This is never simple and clear. The Noonans are lucky that they have the connections, money and stamina to fight this battle. How many times does a situation like this go unnoticed by the public. Someone applies for a business permit, the neigboring business find out and calls his buddy on the board, permit denied.
People have been talking about the dollar cost of big government a lot lately but this shows the other cost, maybe corruption is too strong a word but definitely this smacks of political favoritism. When government people are favoring one business over another, it's not right.
I see how the housing and civil rights seems like it fits, but the harm here is purely financial. In the civil rights case, it was a henious crime intending to strip a person of basic human rights.
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