Raisin Farmers vs. the Government: Who Has the Right to the Raisins?

Sometimes, someone stands up and fights—and last week, I had the privilege of being interviewed for a program featuring two people who are doing just that.

Government has been trying to control the raisin industry for years. Under a federal “marketing order,” raisin producers are required to surrender a large portion of their crop to something called the Raisin Administrative Committee. But about a decade ago, Marvin and Laura Horne refused. The demand was for 47 percent of their raisins, and they had had enough.

Their refusal started a case that’s still going on. The government tried to argue that the Hornes had to turn over money to the government and then sue to get it back, but the Supreme Court rejected that theory and sent the case back to the lower courts for a decision on the merits.

And yet the Hornes’ tale isn’t just one of lawyers and courts. On the program, they said that a federal bureaucra

t refused to inspect their raisins—and that investigators videotaped their grandchildren on their way to school.

It's like a something out of Atlas Shrugged -- and it's a reminder of why we need the principles of Atlas Shrugged.

Here’s their story, with a few comments from me.

For more Malcolm Out Loud, visit the program’s website . For more on business rights, see the links below and the rest of this blog . For more on Atlas Shrugged, including information on the forthcoming Part 3 movie, visit our Atlas Shrugged tab .

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