Hightower Lowdown

Attention, class, we're now going to study the new and improved version of "free enterprise."

Let's consider the case of Cabala's Inc. This giant retailer of hunting, fishing, and other outdoor products recently graced the state of Texas with one of its megastores, but only after demanding and receiving a rucksack filled with government subsidies, including $600,000 cash, $36 million in road and construction costs, and $20 million in highway improvements. What we have here is the giveaway of roughly $57 million of Texas taxpayers' money to an out-of-state corporation to bribe it to come to our state and compete against local businesses that, ironically, are taxed to pay for Cabala's subsidya subsidy that will allow the megastore to undercut the prices charged by the locals, thus driving them out of business. Our governor hails this as a triumph of free enterprise.

For its part, Cabala's is unabashed about its dependence on corporate socialism, even declaring in its annual report that grabbing public money is key to its business plan. But while it thrives on government giveaways, the retail chain has added a new twist to the game by demurely declaring that, as a private, for-profit company, its privacy rights would be violated if details about its public subsidy were revealed to...well, the public. Thus Cabala's has sued our state attorney general, claiming that it would suffer "substantial competitive harm" if the terms of its deal with the governor were publicly disclosed.

So, class, let's review: A private corporation is funded by the state to give it a leg up on its local competitors, but it declares that it must be exempt from the state's public disclosure law in order to protect its competitive advantage. Are we clear now on the new definition of "free enterprise?"