John Stossel is ABC News' Co-Anchor of "20/20" and New York Times best-selling author of Give Me A Break & Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity. His "Give Me a Break" commentaries take a skeptical look at a wide array of issues, such as education, the economy, parenting, and more.
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Careful What You Resell
08/24/2009 9:49 PM
Thinking about emptying your closets and selling your junk at a garage sale or on eBay? Beware, says James Rosen:
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.
Oh please. Overwrought bureaucrats need a reality check.
As I’ve written before, the law being enforced in these roundups is serious overkill.
Yet now our state attorney generals, having caught the rest of the country’s criminals, will go after ballpoint pen manufacturers, makers of children’s minibikes, used bookstores, and so on.
Rosen writes that the Commission has a broad mandate:
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.
An agency spokesman told Rosen:
"We're not looking to come across as being heavy-handed," he said. "...But we're still going to enforce."
So if you sell your spare stuff online, look out:
The commission's Internet surveillance unit is monitoring Craigslist and other "top auction and reselling sites" for recalled goods.
And get this:
President Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders are crafting an appropriations bill that would boost the agency's funding next year by more than 11.4 percent — to $117 million.
August 24, 2009 in Government | Permalink | Share | User Comments (12)
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Has anyone tested Obama buttons for lead?
Posted by: EdwardT | Aug 24, 2009 10:49:58 PM
Criminalizing every activity makes lawyers more powerful and legislators are mostly lawyers.
Posted by: Methinks | Aug 24, 2009 11:17:26 PM
Yeah, I can see where harassing everyone in the country is going to be great for Obama's reelection chances.
Posted by: Fred | Aug 25, 2009 1:07:50 AM
Let's get rid of all regulations, 'cos nothing is better for our kids than lead paint! Why is Stossel pushing lead paint on our kids?
Posted by: Mike | Aug 25, 2009 3:39:39 AM
Mike-
There is a continuum of risks is all that Mr. Stossel is pointing out. It is his opinion that the government has moved its enforcement efforts from the high risk end (ie, lead paint & lawn jarts) to the ultra-low risk end (ie, resales of children's clothes and toys). I doing this the government is wasting money, protecting no one, and making people's lives miserable. This law has basically killed the small toy manufacturers. Now they are going after resale shops. I can attest to the inanity of this law firsthand. Just last weekend I was attempting to donate many of my kids old toys which were in perfectly good shape. St. Vincent de Paul refused all of them including a brand new Radio Flyer Wagon. They simply said "we don't take toys any more because we can get sued". That is a direct quote, btw. Luckily I was able to get Goodwill to take most of the stuff although they would only take the toddler be frame but not the mattress which was a perfectly good Simmons model. So, guess what, the mattress and all of the toys I haven't yet sorted through are going in the trash this week. Also, I now realize I am liable for anything I give away to anyone so I will throw it in the trash in lieu of giving it away. That baby monitor we never used - trash, the kids booster seats - trash, strollers - trash, toys - trash. Forget about me driving around trying to get get someone to take this stuff and no way am I giving it away and getting sued. It's all going in the trash. Actually, this makes my life simpler - it's all disposable now. Maybe I should buy stock in Fisher Price while I'm at it.
Posted by: franco | Aug 25, 2009 10:06:13 AM
If Democrats make living everyday in America seem so dangerous and in need of government control, then those i$slamistology suicide vests coming across the open border don't get headlines or giving away national security secrets and prosecuting those who kept our country safe after 9/11 doesn't seem so bad. The more people govt hires, the more votes for Pelosi.
Posted by: FeFe | Aug 25, 2009 10:10:58 AM
Hey Mike, if you think lead paint is so horrible for your kids, Don't Buy Toys with Lead Paint!
It's called freedom. I choose which products are safe or not for me and my family and you do the same. Suprisingly, I bet we'd both wind up not buying toys with lead paint. Amazingly enough, people are actually better off figuring out what to do for themselves than having Barack Obama or any other politician do it for them.
Posted by: Matt | Aug 25, 2009 11:00:34 AM
Just another every-day violation of the 10th amendment. The 10th amendment prohibits such federal laws, allowing the states to be different from one another.
But allowing the federal government to write laws on any subject for all 50 states is like saying that there's only one way to live.
There must be more than ONE way to live!
The federal government violates states rights constantly. And in so doing, sets up arguments between us all, because we all have different ideas about how to live.
The result? We don't have a political system, we have a national argument.
We should insist they respect the rights of states to set these rules for themselves.
This is not Japan, where one government is supposed to dictate to everyone. Where there's only one way to live.
This is supposed to be America, land of the free, or at least the land of 50 choices (the free states).
I support the 10th amendment, the peace amendment, so that we can all live in different ways (diversity), agreeing to disagree with others in other states. That's called peace.
Humans can't handle much power. That's why America's founders created the 10th amendment. To limit centralized authority.
But the powermongers in DC respect nothing but their own greed for more power. This is the nature of human beings. The great human weakness.
I am for smaller government because of the failings of human beings.
"Progressives" seem to believe that because humans are greedy, we need to put a few of those greedy in charge.
"Conservatives" seem to believe that humans are morally challenged, and so we need to put a few of those morally challenged in charge.
Libertarians know that human weakness is the norm, and that putting them in positions of absolute power is folly. Too much corruption.
Limit it. Insist on some choice. We need to demand our right to live in a state that most closely suits our needs.
This cries out for a return to the 10th amendment by abolishing the endless, illegal, nation-wide laws like this one.
And since I can hear the feedback already:
Don't like a certain state? Don't live in it.
Utopia is not one of the options.
Posted by: Dan Litwin | Aug 25, 2009 11:36:35 AM
The scary thing is that this was passed with overwhelming majorities of both parties and eagerly signed by Bush.
How many in congress actually read the bill? If you guess zero claim your prize. And they never really understand how this relatively simple law would work in the real world.
Multiply by 100 and you have the health care bills currently under consideration.
Posted by: Johnny | Aug 25, 2009 11:48:06 AM
This is just another of many examples of a completely out-of-control government.
"...when government turns bad, the best people ultimately become criminals. The people don't change; the laws do. Initiative, dissent, individual pleasures and exercise of one's basic rights become "crimes"....
~Claire Wolfe
Posted by: Me Too | Aug 25, 2009 8:01:54 PM
My father bought a package of cookies at a local freight salvage store the other day.
The Archway oatmeal cookies were only 99 cents. Maybe what, 1/4 the usual price?
I pointed out to my old man the "sell by" date on the package.
2004.
"Well, so that's why they tasted like cardboard".
Geez, even MREs are only good for 10 years and they're supposed to taste like cardboard. (By the way, I'm pretty sure you can get out-of-date MREs on eBay or CraigsList too.)
Be careful of what others are "reselling". No one is watching and to claim the Feds are boosting enforcement efforts is nothing to worry about for all you criminal sellers out there.
Posted by: al | Aug 26, 2009 5:49:08 PM
Jeeze, what happened to "buyer beware" and personal responsibility. Welcome to the Nanny State.
Posted by: Tracy | Aug 26, 2009 11:48:38 PM
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