before her, decided she would like to go into business for herself and be her own boss rather than work for somebody else. So she applied for a certificate to operate a vehicle-for-hire service, as a city ordinance required. Julie expected the application process to be a simple formality, but it turned out to be no such thing; instead, it was a deliberate, insurmountable obstacle to pursuing her dream.
Under local law, the city was required to hold a hearing on Julie’s application —
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/02/28/only-consumers-should-decide-who-succeeds-in-business/#ixzz1nsuXcjIl
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