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Posted on 12/08/2009 4:34:56 PM PST by FromLori
A form of totalitarianism is developing in Washington, as federal bureaucrats turn the screws on private citizens and job providers to obtain compliance with rules and mandates.
As higher taxes and more intrusive regulations take hold (while the dollar continues to sink), more and more Americans are turning to barter and other forms of private commerce between individuals. CraigsList, for example, is reporting an 80% jump in bartering activity by private citizens. And there has been a surge of interest in sites such as Barterquest.com as well.
Of course, the rise of the "black market" (i.e. the free market) is one consequence of political rules and mandates which are largely responsible for crippling our economy. But instead of letting the market work, politicians and bureaucrats are gearing up to meddle in unprecedented ways.
Overreaching regulation isn't a new phenomenon, but what's noteworthy is the increasingly thuggish edge on government enforcement actions against citizens found in non compliance with even the pettiest of rules.
It's as if government officials are indifferent as to how their methods look. Some of them may even get a kick out of it. In fact, the power to boss people (and businesses) around is actually what appeals to some who choose government as a career. Consider these steps the government is taking to micromanage the economy:
The federal government is poised to intervene in yard sales, flea markets, and against individuals selling any used goods that could be unsafe. Americans who slap even $1.00 price tags on used items are in danger of violating a new yard sale rulebook being issued by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
CPSC says yard sale violators or vendors at Sunday afternoon flea markets are now subject to fines of up to $100,000 per transaction and up to $15 million for the related series of infractions. Such federal insanity is mirrored on the state level as well: In California, eight-year-old Daniela Earnest of Tulare was ordered to shut down her lemonade stand by the city council.
Environmental extremists are being given guns and arrest powers. As a New York Times article acknowledged, environmental police officers are now fining and routinely arresting people for the smallest of infractions - from busting stores that don't promptly redeem deposits on cans and bottles, to measuring the length of fish in public markets and arresting merchants whose fish are too small, to stopping trucks and fining their drivers if too much smoke is coming out of their exhaust pipes.
After facing a secret indictment by the Fish and Wildlife Service for making a mistake on tulip importation forms, Kathy and George Norris' home was raided by a six-member SWAT team. The house was ransacked, and their computers were taken away and examined. George Norris spent two years in a federal penitentiary because he could not produce all the paperwork for the orchids he had imported.
In a recent hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on crime, entrepreneur and inventor Krister Evertson told the amazing story of how the feds prosecuted him on a felony for failing to put a federally-mandated sticker on an otherwise legal UPS package he shipped with some of his supplies. After the fuel cell inventor was acquitted by a jury, the feds invented new charges that he had "abandoned" his fuel cell materials. Before Evertson got his life back, he spent nearly two years in prison. It's like this folks: Bureaucrats no longer know their place. They are paid far more than most people with real jobs, given lavish retirements, and wield greater and greater powers over our lives.
It's all leading toward what may best be described as fascism, as rapidly spreading bureaucratic parasites gain control over most of the private sector.
Related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TaxWQN1Evo
Click more info on right of video for more interesting stories.
I so miss 20 years ago....
Our country is becoming unrecognizable.
craigslist has taken over for e-bay, amazon etc., more fun to deal locally...(amoung other advantages , so solly Uncle commieSam)...
When these bastards start crossing folks' lines in the sand and start dying, they may reconsider. It's getting to the point where any little thing could spark a conflagration that won't stop until it's all played out.
Them revenoor b@stards gotta catch us first! That’s why you stay local and try to only deal with reliable and trustworthy people.
And if you do on occasion have to deal with a stranger, demand cash and never use your real name.
Socialists want to control all forms of commerce, all the means of production (see communist manifesto) and hate it when private citizens actually buy or sell something that the government doesn’t get a cut of.
Creeping communism.
I so miss 20 years ago....
Our country is becoming unrecognizable.
ME too :(
I hope they show up at our spring yard sale! Yard salers are a ruthless bunch, especially the old ladies.
If the Feds try to limit or restrict yard sales they will find that they have indeed awakened a sleeping giant and that there is a ‘yard saler’ behind every blade of grass.
They have now crossed the line. BOIL THE TAR!!!!
entrepreneur ping
right on ping
???? I would still recognize you. :) :) :) Only kidding. I couldn’t resist.
Quit picking on bureaucrats!
Bureaucrats serve a useful function: they make fantastic decorations hanging from community Christmas trees.
They last a long time, too in the cold weather; and when warmer weather returns, they provide welcome food for crows, ravens, magpies, buzzards, and other scavengers...and an object lesson for their brethren.
They have alotted millions to train people in each state to patrol yard sales. Toys and children’s clothing must bear the lead free lable or you can be subjectd to a $100,000 fine. It is truly criminal what they have done with the law as there will be no resale allowed now for children’s clothing bedding or toys.
Let them come, at their own peril.
The young will not understand how this country was once so special it was worth dying for...
Every single day that goes by without someone going Drega on them, I'm amazed.
Time for some civil disobedence anyone?
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