Commentary: When it comes to Drew Carey, the price, and message, is

Long Island Business News, Apr 18, 2008 by Raymond J Keating

Please, not another vacuous Hollywood celebrity embracing the latest cause du jour. And it involves Internet video? That can only make matters worse.

Relax. This is different. Really. And the business community should take a look.

TV star Drew Carey made it big in the 1990s with "The Drew Carey Show," along with the improvisational comedy "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Now he hosts two game shows - "The Price is Right" and "Power of Ten."

But Carey's got another gig. He's working with Reason.tv on "The Drew Carey Project."

The libertarian Reason Foundation, which also publishes Reason magazine, launched the online video site in October. With his television schedule, Carey was not available for an interview, but I spoke with Nick Gillespie, editor of Reason.tv.

Gillespie said that Carey "very much believes in the Reason credo of free minds and free markets."

In August, Carey told Time magazine, "I never thought I was a libertarian until I picked up Reason magazine and realized I agree with everything they had printed."

So, rather than being a typical Hollywood liberal, Carey is an atypical Hollywood libertarian.

Gillespie also pointed out that Carey "suggested collaborating with us on a series of video journalism pieces." The idea was to give the group's work "more sizzle, more pop." As a result, "The Drew Carey Project" was born.

By the first week in April, 10 episodes had been posted. Each is thought provoking, including one on medical marijuana, and another that basically asks whether capitalism can fix often-deadly waiting lists for kidney transplants.

In addition, a show posted in December told the story of a Veterans of Foreign Wars post being raided by a Dallas vice squad for hosting poker events that helped pay the VFW's bills and raised money for charities. Yet, government-sponsored gambling through the lottery gets promoted.

But several installments in "The Drew Carey Project" address issues of direct importance to business.

For example, how about traffic? The first episode hosted by Carey focused on gridlock in U.S. cities, and featured a person suffering a 16-mile commute in Los Angeles typically lasting 90 minutes each way. Public transportation was no better. The solution? The video highlighted private companies building double-decker highways, express lanes and tunnels that are paid for through tolls.

Then there's an episode about a county government in Arizona harassing a restaurant that's family owned, family friendly, and apparently a good neighbor. After pestering the steakhouse about its parking lot and signs, and imposing a draconian noise ordinance, the county resorted to a 60-year-old law that prohibits dancing outside. You just can't make this stuff up.

One of the owners, Spencer Bell, said: "Because of this experience, I see how government can be so abusive of its power, even on a small, local level."

Speaking of abuse, two other installments focused on local governments misusing eminent domain power by taking property from private owners in order to hand it over to other private entities promising economic development and more tax revenue. Of course, small businesses often wind up losing. The episodes noted, for example, a local gym, a motorcycle shop and a bar targeted for condemnation.

Carey made a fundamental point that too many government officials need to be reminded of apparently. He said: "You know, the great thing about America is that once you own property, you own it. Am I right? You can do anything you want with that property. You can build a house on it, a business, you can plant flowers... The only way somebody can take your property is if they steal it."

Unfortunately, even though one of government's primary duties is to protect property, stealing is exactly what various localities are doing when it comes to the property of small business owners.

And there's more on the way from "The Drew Carey Project." One upcoming episode featuring a tour of Second Life, the online virtual world, emphasizes the importance of private contracts. Gillespie added: "We've also got a great expose on the crackdown against bacon- wrapped hot dogs in Los Angeles." He called it a case of government shutting down "people's freedom of food."

As a comic, Drew Carey can be counted on for a good laugh. As a video journalist, he can be counted on to provide reminders about the freedoms important to individuals and businesses.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. He can be reached at rkeating@sbecouncil.org.