Small Sympathy

I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for decades
For the gods they made
--The Rolling Stones

Ryan McMaken correctly observes that if the media showed a fraction of the sympathy for over-regulated small businesses that it displays for furloughed federal workers, then we would see more stories related to:

Small businesses having to cut back hours and lay off workers due to minimum wage laws.

The burden on small businesses cause by paid family leave mandates.

Contractors who lost business because government shuts down downstream producers in a supply chain for not complying to civil rights standards.

Licensing requirements that keep low skilled workers from entering entry-level occupations.

Health care mandates that drive small business to limit new hires.

Focused news coverage on such issues seems unlikely, as media lackeys would be required to cast their government compadres in poor light.