"The First Amendment, well how quaint!"

Here's a fun and sadly all too accurate video from the Institute for Justice highlighting the explosive growth of occupational licensing and the economic damage it has done:

Comments

[An Annoying Pedant]

Cue cry of "But government regulations are needed to protect the little guy!"

"Hey, what if the little guy has an idea for a business? Who protects him then?"

".....If he were honest, he wouldn't need to bitch about jumping through hoops. He would know in his heart that it was for his own good, and for the children."

[omg]

The "regulations protect the little guy" argument is something I have never understood. If this were the case, why are the most highly regulated industries completely devoid of "little guys"? Asking a liberal this will elicit a blank stare, possibly followed by puffs of smoke emerging from their ears.

[BakedPenguin]

I think they mean "the consumer" when they say the "little guy".

[An Annoying Pedant]

What don't they do what they say, say what they mean? Don't they know one thing leads to another?

[wylie]

I only know the chorus to that song, and now it's stuck in my head. Thanks.

[Bergman]

In order to be a card-carrying capital-L Liberal, you must remain completely unaware of the Law of Unintended Consequences. Once you become aware of that Law, only a hypocrite can continue to be a Liberal.

[BC]

I will protect my little guy until they take it from my cold dead hand.

[Anonymous Coward]

The point of regulations is not to protect small sellers or consumers. It is to protect the sellers already in the market.

The fewer people selling, the easier it is for government to control those sellers.

[cynical]

Unfortunately, human beings have an innate resistance to self-destructing when encountering logical paradoxes. Otherwise James Kirk would the God-Emperor of Earth.

[DJ Drugs]

He'd never abdicate the office of God-Emperor of green alien space-poon.

[The rational left]

Asking a liberal this will elicit a blank stare, possibly followed by puffs of smoke emerging from their ears

No need to dehumanize us. We are not the robots you seek to portray us as.

The simple fact is many on the left understand that these things are idiotic. If we did not then how do you explain Carter and Nader deregulating the commercial flight industry...or Al Gore's work in cutting red tape...or even Matt Yglesias blog posts about getting rid of requirements for barbers.

[lukas]

...for which Matt gets skewered by his kneejerk "regulation good! deregulation bad!" readership.

[Mr. FIFY]

Wow. The entire rational left posted at the same time.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yeah, and it turns out to be just one guy. 😀

[Cuddly Soft Balls of Death]

We are not the robots you seek to portray us as.

Which is exactly what you have been programmed to believe.

[Mr Whipple]

The left hates small businesses because it is difficult to unionize them. Monopolies, especially government monopolies, are extremely easy to unionize, like the PA state liquor stores.

[dave bush]

I am a small printer in Los Angeles. We print forms for hospitals, municipalities. In the last several years, all competition for municipal hospitals has been curtailed. Novation, a GE owned company, negotiated a soul source contract with LA County's hospitals. Novation sells the County's hospitals everything: forms, bed pans, MRIs, etc. from their list of selected vendors. NO COMPETITION. Selected vendors means that GE collected a fee from a vast variety of companies, many foreign sourced, for the right to be a selected company.

I am not a liberal. But I agree we're being done in by large companies that are "influencing" our country's leaders to deregulate. Regulation does protect the little guys, like me.

[DesigNate]

No it doesn't. And what you are experiencing is corporatism. We don't need more regulations on businesses, we need more regulation if ethics on the government.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Do you seriously want people to be able to engage in business enterprise without any governmental oversight? I mean, really. Deregulation is what caused the Greater Depression.

They should require certification to make youtube videos just so they can issue a license to the Institute for Justice and subsequently revoke it after keeping the fee.

[An Annoying Pedant]

What would Shay Carl do if they required him to have a license to post videos of him throwing his kids around the room? What would Shane Dawson have to do if he was required to ask government's permission to cross dress as an annoying stereotype? Would you really want government red tape stifling the freedom of expression that is Charles Trippy posting hundreds and hundreds of hours of personal home videos that add absolutely nothing of substance to YouTube?

. . .on second thought, don't answer that.

[wylie]

You really need to work on your search keywords.

[An Annoying Pedant]

What? Why?

[Michael S. Langston]

I honestly hope you're joking... but just in case.

Please explain, with details & facts, exactly how deregulation caused the financial crisis.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Uh, it's pretty common knowledge. (Just ask this guy, who coined the term "Greater Depression".) You don't demand specifics about common knowledge.

[california lawshark]

Right. I've heard that it's "common knowledge" and a "foregone conclusion" that man causes global warming too. But, I'd still like to see some factual (and truthful) evidence of that.

[mattrue]

"Deregulation is what caused the Greater Depression."

No, but deregulation caused virtually everything you see around you. If every facet of the economy were regulated, there would be no United States! No cars, no computers, no medicine, no technology!

Fascists start with the assumption that there can be no peace, order, harmony, justice, wealth without their benevolent wisdom and control, and proceed from there.

[Almanian]

Now that's just crazy talk!

[fist of etiquette up your ass]

To: Fist of Etiquette (wtf name?)

2 things

"Deregulation is what caused the Greater Depression."
-Responce: you're retarded

-Warrant:
"They should require certification to make youtube videos just so they can issue a license to the Institute for Justice and subsequently revoke it after keeping the fee."

Conclusion: you're retarded

[Fist of Etiquette]

One of us needs to calibrate his sarcasm detector. If it turns out that it's me, then I tip my hat to you, sir.

[Fiscal Meth]

FIST FUCK YOU MAN!! YOUR WRONG!! THAT SHIT IS BULLLSHIITT MAANNNN!!! YOU FUCKIN LEFTY BITCH!

oh wait, i know you. sorry

[Leroy]

"-Responce: you're retarded"

So which law was this? I always get them confused.

[Jim]

Great Bing Crosby's ghost! Who's going to sell me arepas now that Chuck is gone?

[Bing Crosby's Ghost]

Hey, now, what's all the hullabaloo here? Hub-bub-bub-bub... Why, I might just have to take this sack of Valencia oranges and start knockin' some heads together. Maybe that'll shut you little bastards up so I can think about what to do about being dead.

[Marshall Gill]

See, this is where you Libertoids just don't get it.

Can you imagine the fashion faux pas that would occur if just anyone were allowed to be an interior designer? One shudders at the poor combination of proper color and style. Trillion dollar debts blah, blah, blah. How can the country return to National Greatness while living among mixed plaids and stripes?!

[Mr. FIFY]

Ahh, yes... the Herb Tarlek look. Don't forget the elbow patches.

[Xenocles]

Regulations are just a means of employment stimulus. What would corporate compliance officers do if we deregulated?

[alan]

Smoke weed, screw chicks, follow rainbows.

[George Stephanopolous]

Ah yes, the good old days of the Clinton Administration!

[Matthew]

Xen

Commit ritual Seppuku en masse, ideally.

[wylie]

Think of the stimulus to the Sharp-Edge Industry!

[Dept. of Sharp Objects]

http://gunsandknivestakelives.com/

Coming soon to America!

[Edwin]

What the fuck is wrong with you people???

[shrike]

i've been asking the same question, but when it comes to Christ-fag Republitards who want to destroy all government, there are no answers

[Chad]

The less business, the sooner we can have less people and save the planet from the externalities.

[Tony]

I get to keep my beachfront property, right?

[The Government]

Of course you do, Tony. It just that we get to tell you what you can do with it.

[Somalia]

Or you'll be just like us!!

[DJ Drugs]

What, you mean doing pretty well compared to your neighbours or something like that?

It's been a while since I read the LvMI article, but you get the drift.

[Max]

ARFARFARFARFARFARFARF!!!!!!!!!

[Max's pet tampon]

BLEEDBLEEDBLEED!!

[Liberal Douchebags]

We agree, Edwin. Without sufficient restrictions, people might get the idea that they ARE free in some small way, and we can't let that kind of thinking get tangled up in the wheels of progress...ivism.

[Michael S. Langston]

Ah yes, the government continues to add barriers to entry all while useful idiots continue to tell us that it's really to protect us from all that evil outside.

Too bad the only thing they are protecting people from are jobs...

[Max]

Freedom equals slavery! You stupid-heads would know that if you weren't so busy trying to tear down all government!

[JE]

Is that a symmetric equality?

[Janet]

Would someone please make a Chuck-based Choose Your Own Adventure series?

[Brandon]

http://www.despair.com/loseyourownadventure.html

"With our new 'Lose Your Own Adventure' series, it doesn't matter how you choose when you're destined to lose."

[Almanian]

That borders on epic

[numb]

Oh, businesses have been whining about too many regulations for thousands of years. The regulations in place now do little to discourage serious businessmen and women; they're not that onerous. What, you want to also do away with regulations on air pollution, clean water, etc.?

[Marshall Gill]

C

You didn't mention roads or Somalia. You also failed to mention how jobs were something allowed by our benevolent overlords. If the loving Nanny State decides you need a license to pick floor tile and wallpaper how dare mere peasants even question them?

[numb]

The real threat to small businesses is not regulations but corporations and corporate consolidation. Walk down mainstreet and it's all corporate now with fewer choices.

[Fatty Bolger]

Walk down mainstreet and it's all corporate now with fewer choices.

You're almost there... keep thinking about that... come on, you can do it...

[Libertarian Somalia]

Could it be because larger companies can more easily absorb regulatory costs than say, the "main street" business? How about because some companies, after presenting legislators and regulators with the appropriate tribute can exempt themselves from the very regulations they helped craft?

[Mr Whipple]

Those larger corporations also have better access to capital from the banks, who have access to the Federal Reserve. Actually, the banks own much of corporate America. Just look at the major shareholders of the big corporations. It's mostly large asset management companies, who sell ETFs, and such, and are subsidiaries of the big banks.

[Joshua Corning]

Walk down mainstreet and it's all corporate now with fewer choices.

Hey dipshit the reason why it is all corporate is because all the small guys have been pushed out by stupid unnecessary red tape and regulations.

You are a fucking idiot. The corporations wrote half of the regulations for the very purpose of shoving the small guys out.

[numb]

wah wah wah. Regulations are the price we pay for civilization: you know things like clean air and water, weekends, working without sawed-off hands, neighborhoods free of pot heads, etc.

[Apogee]

No, what you mean is that corruption is the price we pay for civilization, right?

After all, when your "corporate fewer choices" argument went down in flames, you scrambled back to "but it's for teh SAFETY" line.

My, but you are a good little corporate toady.

[numb]

I didn't respond to the argument yet that it's regulations that lead to fewer choices. Here's the thing, with more corporate consolidation, caused by reduced regulations, THAT'S when our choices are reduced.

[Old Man With Candy]

Excuse me, can I see your license from the Department of Inapt Cliche? Do you have a Troll Permit?

[DJ Drugs]

Yes. We were all dead before such regulations.

[DJ Drugs]

That wasn't very funny or creative. Please disregard.

[BakedPenguin]

Compared to the statist dildo above, it was fucking Noel Coward.

[Not Tony]

Tell us, numb, how many businesses have you started?

[numb]

2. Having a decent computer eased regulatory irritation greatly.

[Mr Whipple]

Really? How about all of the paperwork you needed to open a business checking account at the local bank? I needed my EIN, Sales Tax Certificate, Trade Name Certificate, Business Registration Certificate, and a Trade License, and a Home Improvement License. (Actually, I told them I did all commercial work, so i didn't need a Home Improvement License. I would only need that when applying for a building permit, which can take over a year to get, presently. The building permit, that is. Except, of course, if you are a builder like Ryan Homes or Hovnanian.)

[Joshua Corning]

The regulations in place now do little to discourage serious businessmen and women

We are not worried about the serious Businessmen...they are the one who make the regulations to keep out the less serious businessmen from taking away their business.

[FallenTree]

Govt. bureaucrats will always tell us that they "are with the government & here to help", but it's actually only to raise revenue to cushion their retirement program & job benefits.

[Mitchell Freedman]

I wish they'd tell us where it is in the Los Angeles County Code they can find the limits on bookselling...And the bit about starting up businesses in one's homes is something Chuck's neighbors will be glad to explain to him.

Is this really the level of analysis from libertarians when they tell us about how local regulations shackle entrepreneurship?

[Mitchell Freedman]

I just checked the Institute's report on Los Angeles and found their discussion at page 14 regarding used bookstores. It is beyond silly to suggest that used booksellers are not going into business because they have to have a permit, like nearly any other business, that costs $263 (yes, that's it) and get the fingerprinting. The used book seller does not need to get a fingerprint of the wholesale book seller to that used book seller.

The other "regulation" is that when the wholesale or exchange to the used bookseller is made, the latter must record the transaction in a consecutively number bill of sale.

I have spoken in the past several years with various used book sellers throughout Southern California, and in Los Angeles County in particular. Not one has complained of the government's red tape. What they say are their challenges is simply not enough book buyers, private landlords increasing rent to make way for a franchise store, or "the Internet." These are reasonable statements by people who know their businesses.

As for the Institute, they are just silly ideologues who don't know the first thing about the businesses they say they are trying to unshackle from government regulations.

[Shorter Mitchell Freedman]

Just shut the fuck up and deal with regulations, even when they are unnecessary and burdensome.

[Jeremy Hildebrandt]

Why? I for one don't like being told by the force of law to waste my time so I say we all vote for some anarchy!

[rac]

Is this really the level of analysis from government blowing robots when they tell us about how local regulations are sweet tasty morsels of shit?

[Leroy]

Can you give me just one good reason why a person who wants to sell used books needs to be fingerprinted?

For the life of me, I can't think of one.

[Mr Whipple]

Not to be a dick, but the reasoning is probably the same as that for a Pawn Shop. Since they are used books, there's a possibility that some may be stolen. So, you need positive ID on the owner, and positive ID on each seller. We can't have criminals selling books that they stole from somebody's library, can we? And yes, some of those antique books are worth a lot of money.

[Apogee]

Yes - just this past week in Juarez they found a burlap bag filled with severed heads.

The only evidence was a page torn from "The Future and It's Enemies", apparently during a struggle.

My God, won't someone think of the children!?! We have to stop this multi-billion dollar black book market.

[Juice]

Where do I get the permit to grow weed in my basement, make LSD in my spare bathroom and then sell it all through UPS?

Until I get these, I guess I just have to keep working for the man.

[Mr Whipple]

Ask Alexander Shulgin. You need a Schedule I permit from the DEA. Shulgin was the last individual to have one. After his book was published, they revoked it, and raided his lab.

[Mike Smith]

And, if you need to fly for your business, you will be subjected to the new nude machines and TSA grope searches:

http://meteorologicalmusings.b.....dures.html

[Shoey]

a progressive says "if we don't regulate you into behaving exactly as we want, you would be free to behave how you see fit, and that just won't do at all, someone might have to do some real work... and by someone I mean me.

[DavidN]

I've lived in the Los Angeles area for years, and I'm a bookworm who frequents used bookstores. Most aren't in the City of Los Angeles, granted, but I've never seen one of these stamps, or had any of these regulations explained to me at all. Never heard of any of this before. I'm wondering whether someone read about a proposal that never came to pass, or whether there's a law that never gets enforced. Regardless, I don't believe any of this actually happens. It's one of those things where it sounds silly, but only because it is. You wouldn't be able to operate a business under such circumstances. Used bookstores are in trouble, especially in LA, but not because of stuff like this. It's more the nature of the business.

[Ralph Gizzip]

Let's get one thing straight. Government doesn't enact license and registration requirements to erect barriers to free trade. They enact license and registration requirements as instruments of revenue enhancement. It's how they pay for all the "inspectors" needed to collect the revenue.

In the immortal words of Gov. Wm J. LePetomaine, "We've got to protect our phony-baloney jobs, gentlemen!: