Below is an excerpt from an interview with Bernie Marcus, co-founder of Home Deport, published in Investor’s Business Daily, July 20, 2011. Mr. Marcus in the interview criticizes the Obama administration for the torrent of regulations that is stifling small businesses and job creation.
IBD: Why don’t more businesses speak out?
Marcus: They are frightened to death — frightened that they will have the IRS or SEC on them. In my 50 years in business, I have never seen executives of major companies who were more intimidated by an administration.
IBD: What’s your message to the business community?
Marcus: It’s time to stand up and fight. These people in Washington are out there making your life difficult, and many of you won’t survive. Why aren’t you doing something about it? The free enterprise system made this country what it is today, and we’ve got to keep it alive. We are on the edge of the abyss.
Comment: It is happening right before our eyes, the evisceration of free speech because of the reign of intimidation that has been on march in Washington DC. Both political parties are to blame for this state of affairs. In short, with the exception of Rep. Ron Paul, who is seeking the GOP nomination for president, in the immortal words of a politician from another era, “there is not a dime’s difference between the Democrats and Republicans.’