Mark Small

First, the foundation of this country was built from things other than free enterprise. The issue that dominated the 1787 Constitutional Convention, but was not mentioned, by name, in the final product was slavery - the most evil of institutions. 3/13

“Even greater consequences flowed from the delegates’ compromises over slavery. ... Concessions on slavery had to be made to hold the Union together.” Stewart, “The Summer of 1787,” 2007, pp. 261-63. 4/13

Second, if by “free enterprise” Ms. Spartz means unfettered capitalism, the GOP was central to creation of limits on monopolistic practices. In 1997 Indiana abandoned its single-class high school basketball tournament. 5/13

Capitalism works like a single-elimination tournament. Corporations use whatever means are at their disposal to beat the competition. Unfortunately, when the dust settles and a handful of corporations (usually with interlocking directorates) are left, there is no re-do. 6/13

Unfettered capitalism gave us women and children working 12-hour days in factories with little pay and profits going into the pockets of a few. It gave us toxic waste in the air and water. It gave us poisoned meats. 7/13

Third, she says we should “regulate the powers of the executive branch.” Yet she supports, in trump, a would-be dictator who has condoned by inaction the bounties his pal Putin has placed on U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. 8/13

So would she limit the executive or extend powers to the trump she praises? Less filling or tastes great? GOP administrations oversaw controls over trusts (big corporations), creation of the EPA, and affirmative action. 9/13

Finally there is no drug so hallucinogenic to create an illusion that “entrepreneurs and small businesses can strive and compete with large corporations.” Example: patents. A small business develops a product and patents it. 10/13

The only way to try and make the playing field even is to - you guessed it: place limits on those large corporations. Before AT & T was busted up in the early 1980s, its customer service was customer torture & 40 years later it’s about the same. 11/13

Ms. Spartz obviously did not clear her statement “limit regulation powers of the executive branch” with trump, whom she supports. He recognizes no limits on what he sees as his powers. 12/13