This morning I received an email in my inbox informing me about a crazy law passed by our very own Congress (apparently in order to justify their single digit public approval rating.–I mean, why even try anymore, right?). The law is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, and in spite of the fact that very little that happens in government surprises me even more, even I was shocked by the stupidity and incompetence of our 110th Congress in foisting this pot of crap stew on its citizens. Pheisty from the True North Blog wrote:

As of February 10, 2009, you will no longer be able to sell or buy children’s used clothing under the CPSIA. Not at the Goodwill, not at a consignment shop, not on eBay. Not even at a yard sale. If you do, you face a $100,000 fine and 5 years of imprisonment. That is, unless the seller can find a government-approved way to test the garments that won’t force them out of business.

And she referenced an LA Times article on the subject which I recommend you read but I’m not going to quote. I will however quote her commentary on how we got here, because I can’t say it better than she already said it,

And to those of you who thought that seatbelt and smoking ban legislation was a great idea, you’re getting what you asked for. You want government to take care of you, this is what you get. I’ve been preaching about the ’slippery slope’ for years, and people keep saying, “Oh, Joey. That’ll never happen. You’re exaggerating.”

Well? Did you ever think used children’s clothing would be banned from commerce?

Everyone of you–liberal and conservative–should be outraged. This isn’t about party politics, anymore. This is about a runaway government that seems intent on destroying our entire way of life under the ‘good intention’ of saving us from ourselves. So while everyone’s busy bickering back and forth over which party can ’save’ America, we–the common American citizens–are losing everything.

Those of you who have followed the few postings that I’ve made on my blog know and understand this about me. I’m not just someone who rants on my blog. I’m an activist. I believe in providing possible solutions and acting on those solutions, and not just complain about how bad things are. So the rest of this post is about what you can and SHOULD do to put a stop to this nonsense. I’ve also created a Facebook group (Americans Against The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008) and a Twitter account (stop_cpsia). You can also go to the website I created at www.tellyourneighbor.com for more information on what to do.

Civil disobedience is a time honored tradition in the face of tyranny. Without civil disobedience, blacks would still be confined to the back of the bus and would not have ever had the chance to be a President-elect. Without civil disobedience, who knows how long the Viet Nam war (originally called a police action when they first went in) would have continued. We must be willing to draw a line in the sand and say, “no sir, I will not comply.” We must be willing to spend a night or two in jail, face the firehose, endure the bruising from night sticks, the agony of pepper spray and the shock of the Taser. If we are not willing to stand against tyranny now and stare it down eyeball to eyeball, we will not like at all what we get next. Keep in mind that Germany was a democracy when Hitler was elected. The very same steps that Hitler took to turn Germany from Democracy to a Dictatorship are the very same steps that are being taken right now here on American soil. Do we want to wait until many of our friends and neighbors have been shipped off to concentration camps and burned in the incinerators before we say enough!!? Because if we wait that long, it will likely be too late.

I propose that from February 10th (the day the law goes into effect) until March 10th every freedom loving citizen of this great country sell at least one item of clothing daily in a public setting (Ebay, yard sale, in front of WalMart, wherever you can think of) to protest this law. Let’s be willing to face the $100,000 fine and 5 years jail time because I promise you that those who dare to run the gauntlet of bad publicity that would inevitably come from arresting parents of children who participate in this act of civil disobedience would suffer a backlash unlike any you’ve ever seen in this country since the Civil War. It’s very likely that some overzealous DA or other law enforcement arm might be stupid enough to initially enforce the law, but the resulting PR nightmare they experience would be tremendous and would eventuallycause the reversal of this particular piece of legislation post haste.

Is one month of civil disobedience enough? Well that depends on the response of those tasked with enforcing this onerous piece of legislation. Will they just let it go (like happened with all of the anti-illegal immigration laws which were passed), will they actively enforce it, or will they selectively enforce it against high profile individuals to make an example out of them in an effort to quell the civil disobedience? The stronger the enforcement, the longer the civil disobedience. So pass the word along. We hereby declare February 10th through March 10th the Anti Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 whereby we will engage in active disobedience to this law to preserve our businesses, our jobs and our lifestyles. Over 225 years ago, our forefathers declared that we have the inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Any government law or regulation that is against that belongs in a Marxist society, not in the United States of America!

Let’s not bandy about words—we’re in a serious fiscal crisis. You can use whatever word(s) you want to describe it, recession, depression, economic slump, whatever. I’m not going to quibble with anyone over what to call it, I’m simply stating what I see as fact, and as events continue to progress (or perhaps I should say digress), I’ll let the facts bear me out.

And in the light of this current fiscal crisis, you’d think government at all levels would have the good sense to make cuts rather than ask for tax increases. You would also think that agencies of the government would not be so ignorant as to ask for more money to cover their uneccesary program(s), but realize instead that in our current economy, less is more. And you would think that the American voter would demand fiscal conservatism by how they chose to cast their ballot a couple of weeks ago.

Just prior to the aforementioned election, our US Senators and Congressmen voted to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as countless other financial companies in the name of “protecting the integrity of our economy” That’s something to laugh about were it not so painful to contemplate. What integrity? Do you feel as I do, like you just got held up in a bank robbery, only this time it was the banks that robbed you?

We knew months ago that the economy was in for a shakeup, we just didn’t know that we would be on the receiving end of a shakedown in the process. A few months prior to the bailout vote, I received a notice from my city regarding a meeting to determine the will of the people regarding whether or not they should raise our property tax to continue to fund the current level of services. Well at least they were smart enough to figure out BEFORE sending out that notice that it would be a good idea to take the proposed new library off the negotiating table, but I still see plenty of waste in my little town that likes to pretend it’s a real city. Here’s one example of this. We have a population of approximately 6,500 with a crime rate that hovers just above zero. And yet we have 9 police officers and one police chief. Every year our fledgling municipality purchases six new police vehicles for their department. We’ve got a volunteer fire department and a volunteer paramedic/ambulence service, I’m pretty sure there are many citizens (myself included) who would have no problem with cutting uneccessary services and instead take turns helping out when called upon. Unfortunately, even after public comment made it clear we would prefer to have services cut to having our taxes raised, our fine mayor and city council voted FOR a tax increase. I’ll be doing my part to help my fellow citizens remember who voted for that increase when the next election comes around.

There were two bond issues that were on the ballot of the largest city in my fair state, one was to make improvements in the local aviary and the second was for that city’s zoo—which apparently is unable to survive on its own merits. First I’ll tell you what I think, and then I’ll tell you what I really think! Just because you are the largest city in the state doesn’t mean you absolutely have to have your own aviary and zoo any more than every single major city in the US has to have its own Disneyland! Yes, it’s a “nice” thing to have, but if you can’t get it to succeed on it’s own merits in a free market society, we the people are not obligated to bail your failing business out whether it’s by immediate direct taxation or deferred direct taxation in the form of bonds. Ever since the day I gave birth to my first child and realized the ramifications of who pays the interest on the bonds issued today, I have never voted in favor of a single bond issue no matter how wonderful a cause it appeared to support. Why would someone loathe their children to such a degree that they would burden them and their grandchildren with debt so that we can enjoy something today? And yet that’s what our parents have done to us, and the majority of us are doing to their children and grandchildren. Incidentally, both aforementioned bonds passed easily. Are people so ignorant and foolish? Apparently they are.

Then the big 3 automakers flew in to Washington on their corporate jets with their hands out. What the heck, we already opened up Pandora’s Box with the whole financial bailout thing, why not just bail out every failing business that asks for it? Heck, why not just bail out every PERSON who gets laid off their job? Where do we draw the line and say ENOUGH!!! And yet our duly elected representatives voted in favor of bailing out our auto industry. We are quickly becoming a Marxist nation. And quite frankly “We the People” are assenting to it! How many of those who voted in favor of the bailout were ousted from office? 96% of all incumbents were reelected. Why?

Today I read in the paper that one of our National Parks is looking for government money to prop up their bus shuttle program. Again, no one within the agency has any qualms about this. The economy is in shambles, but hey, Uncle Sam has his checkbook open—might as well take advantage of his generous mood before it changes (yeah, like that’s ever likely to happen). At what point will people step up and demand change by voting the current slate of bums out of office? The American people had their opportunity to do so this last election and failed to do so EVEN THOUGH THEY TOLD THEIR REPRESENTATIVES 400 TO 1 THAT THEY WERE AGAINST THE BAILOUT AND THEN WATCHED THE MAJORITY OF THOSE SAME REPRESENTATIVES VOTE IN FAVOR OF IT!

In my kinder moments, I chalk such incongruence up to general ignorance and lack of education on the issues. When I’m feeling a little more than riled up about things, I attribute it to downright stupidity. We said no. They (our alleged “representatives”) ignored us and voted the opposite way. And then we (apparently) said, that’s OK, we like you anyways and we’re going to let you stay in office even though you out and out ignored what we told you to do and you’re not really doing the job we elected you to do to keep us from getting into these kinds of messes to begin with. How smart is that? It’s time for the American people to stand up and be heard, and like the reporter from the movie “Network” admonished us to do, stand up and say, “We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore!”

Until we decide as a majority of people to elect new people into Congress, we will be subject to the same craziness that we’re dealing with right now. And it’s not going to get any better either regardless which party holds the majority, that is until we let our will be known. Stay tuned for more on that topic, coming soon…