The American Pundit

Craptastic. Somehow I doubt that our Founding Fathers ever imagined a federal government that would be using asinine legislation to justify raiding garage sales and church thrift sales.

You know the government has gotten too large when federal agents show up at little Ms. MaGillicutty’s yard sale to shut her down for not meeting moronic federal regulations.

If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: 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…

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.

Secondhand sellers now must keep abreast of recalls for thousands of products, some of them stretching back more than a decade, to stay within the bounds of the law.

Ed Morrissey enjoys thoroughly mocking the stupidity of this initiative, and rightly so. We’re talking about churches and private individuals holding yard or thrift sales to raise some money. And the federal government is stepping in to crack down on them for not properly staying abreast of every recall for every product?

There was a time when people possessed common sense. And I think they still do. But government nowadays assumes that Americans are stupid and infantile creatures who need Uncle Sam to make their decisions for them. A product has small pieces that kids can choke on? Don’t give it to your three-year-old. Problem solved, and there’s no need for Washington to step in. Most people understand that.

In this new era of big government, we’re all considered idiots incapable of making common sense decisions regarding what products we buy and how we raise our children. It’s time for Americans to stand up and say, “No more. We’re not children and we’re not going to tolerate being treated as such.” The government is supposed to work for us, beholden to us — not the other way around.