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       SNL star Pete Davidson mocks Staten Island coronavirus lockdown protests The Hill columnist Joe Concha reacts on ‘America’s Newsroom.’

       This weekend, I watched images of three mega-celebrities, Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon, all of current or past "SNL" fame, float by my Twitter feed. These three comedians were dressed impeccably, looked happy and were seen together, in a live-shot, with their arms around each other from this week’s show.

       The picture provided a stark contrast from what so many people I know are experiencing, whether it be the inability to see friends or family, to gather close together or to earn a living.

       What was staring me, and everyone else in America in the face was another example of how clout and influence lead to a different set of rules when the government gets into the role of choosing winners and losers, haves and have nots.

       New York State, where "Saturday Night Live" is taped, has seen government-mandated shutdowns lead to the closure by the middle of last month of almost 24% of its small businesses, according to Harvard-affiliated Opportunity Insights.

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       That was before a new announcement last week about another closure of indoor dining for New York City restaurants’ despite that New York’s own contact tracing data shows that only 1.4% of all the state’s COVID cases were attributed to restaurants.

       Despite the utter carnage in the restaurant industry, as well as theaters and comedy clubs with live audiences that had likewise been shut down, the New York Times reported that "SNL" continued on, and was, at least in previous weeks, allowed to have an in-studio audience, with the work-around of paying members of its audience as freelance workers.

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       That’s the problem, and to be clear, it is not a problem with "SNL." The show’s entire cast and crew, just like everyone else, deserve to work and to make choices about whether or not it is safe to work. The issue is that every other small business and its workforce deserve to do so, too. Instead, the government is limiting their opportunities and rights.

       The state and local government in New York, as well as in many locations throughout the U.S., have used an arbitrary set of rules to decide which businesses can and cannot be open. These rules are not based on science or even how an individual business responds to protocols; it’s a different standard set by the whim of the government officials.

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       "SNL" is not more or less essential than a restaurant. A restaurant is not more or less essential than another purveyor of food or liquor or even a hardware store. The decisions allowing businesses to open or close are all made based on who has clout and who does not.

       Just weeks ago, across the country near Los Angeles, another restaurant owner went viral over this haves and have nots hypocrisy.

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       Angela Marsden, owner of the Pineapple Hill Grill & Saloon, was vexed when her restaurant was forced to shut down dining while a movie crew not only filmed but

       set up outdoor catering in the same parking lot just hundreds of feet away.

       I don’t blame "SNL" or the movie company, the grocery store or any other business who was given the golden ticket by government. As I said, they all deserve to be in business and anyone who was given an exemption or opportunity would take it. This is about the government overstepping its role and creating economic and social distress, particularly for the smallest and most vulnerable in the economy.

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       Golden tickets should not be in the government’s purview to hand out subjectively.

       Cities and states have had more than three-quarters of a year to figure out business risk mitigation strategies and to provide guidance on protocols.

       Many businesses, including big box retailers, have never been shut down and many small businesses, restaurants included, have invested heavily in safety protocols.

       What we have witnessed is the government targeting of small businesses. Small businesses were the first to be shuttered, the longest to be shuttered and many are being asked to shutter again, without due compensation for the violation of their property rights.

       Shutting these businesses down crushes the backbone of America. To allow the rich, famous and/or connected to continue to operate under different standards laughs about this crushing in small business owners’ faces.

       Moreover, we know that Congress’ pathetic and paltry $600 individual stimulus and convoluted PPP structure isn’t going to save Main Street, either.

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       Supporting America’s small business backbone is neither political nor controversial. Small businesses employ about half of our workforce and account for almost half of GDP generated by the private sector. Real lives and livelihoods hang in the balance because of these COVID closure decisions.

       The government must be stopped from picking winners and losers and deciding who is too important to ignore, who is too big to fail and who is too small to matter.

       CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM CAROL ROTH