Whistling Past Big Government (Psst, Musicians, This Is What It Does)

Add parodists to the list of professionals being put out of work by the federal government under the Watchful Eye of the Obama administration, because it would simply be impossible to exaggerate this in order to make an insightful joke of it:

In March of this year, a small nonprofit in Cincinnati—the Music Teachers National Association—received a letter from the FTC. The agency was investigating whether the association was engaged in, uh, anticompetitive practices. …

This was bizarre, given that the MTNA has existed since 1876 solely to advance the cause of music study and support music teachers. The 501(c)(3) has about 22,000 members, nearly 90% of them piano teachers, including many women who earn a modest living giving lessons in their homes.

It looks like the group and the government have come to an agreement, but it involves two decades of arduous compliance and invasive scrutiny… or at least vulnerability, depending on bureaucratic motivation.

Why this group fell into the government floodlight is unknown.  The most conspiratorial theory would be that some executive in the non-profit was found to have donated to a candidate or cause the administration doesn’t like; perhaps the least conspiratorial theory would be that the government paper pushers just find it easier to fill their schedules going after benign organizations rather than actual malefactors with big budgets and lots of incentive to fight back.

My money (given experience analyzing child-care providers in Rhode Island) is that the reason has more to do with labor unions.  Maybe some union sees a hook to organize piano teachers for dues and political leverage, and the professional association is competition.  Maybe the teachers unions want to increase pressure for lessons to be given (and funded) through government-run schools.

Whatever the case, musicians should come home to libertarianism on matters of government bureaucracy.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in The Ocean State Current, including text, graphics, images, and information are solely those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of The Current, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, or its members or staff. The Current cannot be held responsible for information posted or provided by third-party sources. Readers are encouraged to fact check any information on this web site with other sources.

YOUR CART
  • No products in the cart.
0