Is It Okay to Steal if You’re from the Government?

Townhall.com ^ | February 13, 2013 | Daniel J. Mitchell

[Kaslin]

In early January, I shared a “libertarian purity test” based on 64 questions.

I was a bit disappointed that I only scored a 94 out of a possible 160, but my excuse is that it was really a test of anarcho-capitalism. And as I explained when sharing this amusing video, I’m only in favor of getting rid of 90 percent of government.

But maybe the simplest test of libertarianism (and also the simplest test of whether you’re a decent human being) is to see whether you’re upset by the following story.

It combines the lunacy of the drug war with the evil of asset forfeiture.

Here are some of the truly disgusting details from the OC Weekly. First we learn about the victims of this government abuse.

…he and his wife purchased the Anaheim building, which has suites for up to 12 offices, in 2003 and that her dental practice was located there. …Over the years, they’ve rented to a variety of tenants, from insurance companies to an immigration service.

This unfortunate couple rented space to a group that seemed to comply with federal and state legal requirements.

…on June 11, 2011, he began renting to a club called ReLeaf Health & Wellness. …Because of the Ogden memo, because medical marijuana was legal under state law, and because his tenants held business permits from the city, he figured he wasn’t doing anything illegal. “I am a law-abiding citizen,” he says. “I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong.”

But the city of Anaheim and the jackboots at the Drug Enforcement Administration targeted the tenant, and then decided to try and steal the property of the landlord!

…On Dec. 2, 2011, an undercover officer posing as a patient with a legitimate doctor’s recommendation for cannabis—something required of all entrants to the collective—”purchased 4.2 net grams of marijuana for $37.” The investigation ended there, but the single sale…was enough evidence for the DEA to argue that the otherwise-harmless computer engineer and dentist should lose their retirement-investment property. …The lawyer for the engineer and dentist who may be in the process of losing their nest egg is Matthew Pappas. …”The only evidence in this case is a $37 purchase of medical marijuana and an anonymous comment on a website that anybody could have written,” Pappas says. “For this, they want to take a $1.5 million building.”

You may be thinking that you missed something, that certainly the federal government wouldn’t steal an entire building simply because a tenant may have broken a silly drug law. Especially when it’s very ambiguous whether a crime actually took place.

But you didn’t miss a thing. This is pure, unadulterated, evil government.

And if you’re not already feeling some libertarian blood flowing through your veins, here are some additional examples of government thuggery.

• A story of vicious IRS persecution.
• A family in legal trouble because it rescued a baby deer.
• A women jailed overnight because she let her kids play outside.
• Cops legally stole $17,000 from a man who committed no crime.
• Threatening to send a woman to jail because someone whistled at a whale.
• Two stories of innocent people who were victimized by the idiotic Drug War.
• A video about how the EPA tried – and fortunately failed – to destroy a family.
• A story about the Justice Department’s discriminatory attack on a hapless homeowner.
• The government treating child molesters more leniently than people who accidentally omit irrelevant info from forms.

Yes, this is why we’re paying taxes. And Obama just got one tax increase and now he’s asking for another tax increase!

[i_robot73]

Exactly.

And while the lot here debate the pros vs. cons, the question(s) that never gets brought up:

Why does gov’t need power/law XYZ?
What area of the Constitution grants power/law XYZ?
Would this not be better handled or legal at the State level?
What further Rights, Liberty and/or Freedom be impacted by law XYZ?

IMHO, these are the true test of all (L) doctrine.

[Smokin' Joe]

One more: Does this law abdicate the legislative responsibilities of the Legislature to an Executive branch bureaucracy in the form of promulgated regulations?

(Take the EPA as a shining example).

IMHO, this is not just surrendering power by the legislature, it is passing the buck so the legislators can be reelected despite the insanity of some of the regulations which will (predictably) result. Checks and balances are damaged as a result, and the agencies get to write their own ticket.

[i_robot73]

I rank that up there with the Separation of Powers that should be reigned in by the courts, or We the People as a last resort.

My thoughts are: We the People gave gov’t SOME power to do a limited amount of ‘things’. We did NOT give them the authority to delegate the same, nor to shirk their duties. (Fed, EPA, Dept. of XYZ).

Unfortunately, voting them out is the only ‘punishment’, there is no teeth to any instance of when they go outside those responsibilities. Especially not when the Justice system is paid by the same (outlaws) group.