Like the inexperienced thief who breaks into a home and steals the Xbox, ignoring the Picasso hanging on the wall, establishment Republicans have a hard time with the "get government out of the way" concept they looted from the Liberty Movement and the Tea Party factions of the GOP.
They steal the phrase to vaguely rail against "government regulation" and "government intervention" in our daily lives while ignoring more valuable illustrations of the principle.
Perhaps there is no more stark example than the sex-trafficking legislation introduced in Congress by Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen. Based on Minnesota law, Paulsen's "Safe Harbor" legislation would treat women caught up in sex-trafficking as victims rather than criminals.
Good legislation? You betcha. But while Paulsen, never one to miss the opportunity to heist a popular trend, is fencing the legislation as a way to combat the evils of sex trafficking, he completely ignores the more valuable lesson hanging right in front of him.
Just whom do victims of sex trafficking need protection from?
Safe Harbor laws protect victims of sex trafficking from their own government more than from the "bad guys."
It was arbitrary legislation that defined victims of sex trafficking as "criminals." It was government that enforced laws against victims' behavior instead of focusing on the truly criminal behavior of sex traffickers who forced them into it. Although Paulsen fails to realize it, his Safe Harbor legislation is simply "getting government out of the way" of helping victims and apprehending the real criminals.
A less dramatic but nonetheless telling example of getting government out of the way to accomplish an obvious good is the Minneapolis City Council's consideration of relaxing restrictions on "mobile grocery stores." Many people in urban areas lack access to fresh fruits and vegetables. There are entrepreneurs and nonprofits that recognize the need and are willing to serve it; the problem is that city regulations effectively prohibit them from doing so.
