Does Sanfelippo Call This "Capitalism"?

This advocate of regulatory oligopoly enforcement is running as a "Republican".  Sad to say, the story fits right into Obozo's "You didn't build it" narrative.

...In February 2012, Milwaukee Magazine published a lengthy expose detailing Milwaukee County Supervisor Joe Sanfelippo’s role in his family’s “near-monopoly in taxicabs” in the City of Milwaukee. Joe Sanfelippo’s brother Michael Sanfelippo owns 165 of the 321 taxicab permits, or 51% of all taxicab permits in the City.

And while Joe Sanfelippo may not be the owner of the 165 permits,* there is a serious question of principle in regards to Joe Sanfelippo’s active defense of an outdated and arbitrary cap on Milwaukee taxicab permits; a cap that hinders competition and new business.

In September of 2011, the civil liberties law firm Institute for Justice (IJ) filed a lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee on behalf of three individual taxicab drivers citing that the arbitrary cap of 321 taxicab permits “violates their right to earn a living.”  The three plaintiffs, all first generation Americans, want to own their own taxicab and pursue their own entrepreneurial ambitions. The problem? Since taxicab permits are capped in the City of Milwaukee, and no new permits are issued, a secondary market for taxicab permits has emerged. According to the Institute for Justice lawsuit, “the current market price of a Milwaukee taxicab permit is approximately $150,000.”

Despite a market value of $150,000, the holder of a taxicab permit pays the city just $175 a year.

We are repulsed by this crap.  Rent-seeking, whether practiced by G.E. or the Sanfelippo family, is unethical, unjust, and directly contrary to ANY free-market system.