Posted on 11/14/2010 6:26:10 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Even with all of the massive economic problems that the United States is facing, if the government would just get off our backs most of us would do okay. In America today, it is rapidly getting to the point where it is nearly impossible to start or to operate a small business. The federal government, the state governments and local governments are cramming thousands upon thousands of new ridiculous regulations down our throats each year. It would take a full team of lawyers just to even try to stay informed about all of these new regulations. Small business in the United States is literally being suffocated by red tape. We like to think that we live in "the land of the free", but the truth is that our lives and our businesses are actually tightly constrained by millions of rules and regulations. Today there is a "license" for just about every business activity. In fact, in some areas of the country today you need a "degree" and multiple "licenses" before you can even submit an application for permission to start certain businesses. And if you want to actually hire some people for your business, the paperwork nightmare gets far worse. It is a wonder that anyone in America is still willing to start a business from scratch and hire employees. The truth is that the business environment in the United States is now so incredibly toxic that millions of Americans have simply given up and don't even try to work within the system anymore.
Today, the U.S. government has an "alphabet agency" for just about everything. The nanny state feels like it has to watch, track and tightly control virtually everything that we do. The Federal Register is the main source of regulations for U.S. government agencies. In 1936, the number of pages in the Federal Register was about 2,600. Today, the Federal Register is over 80,000 pages long. That is just one example of how bad things have gotten.
But it is not just the federal government that is ramming thousands of ridiculous regulations down our throats. The truth is that in many cases state and local governments are far worse. We have become a nation that is run and dominated by bureaucrats. Yes, there always must be rules in a society, but we have gotten to the point where there are so many millions of rules that the game has become unplayable.
The following are 12 examples of ridiculous regulations that are almost too bizarre to believe....
#1 The state of Texas now requires every new computer repair technician to obtain a private investigator’s license. In order to receive a private investigator’s license, an individual must either have a degree in criminal justice or must complete a three year apprenticeship with a licensed private investigator. If you are a computer repair technician that violates this law, or if you are a regular citizen that has a computer repaired by someone not in compliance with the law, you can be fined up to $4,000 and you can be put in jail for a year.
#2 The city of Philadelphia now requires all bloggers to purchase a $300 business privilege license. The city even went after one poor woman who had earned only $11 from her blog over the past two years.
#3 The state of Louisiana says that monks must be fully licensed as funeral directors and actually convert their monasteries into licensed funeral homes before they will be allowed to sell their handmade wooden caskets.
#4 In the state of Massachusetts, all children in daycare centers are mandated by state law to brush their teeth after lunch. In fact, the state even provides the fluoride toothpaste for the children.
#5 If you attempt to give a tour of our nation's capital without a license, you could be put in prison for 90 days.
#6 Federal agents recently raided an Amish farm at 5 A.M. in the morning because they were selling "unauthorized" raw milk.
#7 In Lake Elmo, Minnesota farmers can be fined $1,000 and put in jail for 90 days for selling pumpkins or Christmas trees that are grown outside city limits.
#8 A U.S. District Court judge slapped a 5oo dollar fine on Massachusetts fisherman Robert J. Eldridge for untangling a giant whale from his nets and setting it free. So what was his crime? Well, according to the court, Eldridge was supposed to call state authorities and wait for them do it.
#9 In the state of Texas, it doesn't matter how much formal interior design education you have - only individuals with government licenses may refer to themselves as "interior designers" or use the term "interior design" to describe their work.
#10 Deeply hidden in the 2,409-page health reform bill passed by Congress was a new regulation that will require U.S. businesses to file millions more 1099s each year. In fact, it is estimated that the average small business will now have to file 200 additional 1099s every single year. Talk about a nightmare of red tape! But don't try to avoid this rule - it is being reported that the IRS has hired approximately 2,000 new auditors to audit as many of these 1099s as possible.
#11 The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin makes it incredibly difficult to go out of business. In order to close down a business, Milwaukee requires you to purchase an expensive license, you must submit a huge pile of paperwork to the city regarding the inventory you wish to sell off, and you must pay a fee based on the length of your "going out of business sale" plus a two dollar charge for every $1,000 worth of inventory that you are attempting to sell off.
#12 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is projecting that the food service industry will have to spend an additional 14 million hours every single year just to comply with new federal regulations that mandate that all vending machine operators and chain restaurants must label all products that they sell with a calorie count in a location visible to the consumer.
The following short video produced by the Institute for Justice examines some more examples of completely ridiculous regulations across the United States. The video is very funny, but please keep in mind that all of this red tape is absolutely killing many very real businesses....
CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO
So is this what "free enterprise" is supposed to look like?
Over and over again I have written about the dangers of globalization, but no matter what changes are made a lot of companies will still not want to set up shop in the United States until something is done about all of these ridiculous regulations.
As mentioned earlier, the U.S. economy is facing a vast array of incredibly serious problems, but if government would just get off our backs at least we would have a fighting chance.
Instead, it gets worse every single year. Each new wave of bureaucrats just seems to get worse than the wave before it. They always seem to think that if they just write more regulations and impose more fees and require more licenses and raise more revenue that they will be able to "fix" things.
But the truth is that they always make things worse. Our economy is literally being suffocated by red tape. A "total control grid" is being erected all around us and most Americans are so numb that they don't even realize that it is happening.
While the author stretches the reality a bit on some, the spirit and substance of the claims are mostly correct. The problem is, American voters are electing incompetent legislators and executives, partly because the American voters are incompetent and don’t understand unforseen consequences. “There oughta be a law!” should still be a joke sentence, not a thing people grab onto so easily.
Every single bill and legislation these criminals passed should be eliminated!
I repair some small appliances in my home.
I wanted to get a business license so that I could get parts from the supplier, who would not send them unless I had a busines license.
When I went to get a license the zoning bunch came down on me for wanting to repair something in my home they wanted me to get rezoned and several other things. They gave me an application , I tossed it in the trash on the way out the door.
Up the street the Body shop has an unlit sign. Last Christmas he put some Christmas lights on it, They made him take them off because his permit was for an unlit sign.
Around Maruland now you see Van type trucks sitting in the parking lots with the advertisemant written on the sides of them because signs are illegal, but you can paint anything you like on a truck, as long as you keep tags on it.
I think it’s stupid the way they’re trying to run you out of business — it’s not like you have a repair shop in the house!
“#6 Federal agents recently raided an Amish farm at 5 A.M. in the morning because they were selling “unauthorized” raw milk.”
....a few dairy farmers in my area are selling raw milk out the back door of the barn...they cater to health food enthusiasts...there’s a growing demand out there for ‘natural’ food products.... and with milk prices being so low, some farmers are willing to take the chance of selling unpasturized milk...it’s straight cash and no paperwork.
.....and btw I drank raw milk as a child when we lived on my grandfather’s farm....hell, everybody did back then.
The “law makers” are somewhat to blame here but going beyond that, they have created a bureaucracy that has nothing to do BUT make up new regulations. Once they get
them through the Federal Register, they have the force of law. Remember the first adage was: we must kill all the lawyers, the second adage should be we must get rid of the bureacrates. Reducing the size of the government is mandatory if this nation is to survive. We need to do it in a surgical way though because heretofore any reduction in any federal workforce has taken place outside the beltway. In other words, we got rid of the workers NOT those who promote these ridicules rules regulations and requests for new legislation.
Regulations = another palm to be greased.
bttt
The circle of stupidity!
Federal, State and Local governments write these stupid licensing laws & fines to RAISE REVENUE.
Then, of course, they have to hire thousands of Gubmint workers to issue, file and fine the small businessmen/entrepreneurs- which COSTS even more in taxes and reduces employment opportunities.
When will they ever learn?
This is not liberty or the land of the free.
I sold my business in 1999, partly because of HIPPA.
Looking back, I’m very glad I did.
The author is correct. Running a small business today is a real pain because of laws, regulations, fees, licenses, taxes, etc. Glad I got out when I did.
I would get in trouble for #1 ! Good part, I don’t live in Texas on that aspect !
It would not take much digging to find 12,000 more useless regulations to go along with these 12. And each one serves to restrict free enterprise.
The politicians pass all these types of laws, and then wonder where all the jobs have gone.
More evidence of the death of free enterprise and capitalism.
I applied for a commercial fishing license from the state of Florida. Run by Jeb Bush and Republicans. I paid 50 bucks. I got it back. I then noticed it allows me to sell all seafood that is inedible. To sell edible seafood you must get a restricted species license that no one who does not have one already can qualify for.
No surprise when people make a career out of being a legislator.
And jail the criminals. It is Revolution time.
“partly because the American voters are incompetent and don’t understand unforseen consequences.”
The people are made incompetant by a media that purposely keeps them uninformed about the con-artists who put themselves forward to be their elected leaders. During this last election there were so many names on “down ballot” that I never even heard of much less knew anything about that I just skipted over them without voting.
“The politicians pass all these types of laws, and then wonder where all the jobs have gone.”
Yes, but the problem is, people say they don’t approve of these crazy things but in reality most people do approve of them.
For example, the one about raw milk. Even on FR many have said that it should be illegal to sell raw milk. Even though they will never consume it themselves, they believe no one should be able to.
And as far as requiring children to brush teeth, well, you know alot of those children will never brush their teeth except at the Daycare so that really is a good idea.
Someone says that people should get a license to repair computers, that way people don’t get ripped off as much, etc., etc.
It’s easy to find someone who talks about smaller gov’t but when it’s time to reduce the size of gov’t you find their true colors. True freedom means having to be more responsible for yourself, and many are not willing to do that, plus the do-gooders believe they should be taking care of others anyway.
Even conservatives have become enamored of big gov’t regulations. That’s they the lawmakers keep passing them.
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