In Sunday night’s episode of NBC’s Chicago Justice titled “Dead Meat”, pig farm owner John Beckett (Michael Rispoli) is on trial for arson and the death of an employee. Beckett tells his jury at trial that he was swimming in debt due to government over-regulation.
Beckett was $2 million in debt and when his pig farm burned to the ground, the insurance policy pay-off was $3 million. Beckett claimed it was faulty electrical wiring but he was charged with arson. A farm hand was asleep in the bunk house and was killed in the blaze. During his trial he described the price of government over-regulation on small businesses like his pig farm and how quickly fines add up to the business’ total debt. In his case, he mentions the FDA, the EPA, and the county government. In his case, the fines were up to $20,000 per day. Yikes.
The exchange:
Attorney: Was there a problem?
Beckett: Not at first. I took out a loan to lease some land and build a small farm and warehouse to package fresh meat. Within a couple of months, the county was up my ass about fixing a pot hole in the driveway. And there was a fine attached to that, of course. Then the FDA shows up. They say that my packing was mislabeled because even though my chickens are cage-free, they're not cage-free according to the government. Why? Because there's an irrigation pipe 25 feet below and an opening in the dirt. And that was another fine. Then there was the EPA for cow flatulation. They say that the design of my livestock waste lagoon was a half an inch shallow. They said I would have to build a whole brand new indoor facility.
Attorney: Did you?
Beckett: It would've cost over a million dollars. The fines got to be $20,000 per day. Who can afford that? I owed over $2 million. Maybe I got a little sloppy or careless with the electric in the warehouse.
Attorney: What did you do with the insurance money you received?
Beckett: I paid off the damn government. I am sorry about what happened to Paul. And I feel for Gail. But there is just no way in hell I'd burn down my own farm.
Don’t get me wrong, Beckett was a bad hombre – he was guilty of murder, in the end of this story but he perfectly illustrated the price paid by small business owners due to over-regulation. The local and national government are only too willing to fatten their coffers on the backs of entrepreneurs. Cow flatulence? No wonder the EPA is looked down upon by so many hard working Americans. Government over-regulation stinks.
