I searched for this on DIMS, and didn't find any info. Where are our capitalists? Maybe this is overblown, or I'm missing critical pieces of info here. Maybe the effects of this are benign, and it's just a headline. But I don't think so...
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/236218-Cash-Transactions-Banned-by-Louisiana-Government-Takes-Private-Property-Without-Due-Process
I thought legal tender was legal tender. Guess not. On July 1st, 2011, the governor of Louisiana passed a law which makes it illegal for anyone who qualifies as a "reseller" of used merchandise to accept cash. If you're a for profit enterprise and engage in the sale of used property more than once per month, it's credit, check, money order, etc... Information on buyers must be gathered and submitted.
The stated reason for this is the property crime rate, and the proliferation of cash for gold places which are cropping up everywhere, and which are often unsavory for a number of reasons. But this could have far reaching and horrible side effects.
1. A LOT of people on the economic bottom make their living, or supplement their income, using resale and scrapping. This is done in cash, and for good reason. 1. You don't have to wait for cash to clear. 2. Many poor folk don't have checking accounts, because they cost money when you're broke. 3. Buyers don't have to leave their information (you know, like full name, address, things ususally printed on a check) with a person they don't know, and don't plan to know. 4. Credit cards and money orders require extra money to complete, and who, as a random reseller, wants to pay extra money, or see their customers pay extra, knowing it may retard sales.
2. Requiring extensive gathering of information would make just about anyone cagey, and no, not just criminals. If I go to buy a used air conditioner from a scrapper, or even a random dude, I'm not trying to give him all my information. I want the transaction to start and end with the handing over of cash and goods. I am a single woman, and I don't want to give random strangers my contact info. They may hand it over to the government, but who else may see it beforehand? Bad idea.
3. Why, in the midst of the Depression that Dared Not Speak Its Name, would we place restrictions on people trying to supplement their income? I know it's kept me alive between jobs. I have never collected unemployment (not bragging, plenty of times I wish I could have), and one of the ways I do this is by resale. Impeding people's capability to do this seems almost mean- spirited, and frankly, Unamerican. Not a word I use often or lightly.
4. It's bad for the environment. When we discourage people from reselling used goods, we encourage waste. If we dissuade scrappers, scavengers, and resellers from plying their trade, we remove a barrier that keeps perfectly good materials from ending up in landfills.
5. This impacts more then you know: college kids posting things on craigslist. Adults trying to feed their families selling used refurbished cars and appliances. This hurts the poor, and it hurts the enterprising poor (most poor folk that I know).
But Locs, you may say, this is in Louisiana, and you are in Wisconsin, why so serious? Because things have a tendency to spread: we see this with the union attacks that took place this year. If I get wind of this anywhere else, the hairs are going up on the back of my neck. I hear a lot of talk around here about Class Warfare, and government regulation impeding business. Why is no one screaming about this? John Galt can fend for himself, John Q. Public needs to band together.
I apologize for the "crazylink" but right now, crazy people are all that are talking about this. I guess it's proof positive I'm a nutcase.
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/236218-Cash-Transactions-Banned-by-Louisiana-Government-Takes-Private-Property-Without-Due-Process
I thought legal tender was legal tender. Guess not. On July 1st, 2011, the governor of Louisiana passed a law which makes it illegal for anyone who qualifies as a "reseller" of used merchandise to accept cash. If you're a for profit enterprise and engage in the sale of used property more than once per month, it's credit, check, money order, etc... Information on buyers must be gathered and submitted.
The stated reason for this is the property crime rate, and the proliferation of cash for gold places which are cropping up everywhere, and which are often unsavory for a number of reasons. But this could have far reaching and horrible side effects.
1. A LOT of people on the economic bottom make their living, or supplement their income, using resale and scrapping. This is done in cash, and for good reason. 1. You don't have to wait for cash to clear. 2. Many poor folk don't have checking accounts, because they cost money when you're broke. 3. Buyers don't have to leave their information (you know, like full name, address, things ususally printed on a check) with a person they don't know, and don't plan to know. 4. Credit cards and money orders require extra money to complete, and who, as a random reseller, wants to pay extra money, or see their customers pay extra, knowing it may retard sales.
2. Requiring extensive gathering of information would make just about anyone cagey, and no, not just criminals. If I go to buy a used air conditioner from a scrapper, or even a random dude, I'm not trying to give him all my information. I want the transaction to start and end with the handing over of cash and goods. I am a single woman, and I don't want to give random strangers my contact info. They may hand it over to the government, but who else may see it beforehand? Bad idea.
3. Why, in the midst of the Depression that Dared Not Speak Its Name, would we place restrictions on people trying to supplement their income? I know it's kept me alive between jobs. I have never collected unemployment (not bragging, plenty of times I wish I could have), and one of the ways I do this is by resale. Impeding people's capability to do this seems almost mean- spirited, and frankly, Unamerican. Not a word I use often or lightly.
4. It's bad for the environment. When we discourage people from reselling used goods, we encourage waste. If we dissuade scrappers, scavengers, and resellers from plying their trade, we remove a barrier that keeps perfectly good materials from ending up in landfills.
5. This impacts more then you know: college kids posting things on craigslist. Adults trying to feed their families selling used refurbished cars and appliances. This hurts the poor, and it hurts the enterprising poor (most poor folk that I know).
But Locs, you may say, this is in Louisiana, and you are in Wisconsin, why so serious? Because things have a tendency to spread: we see this with the union attacks that took place this year. If I get wind of this anywhere else, the hairs are going up on the back of my neck. I hear a lot of talk around here about Class Warfare, and government regulation impeding business. Why is no one screaming about this? John Galt can fend for himself, John Q. Public needs to band together.
I apologize for the "crazylink" but right now, crazy people are all that are talking about this. I guess it's proof positive I'm a nutcase.
