Feds to Decide What Can be Sold at Your Garage Sale
-By Warner Todd Huston
With the first days of Summer a long standing American tradition emerges anew from yards and garages all across the country. Once again this season we will see the venerable American garage sale bloom everywhere. Homeowners will be seen busily setting up folding tables or bringing picnic tables from back yards to load them up with used clothes, toys, collectibles, and items of all sorts. Couples will once again cruise the neighborhood looking to those bargains. It’s as American as Baseball, and the rest.
But a new player has been introduced to the venerable garage sale scheme and this one isn’t looking for a deal. It is a new player that isn’t looking to ask you “how much” but is looking to tell you what you’ll be allowed to sell. It’s the federal government and it’s iron boot heel come a’calling at your local garage sale.
That’s right, folks, the federal government is here to warn you that you will no longer be allowed to sell certain things at your garage or yard sales or even on auction sites like ebay. If you are a scofflaw, Big Brother is here to stomp you. The nanny state is here to “protect” you. And you better watch out or there’s no telling what just might happen to you if you don’t bow down to the all powerful state.
Ignorance of the law is not an excuse
“Ignorance of the law is not an excuse,” or so we are warned in a new handbook from the federal government. In it we are dutifully informed that, “on August 14, 2008, the President signed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) into law.” It warns us that this new act will have “dramatic changes for the marketplace,” and that there are “strict laws” for selling certain products. (Find the downloadable handbook at cpsc.gov/)
You may wonder what this has to do with your garage sale? Well, a look at the section titled “the basics” will tell you that this act doesn’t just affect Wal-Mart or Sears. Ominously, this law applies to everyone that wants to sell anything.
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 sale and flea markets.
This will also affect auction sites like ebay.
So, what does this do to sellers and collectors of antiques? One would guess that ebay and other on-line auction services will eventually see the federal government come down on them like a load of bricks. If vigorously enforced, this act will have a devastating effect on certain collectible markets like old toys, books, comic books and vintage clothing collectors.
Naturally, these government thugs claim that they have no plans to monitor garage and yard sales… at least not now they don’t. But they are ready and willing to go after re-sale shops like GoodWill and auction sites like ebay.
Whatever the case, this is just one more example of the nanny state involving itself in every aspect of our lives and regulating freedom and liberty out of existence. The government is out of control and this is another horrid example of it.
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Posted by Warner Todd Huston on May 29, 2009 7:14 am
» Filed Under 1st Amendment, 2nd Amendment, Anti-Americanism, Anti-Capitalism, Communism, Constitution, Delusional Dupes and DUmmies, Democrats, Liberal World, Nanny State, News, States Rights, Stupidity, Totalitarianism, U.S. Constitution, Unconstitutional, liberalism
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6 Responses to “Feds to Decide What Can be Sold at Your Garage Sale”
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Syndicate Me
How can I get one of these ‘garage sale cop’ jobs? The opportunity for bribery will keep me in furniture, clothes and reading material for life.
When are we going to learn from the civil rights movement of years past and practice “massive resistence” to this nonsense. If we quietly accept this, the govt will seem reasonable. If we resist, they will appear to be the heavy handed bullies that they are.
Because most people are unplugged, don’t care and/or too scared.
The civil rights movement was a build up of emotions pent up for generations.
Mass resistence will not happen without the right people leading people to do so.
Another thing. Take the tea parties for example. This was a demonstration of mass resistence, but now the government just ignores it and when its conservatives the media paint it like lunatics and brush it aside. The media were on the side of the civil rights movement, and a counter culture against the war mobilized to push those demonstrations as well. It takes a lot of factors for something like that to develop. I’m not saying it can’t, and the tea parties are a good start, but it needs a lot.
Its a big, complicated, diverse country filled with lots of lazy people. Plus a lot of them are hypnotized by Obama.
So what exactly is it that we won’t be able to sell?
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 05/29/2009 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.