I know a lot of people turn a blind eye to those that say the government is getting too much control and trying to become more socialist (USA), they say vocal conservatives are fear mongers... but I personally see more and more 'control' coming all the time. It's actually quite scary and until people smarten up and see what is going on, it's only going to get worse. Here is an example of Control (and it IS whether you choose to turn a blind eye or not):
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-01-08-toys_N.htm
Toy Testing. Remember the 'scare' of lead in some toys that were made in China? Recalls all over the place, so many toys on the recall lists it was hard to keep up? Well now the US govt, as of Feb 10th, may have something in place where all second-hand-goods dealers have to test ALL of their items for lead, among other things. It costs at least $400 PER SMALL ITEM. How is a place like Salvation Army Thrift Store going to spend $400 testing an item they sell for five bucks? They will NOT be able to do it. They WILL shut down. ALL of the consignment stores, charity shops, second hand kid stores, etc will HAVE to close. So is it a fear-mongering conspiracy theory if people suggest the govt is trying to kill small business? Why? They 100% know if this goes through that small businesses will not be able to afford it in any way, shape or form. They are signing a death warrant country-wide for ALL of these businesses. And for what?
I have yet to see a report detailing that the formerly-tainted toys coming from China were actually deadly. All I have seen are reports that there was a higher amount than the US approves as a max level. But I have seen and heard many reports that the amount is still so miniscule, a child would have to suck on a toy for a very long time and injest a huge amount of the broken pieces or chipped paint in order to get sick. Now who is fear-mongering? I have never seen or heard a report saying that a child taking a tiny piece of paint off his Sesame Street big bird toy would test for high levels of lead and get sick. Have you heard any reports like that at all? I have heard that a child would have to injest hundreds if not thousands of pieces of tainted lead paint from these toys in order to get sick. Not to mention these toys are so hardy, even ones I had when I was a kid 30 years ago are still intact with no broken pieces, only peeling paper stickers. My old Fisher Price car garage has been bashed and crashed for over 30 years and the only thing 'wrong' with it is the elevator doesn't always work anymore. So how tainted were the toys that were recalled? How much of a risk did they actually impose? And is it anywhere near a risk amount to justify crippling ALL second hand stores next month?
I am not saying that the small business' survival is more important than a child's survival. So you can stop thinking that right now. What I am saying is we have been duped yet again. And it paved the way for literally destroying hundreds of thousands of businesses. How many people do you think these places employ across the United States? The unemployment level is a huge story right now, with the new president promising to create 3 million jobs. Well... what about the millions of people who work at these consignment, charity, and second hand stores? They WILL all be out of work if this testing law is not stopped. There is no possible way whatsoever that they could afford even $50 testing fee per item because they sell the items for far less than that. So imagine what $400 would do. They won't even attempt it, it would be financial suicide. They will simply close down immediately.
Now think a little further. Who most often shops at those stores? Lower income people and their families. They cannot afford full priced items in the retail stores, I am middle income and I refuse to pay those ridiculous prices too! So if the Sally Ann store, Diabetes Association, etc shut down, where will lower income people get some good deals? Seriously people... this is bad. It is more far-reaching than you could imagine but it's right there in front of our faces, reported in the news, and I have yet to hear anything about it on a really major news network. I only heard about it on talk radio and in one or two other blogs. Why is there no outcry for these millions upon millions of people who WILL be directly affected? And why do I care, since I am in Canada?
Because I fear the same thing happening here, especially if our current PM gets overthrown by the coalition. Who knows what ideas they might try to pass here. We have enough problems as it is, we do not need to follow suit with crazy ideas like this. But I fear that we will.
One more point to note: A lot of these second=hand places take very little profit - only enough to pay employees (and a lot of the time they are volunteers as well). They will all have to shut down too. And I am also wondering about places that give out clothing donations for free. Soup Kitchens, Women's Shelters, Homeless Shelters --- if these second-hand goods have to be tested for lead, surely they cannot be given out to needy people for free either. HOW will these charities survive?? THINK ABOUT IT!!!! That is really scary. For a government that pretends to think about it's people and care about them, why would they do something like this? It is disgusting.
*** Update: It appears as though the wording of the document was sorted out and every item does not have to be tested. However, keep in mind that this is something to watch. If it happened at all in the first place, it could happen again. I say to be wary.
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