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I am 73 and often involved in cases where an industry has cheated consumers out of minimal amounts of money across a universe of many thousands of persons for many years. There's a difference between protecting people from the consequences of their inattention or even stupidity and catching a player in the marketplace when it is engaged in secret cheating by lying, misrepresentations and false assurances in acquiring small amounts that, in total, enhance the company's bottom line by many, many millions of dollars. There's no difference between sticking a gun in the face of a convenience store clerk and stealing $200 from the Cash register and a major corporation stealing $4 each month from a million people for several years before being found out.

In each example, there is a theft, a crime and a taking from the unimpeded economy an amount of money to a specific entity who is not entitled to it. In fact, the gun toting robber is at least honest in what he is representing as to his action; he knows he's a thief and lets the rest of the world know the same.

Contrariwise, the corporate officers scheming to steal these consumers' millions to enhance their bottom line are sneak thieves, liars while pretending to be righteous and upright citizens and providers of jobs that add to the community and our commercial health; when, in fact, they're not.

A single day's exposure to the litany of evil acts engaged in by those commercial ventures who believe it's their privilege to steal from consumers and lie about it would illustrate to any doubting person the value of consumer protection from these scoundrels.

Of course, if one believes that it's OK for thieving enterprises to steal from an unknowing public, then, so be it. I cannot control nor can I explain irrationality.