They say art imitates life. Under no circumstance do we think TV is art, but next week Fox stations across the United States will be running a weeklong special. It's titled Regulation Nation.

Since writing about the $4 million rabbit, my inbox has been inundated with stories of government regulations gone berserk, especially toward the little guy and his business.

However, it's not just the little guy who's suffering. Major employers, ones that erroneously thought they had D.C. in their hip pocket, are feeling the pinch.

AT&T's recent attempt to acquire T-Mobile is the most obvious example, and supplies some of today's most marvelous quotes of the economic stupidity that is being shoveled onto U.S. citizens.

If you want to know why there were no jobs created in August, look no further than our leaders on the Potomac. Here's what James M. Cole, deputy attorney general for the (in)Justice Department said:

The department filed its lawsuit because we believe the combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would result in tens of millions of consumers all across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for their mobile wireless services.

Are we really to believe the government that has delivered planned inflation for the past 98 years, driving our dollar's value from a buck to under a nickel, really cares about "tens of millions of consumers"?

If you're looking for injustices, how about starting with the 300 million or so consumers who have to live with rising food prices, lower real wages, and never-ending government waste and regulations.

Let's also not forget that this isn't a "hostile takeover." This is a voluntary merger between private property owners. I am, of course, talking about the stockholders of both companies who have voluntarily agreed to merge their companies.

Neither business has a gun to anyone else's head, except, of course, the federal government with an unlimited budget to fight any war, legal or otherwise, without consideration of the "tens of millions of consumers all across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality products for their wireless services" THEIR LIVES because the government refuses to quit spending other people's money, and interfering with commerce.

And before you send me email because mergers often result in layoffs, I agree, they do. These firings will eliminate redundancies in their business model, which is intended to increase profits.

The increased profits, if the deal works, increases the communication company's market share, which increases the need for more employees.

Everyone wins, if the plan is correct.

Now, I recognize that it's easy to think, "AT&T is big enough -- they can handle the federal law suit" or "It's T-Mobile, who cares?"

Who cares? The answer is, we all should care. The U.S. taxpayer has to pay the bill for fighting this little war on the free market and the stockholders have to pay to defend their right to do business.

Worse yet, each time our government interferes in the market, under the pretense of protecting us from ourselves, they wrestle more liberties away from us.

Think it can't happen to you? Think again.

It would be easy to site the $4 million rabbit we wrote about two weeks ago. However, we'll give the Department of Agriculture a pass and just acknowledge the remarkable job these men and women have performed by saving us from a mom-and-pop-organized rabbit-selling crime syndicate, where the ill-gotten gains exceeded nearly $4,600 in 2010.

(I wonder how much the prosecution of these two villains has cost us taxpayers?)

We'll shift our focus to Memphis, Tenn., to the scene of a more dastardly crime.

Our story begins on the morning of Aug. 24. Federal agents raided a warehouse and carried away nearly $1 million in illegal contraband.

This dreaded material was wood. It wasn't filled with cocaine, marijuana or any other illegal substance. To date, the only details the company has been given is that the wood was imported.

I would try to be more specific and say that it was an endangered species of wood, but no charges have been filed yet against the company. Their goods are still in the custody of Uncle Sam, and remember, that's at least a million dollars' worth of product.

Oh, and every piece of this imported wood has been properly accounted for, so the alleged crime that this company committed took place overseas, and outside their knowledge. They even purchased the wood from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier.

In other words,the company has done everything possible, except check the driving record of the wood exporter, to ensure the goods are not tainted.

And what's the name of a company so dangerous that the raiding agents of the U.S. Fish and Game Service carried automatic rifles and donned Kevlar?

It's called Gibson Guitars, and is as much a part of rock & roll history as the legends who have played these instruments.

As of yesterday, no crime has been alleged, but that hasn't prevented the government agents from seizing their raw lumber, finished guitars, computers and about anything else they could carry off.

And let's say for a second Gibson is guilty of being swindled by a broker in India that falsified papers, and the wood was actually from an endangered plant.

What would be the end result of this crime?

Likely Gibson would pay some hefty fines. Then, the company would need to import the exact same wood, but it would need to be finished and manufactured overseas. The importation of the finished goods, if labeled properly, is completely legal.

The real net result would be the 580 new jobs created over the past two years by this U.S.-based manufacturing icon would disappear and reappear where they are welcomed.

This would be, of course, outside the U.S. borders. Businesses are not fleeing the U.S. because of greed. They leave because of fear of government prosecution.

Most have heard the story of the Amish farmer being bankrupted by the FDA for selling milk labeled NOT PASTEURIZED to a consumer wanting raw milk.

I can just see the black-clad federal agents now, guns drawn and screaming, "Put the glass down; now slowly raise your hands, and walk away from the milk carton."

An alert reader wrote to highlight the plight of an Idaho man who saved the life of his family but likely will be eaten alive by our government.

The long and short of this man's problems began when he courageously defended his wife and four children against a grizzly bear, shooting and killing one of the creatures that entered his property.

The local sheriff, county officers and even state government have all exonerated him of any wrongdoing. In fact, they've recognized his courage and know all too well the possible outcome that could have resulted had he not acted properly and with a pretty large-caliber weapon.

The federal government, on the other hand, has decided to try to imprison Jeremy Hill of Bonners Ferry, Ida., for killing an endangered species.

Even the Idaho governor has been pleading for leniency. Here's his letter whimpering his case to the federal official in charge.

It doesn't matter if you are a U.S. business giant, medium-size manufacturer, a tiny mom-and-pop business trying to eke out a living or even a father protecting his family. The government is built to protect only their interests, and eliminate yours.

The only way to increase jobs and turn this economy around is to get government out of our lives.

These job robbing, liberty-stealing actions of our federal overlords didn't happen overnight. We also cannot only blame Obama, although it has accelerated under his watch.

It is all our faults, because we've allowed it to happen by remaining silent.

No one is safe from the federal government's intrusive and very dangerous nose.

Martin Niemöller (1892-1984), a concentration camp survivor, said:

First they came for the Communists but I was not a Communist so I did not speak out;
Then they came for the Socialists and the Trade Unionists but I was not one of them, so I did not speak out;
Then they came for the Jews but I was not Jewish so I did not speak out.
And when they came for me, there was no one left to speak out for me.

Send a message loud and clear to D.C. Tell them, "Get off our backs. Stop trying to help."

Pick one or all of the topics above or choose a different one from your own experiences, and contact your federal representative and let them know you will no longer remain silent.

Cheers,

Joseph McBrennan