ricketyclick

Another sticky note for my own reference, so no comment on something that’s as ugly as anything I’ve seen.

Obamacare gives the government control over your body. This apparently gives the government control over everything you own made of wood — and that’s just for starters:

I don’t know what all is in that bill, but last night when I was researching something else I stumbled upon just one teensy provision of the bill — an amendment to the Lacey Act which received no media attention at all, and isn’t receiving any now.

This amendment deals with illegal plants — the primary thrust being illegal wood. Henceforth, all wood is to be a federally regulated, suspect substance. Either raw wood, lumber, or anything made of wood, from tables and chairs, to flooring, siding, particle board, to handles on knives, baskets, chopsticks, or even toothpicks has to have a label naming the genus and species of the tree that it came from and the country of origin. Incorrect labeling becomes a federal felony, and the law does not just apply to wood newly entering the country, but any wood that is in interstate commerce within the country. Here are some excerpts from a summary:

The Lacey Act now makes it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any plant, with some limited exceptions, taken in violation of the laws of a U.S. State, or any foreign law that protects plants. The Lacey Act also makes it unlawful to make or submit any false record, account or label for, or any false identification of, any plant.

The definition of the term “plant” includes “any wild member of the plant kingdom, including roots, seeds, parts, and products thereof, and including trees from either natural or planted forest stands.”

[...]

Anyone who imports into the United States, or exports out of the United States, illegally harvested plants or products made from illegally harvested plants, including timber, as well as anyone who exports, transports, sells, receives, acquires or purchases such products in the United States, may be prosecuted. In any prosecution under the Lacey Act, the burden of proof of a violation rests on the government.

[...]

Violations of Lacey Act provisions for timber and other plant products, as well as fish and wildlife, may be prosecuted through either civil or criminal enforcement actions. Regardless of any prosecution, the tainted plants may be seized and forfeited.

Everyone means everyone, which includes every reader of this blog.

[Note that the summary link is to a .gov domain, which means this is the official government summary, not some wild eyed conservative scaremonger.]

Crap. This is law now, and it’s being enforced. Gibson Guitars was raided under the Lacey Act a couple of days ago.

I can’t wait to hear what Billy Beck has to say about this.

[Fixed link. Since when was "ttp" not a valid protocol? The Internet SUX!]