Rhea Lana Riner: (h/t Glenn Reynolds for the title)
As a mother of three who has struggled to stick to a family budget, I know the frustration parents feel as they watch children grow out of brand new clothes seemingly overnight. That’s why in 1997, I started akids’ clothing consignment business, a little like the ones that are everywhere now but also a little different.
What started as a small family business operating out of our home has grown to 22 states. Now, though, it might all turn out to be illegal, thanks to the bureaucratic thinking of the Department of Labor.
Help a mother out
The business model that parents thought was an innovation, but that Labor sees as a menace, is simple but effective. You might have heard of it: cooperation.
We rent a large space for a few days, say an unused department store. Parents with clothes and children’s items to sell sign up online, enter their items into a computerized tracking system and choose their sale price. Then they bring the clothes and other items to the sale location, label them with preprinted price tags and display the clothes. Parents keep 70%; we keep 30%. It is easier than a garage sale, makes more money for parents, and shoppers efficiently find good deals.
A big part of our success are the hundreds of parents — both consignors and shoppers — who voluntarily work brief shifts to help set up before the sale starts. In exchange, these parents get to shop first with more choices and better merchandise.
In January, though, the Department of Labor noticed all this cooperation going on. Months later, investigators concluded that volunteers are “employees” under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
This means paying the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, filling out IRS paperwork and complying with who-knows-what other rules. And all for a pop-up business that lasts days.
Bear-building tyranny
Think about that for a second. I’ve offered regular parents the same opportunities that eBay gives independent resellers. When I do it in the real world to recycle used clothes, the Department of Labor says no way. That’s bunk. My volunteers are not employees or independent contractors. They’re customers.
You can thank the way political fund raising is done for this mess. Big business has been buying politicians off to make it harder for people to go into business for themselves, and to stay in business. The more small businesses that aren’t started, and that fail, the more money the big businesses make. They get what they want, because they donate to BOTH parties. No matter which party wins, they win too. We need to come up with a different way to campaign.
Ban Lobbyists FIRST! Then Ban Corp donations, as well as Unions, even the NRA $$ etc going DIRECTLY to any one Candidate. ALL DONATIONS.. go into an ELECTION POOL….. and EACH candidate, gets the SAME AMOUNT of $$$ to run on.. ala the NFL TEAM SALARY CAP,…. LEVEL the playing field 100%!! That way.. the Candidates policies.. not $ POWER… would be the #1 issue!!
Also, the Penalty, for getting caught CHEATING on Funding??? (infusing outside/illegal $$) would be EXPULSION from the election, with NO REPLACEMENT ALLOWED by the respective PARTY!! you CHEAT and the OTHER side wins by DEFAULT!! time we had election regulations with some REAL TEETH.
Hankster58,
yes you are right on,
the UNIONS are the GOVERNMENT, and they want to control everything
which is not giving them revenue. and they are the government,,
I remember the two electriciens coming from ALABAMA to help the victims of
sand island disaster, where ask, if they belong to the UNION, and they said no, so the THUG GUARD in charge said you have to register to a UNION,
that, while the PEOPLE WHERE IN TOTAL MISERY, and they waited so long to get relief,
while OBAMA and CHRIS CRISTY where budy budy talking head promising the poor people the help which did not come for a long time, and still not fix,