Posted on 08/23/2009 7:13:19 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
This story is actually a couple of days old but I wanted to write about it because it portrays a bureaucratic mindset that we would have to deal with if health care reform passes.
The Bush era Congress passed the "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act" in August of 2008. It was, as most legislation, an overreaction to the Chinese toy scare.
It was designed to "require extensive testing of any toy, book, or item of clothing intended for kids under the age of 12."
But ambitious bureaucrats have taken the bill and interpreted it to mean "used" toys as well. And now it appears that CPSC enforcers are going to be fanning out across the country in search of garage sales and church bazzars that are not in compliance.
No - I'm not kidding. An agency of the federal government in Washington is actually going to reach all the way down to your neighborhood and make sure that you're following their interpretation of the law.
This handy 28-pager from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reminds the American people that, thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (which I have blogged about here and here), the government is totally in charge of your yard sale...
"This handbook will help sellers of used products identify types of potentially hazardous products that could harm children or others. CPSC's laws and regulations apply to anyone who sells or distributes consumer products. This includes thrift stores, consignment stores, charities, and individuals holding yard sales and flea markets."
James Rosen of McClatchy has a report on the efforts of the CPSC:
If you're planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you'd best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products. The initiative, which targets toys and other products for children, enforces a new provision that makes it a crime to resell anything that's been recalled by its manufacturer.
"Those who resell recalled children's products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children's lives at risk," said Inez Tenenbaum, the recently confirmed chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The crackdown affects sellers ranging from major thrift-store operators such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army to everyday Americans cleaning out their attics for yard sales, church bazaars or - increasingly - digital hawking on eBay, Craigslist and other Web sites.
Secondhand sellers now must keep abreast of recalls for thousands of products, some of them stretching back more than a decade, to stay within the bounds of the law.
Staffers for the federal agency are fanning out across the country to conduct training seminars on the regulations at dozens of thrift shops.
And how about this for bureaucratic double speak:
"We're not looking to come across as being heavy-handed," he said. "We want to make sure that everybody knows what the rules of engagement are to help spur greater compliance, so that enforcement becomes less of an issue. But we're still going to enforce."
Not "heavy handed" but "still going to enforce?" What the hell is that? "Spur[ing]" greater compliance and one begins to wonder what the "spur" is going to be.
This is the danger of putting bureaucrats in charge of anything, much less health care. It is their interpretation of the law that will matter in the end. And given how broadly that law is being drawn, we might expect just about any nightmare to emerge after the bureaucrats get through with doing their job.
If these field agents really exist, we need for a local sheriff to grab one who is harassing people at a swap meet, and jail him.
who in their right mind is going to sell at their garage sale, a toy that is known to be dangerous (bad chinese paint or something) to another child.... from a parent to another parent. Come on, really. I highly doubt that a govt beaurocracy could possilby fan out to every garage and yard sale in America searching for “unapproved” toys.
” I highly doubt that a govt beaurocracy could possilby fan out to every garage and yard sale in America searching for unapproved toys. “
They will have plenty of help — every neighborhood has an abundance of nosy do-gooders that are just drooling at the prospect of denouncing their evil neighbors....
The concept is called, in modern parlance, ‘force multipliers’, and was an essential element in the omnipresence of the Gestapo and the KGB...
In the old America, we’d stop importing and start producing good quality goods here as we once did.
In the new Amerika, we fine those who have to choose from what is provided to us - from China.
What a country!
Then, introduce your nosy neighbors to the joys of denunciation and social ostracism. Nobody likes a snitch.
The USA is a lot further down the slope to tyranny than most Americans are willing to believe.
ping
Bullets contain lead. Lead is hazardous. Any gun that has ever fired a lead bullet is contaminated. Turn them in or have them confiscated.
Thank you.
The Government
Many people collect old toys - my brother has a nice collection of the old Fischer Price Little People - the ones we all played with when we were kids and no one died. I am a fanatic for old childrens' books.
This used to be a highly lucrative market--feeding the passions of collectors like myself. I once bought a retired library book for a quarter and sold it on ebay for over $300. It was a stunningly illustrated book - not something that will ever be made again.
Some people will pay a lot for a piece of their childhood. At least they used to. Now, "for the good of our children" who wouldn't be here if the stuff we used was so danged dangerous, that whole market, and the pleasure it brought people is gone.
Most Chinese don't have garages......and that is exactly what our benevolent leaders aspire for us as well
I just realized my mom committed an unspeakable crime when she gave away some of my old toys to some neighborhood kids. Gosh, I hope none of them died.
We just held a yard sale at my local church to fund missionary work. Where do I go to turn myself in?”
Good Lord! You are in trouble!!
You broke their picky little law and you used it to foster more religion!!!
Life sentence for you under NObama!
Meanwhile, not addressing the problem of contaminated, tainted imports. Nice!/sarc
They don't want you. They just want your assets and future earnings capacity.
Where are all the liberals that were whining about government infringement of civil liberties?
“Just pay your taxes and you’ll be fine. The crocodiles need to be pacified when food is scarce :) “
We have to pay for the 6,000.00 worth of lobster Obama had flown in to his rigged town hall meeting in Montana.
“They don’t want you. They just want your assets and future earnings capacity. “
Oh, no problem ;-)
“As much as I liked George Bush, I would of liked him much better if he used his VETO pen more.”
Bush is the reason everything is going down the toilet. Takes a brave man to admit he likes the man responsible for that.
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