Licensing Gone Wild: Government Bureaucrats Shut Down Crying Little Girl’s Lemonade Stand
by Bob EwingJulie Murphy is only seven years old, but she embodies the classic American zeal for entrepreneurship.
She learned about lemonade stands after seeing one in a cartoon. She got excited and wanted to open one of her own. And so Julie’s mother worked with her to get everything together and set up shop at a fair in Northeast Portland, Oregon.
20 minutes after opening, a government official approached and asked for their $120 occupational license. Of course, they had no license.
And so 7-year-old Julie, the budding entrepreneur, was told to shut down her lemonade stand or face $500 in fines.
Julie and her mother were encouraged by others to keep the stand open and ask for donations instead. Business picked up, and the regulators returned. This time they made Julie cry. They also got their wish: Julie’s mom shut down the lemonade stand.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case of licensing gone wild. Rather it is a classic example of a national problem that affects countless people in America every day. Institute for Justice President Chip Mellor wrote this week in the Washington Times:
Mired in a nationwide jobless recovery, state and local governments have the power to create jobs and transform communities if they do one simple thing: Get out of the way of aspiring entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately for small businesses, however, laws restricting economic liberty are becoming more commonplace in America. Consider that since the 1950s, the percentage of occupations in the United States that require people to obtain permission from the government in the form of a license before they can pursue their chosen occupation has grown from a mere 5 percent to more than 30 percent.
Consider a few recent IJ cases:
- In Philadelphia, it is illegal to talk about the Liberty Bell for money without permission from the government. Unlicensed tour guides are subject to hundreds of dollars in fines for talking about the place where the Declaration of Independence was written.
- In Texas, eyebrow threaders are getting hit with $2,000 fines. Bureaucrats expect threaders with up to 20 years of experience to immediately stop working and spend approximately $20,000 obtaining 1,500 hours of instruction from government-approved beauty schools that do not even teach threading.
- In Maryland, Mercedes Clemens was threatened with thousands of dollars in fines and criminal prosecution unless she stopped . . . massaging horses. The state’s veterinary cartel said only veterinarians could work in the growing field of animal massage. All practitioners were forced to attend four years of vet school, where massage is not even taught, or shut down their businesses.
- Until IJ filed suit, it was illegal in Louisiana to sell and arrange flowers unless you had permission from the government. You had to pay for a special license, which required you to take a test that was graded by existing florists. When IJ first filed suit, it was harder to pass the flower test than to pass the Louisiana bar.
At best, these laws simply create pointless red tape. IJ recently profiled a series of entrepreneurs in a campaign called The Power of One Entrepreneur. These studies demonstrate that the best way for government to encourage economic growth and job creation is simply to stop preventing people from growing the economy and creating jobs.
At worst, these laws allow powerful insiders to protect themselves from competition. Sadly, federal courts have sanctioned this abuse of government power. In 2004 the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in Powers v. Harris:
[W]hile baseball may be the national pastime of the citizenry, dishing out special economic benefits to certain in-state industries remains the favored pastime of state and local governments.
Our courts should not allow such blatant protectionism to occur. And our legislators need to stop handing out special favors to politically connected groups—and do away with the needless barriers to entrepreneurship.
Does anyone really believe that Julie Murphy should be fined $500 for operating her lemonade stand?
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311 Comments
A perfect example of the disdain our public officials have toward us pedestrians. So out of touch with everyday Americans.
Local, State, and Federal government get your act together before it's too late! This country is on the wrong tracks going 180mph; hopefully in Nov we can at least slow it down or there's going to be one hell of a wreck!
Boy they got themselves a real criminal there. I sure do feel a lot safer now. I guess we can all sleep better tonight.
I live in SW Portland (Beaverton) and I can tell you for a fact that this type of thing is a very regular occurrence here.
Now that so many small businesses particularly restaurants have shuttered their doors the "licensing inspectors" have way too much time on their hands!
Last year Governor Ted "tax and gouge me" Kulongoski actually bragged that he was going to be able to hire more code enforcement personnel "to catch the bad guys" because of the SCAM-ulus bill..
Now we know why he hired them.
What else would anyone expect from ever expanding government gone wild….?
FYI the Oregon unemployment is rate 10.4% and underemployment is 20.7%
If you anyone here on the Bigs lives in Oregon…
VOTE Chris Dudley for Governor and Jim Huffman for Senate!
Does she have to pay taxes for Obamaocare?
The tyranny of "safety."
Do you think Al Gores massage therapist was licensed? Do you think, like a good liberal bureaucrat, he checked before the fortune cookie or after?
Probably not, but I'll bet she gets audited…
The long arm of Big Brother! Welcome to the USSA!!! Hey, government, LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE!
If life gives you lemons, cough up $120.
Thank you, US Government. All would be chaos and despair without your firm hand.
/sarc off
This is what causes the underground economy to flourish.
Her mistake was that she was white and non union. There…I said it.
We cannot protect ourselves from ourselves.
When you require training to do x for a job and the training doesn't teach x, then we know it is injustice.
Just like when we allow the constitution to be ignored. Like when we don't defend our borders. Like when we don't check the voting rolls for illegal voters…
Injustice anywhere leads to injustice in every department.
Soon you have protectionists elected by illegal immigrants who are protected and employed and given government benefits by the politicians who feed on the decay.
We have people telling us when and where we can operate a business as long as we purchase a license that is provided by them. There are two types of people that provide this service, one does it legally and one does it illegally.
If we want to see our economy recover the govt needs to get out of the way of the people who are willing to take some chance by starting new businesses or expanding their existing businesses. They get out of the way by reducing taxes so the entrepreneurs have some of the hard earned money to spend on their business and they can reduce regulation from a one size fit all mentally. Along with reducing regulation the govt needs to prosecute those business that are cutting corner to the fullest extent possible while leaving the businesses that are playing by the rules alone.
I wouldn't have believed this story if someone told it to me on the street ('What, a child is selling lemonade without having paid the government for the 'right' to engage in entrepreneurship!? To the taxmobile!').
All of the stories are horrendous, but the fact some bureaucrat decided to make muscling a little girl out of business his pet project stands out for me.
It would be a just reward if young Julie grows up to be a conservative patriot who wreaks havoc on progressives and other proponents of big government… every step of the way.
BHO Thugs, get used to it.
Perfect example of an overreaching government. Government, get out of our way. Vote them OUT! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE! Can't say it enough.
Nothing symbolizes the effect of the Obama Administration and their philosophy of governance better than the MIBs showing up to take out the nefarious lemonaide stand. It was capitalist exploitation. Girl exploiting lemon-picker. The dollar casting us all into slavery. She had to be stopped. In Barack Obama's world, she could not be allowed to make a sick and immoral profit!
Perhaps she should have gotten a license, then she wouldn't have a problem.
Absloute Jack Asses!!!!!!!!!!! Someone should beat this jerk to the ground!
"I am from the Government and I am here to help"
These are the scariest words a bureaucrat can utter…they are also the words that make their nose grow sooooo long.
SO here we have a 7 year old who didn't pay the Government the $125.00 restaurant fee.
We are supposed to believe the Government has our best interest at heart.
It is for your own safety that we demand she pay the fee, it has nothing to do with the revenue.
I would put a new sign on my lemonade stand.
"Seven year old Shut down by Government bureaucracy, Thanks allot America you voted for this"
This is why our economy is doing so bad, government regulation on everything. Our founders based our economic system on the idea of FREE market, not on the regulatory system that was imposed in the wake of Progressive/Socialist policies that started in 1903. It is time to stand up to these petty tyrants (I mean what cold-hearted SOB bureaucrat made a little girl cry). The government officials serve us, we dont serve them. I confronted the city officials in my town who threatened me with jail and fine if I did not abort my dogs puppies and get her fixed (I got her at the pound 2 weeks before the incident) I went down to the office and told them to arrest me and fine me, I would not obey the dictate. Of course I was a bit loud (after all I am a sweet Italian girl from NYC) and used choice words. Needless to say when confronted the petty tyrants backed down.
That's it government!!! Crack down hard on little girls selling lemonade but don't worry about that big open border in the south and the threats our Citizens face to their lives everyday from drug lords overrunning the area.
Yeah, you guys really know how to protect us !!
Yes, yes I know this state has nothing to do with border control, still the point is valid. This is how government operates. Go after the easy target, make a big show — and on important matters — do nothing.
They will find a way for her or her parents to pay the health care taxes, remember everyone needs to pay based on their earnings and everyone gets from the govt based on their needs.
Fire them. Fire those inspectors immediately, and issue a public apology. I don't care what the county's reasons were, this was stupidity bordering on harassment.
Are you kidding…they are encouraging just the opposite.
Why should I pay more taxes to a Government that uses my tax money more and more to pay off their cronies who are working against me.?
Portland is becoming like Europe, in terms of nannystate-ness.
Are you for real? We are talking about a kid operating a lemonade stand. This would be a perfect opportunity to teach the child how business works and the benefit of doing for yourself instead of looking to the govt to support you. Kids have always operated lemonade stands all across America, why would people want to stop this?
We are from the government and we are here to help.
To answer an objection someone will eventually raise over this:
Liberals trot out children who are upset over what they've been told is happening.
Conservatives trot out children who are upset about things that ACTUALLY HAPPENED TO THEM.
Hate to disagree with you, Rick–their noses growing long would imply that they know they're lying when they say they're there to help. The real tragedy here is that loons such as these are actually convinced they're serving the public and doing something beneficial when they shut down a 7-year-old's lemonade stand. Where do we get such fools?
A license? For a 7-year-old's LEMONADE STAND?? Are you completely out of your mind?!
Well golly gee CP7768; that is a right smart reply! Who would of thunk? You must be very smart, I bet you work for the government.
What you describe is a manifestation of the vision these Nazis have for all the world. We have to put a stop to it. This particular situation is nothing more than part of a lifelong indoctrination process. It is a shame that such a sweet little girl was exposed to such ugliness at such a young age. Theft of innocence should be a Capital Crime.
We refuse to pay a"Business Licence" fees to the City of LosAngeles for projected revenues that are 25% of what they base the tax on.
They turned the $1265. over for collection….
Who cares…We're moving to Mexico, where it's warm and becoming illegal aliens..
Maybe open a lemonade stand..
This is the very essence of what Barry-Bob and his facists are doing to small businesses.
It was a perfect lesson to teach the child on how the bureaucracy works. Get a license and you can have your lemonade stand. Simple as that.
"Why should I pay more taxes to a Government that uses my tax money more and more to pay off their cronies who are working against me.? "
This is exactly why the economy is tanking, cronyism by the govt! If you are not one of the selected privilege then the govt regulates you so heavily and taxes so heavily that it is extremely hard to operate against the privileged businesses. Just look at the banks that were selected to survive and which ones that were left out. Just look at which auto dealerships were selected to be closed and which one were picked to survive.
It is time to return to the survival of the fittest in a free market. If a business can not survive on it's own the govt should step in to save it. The govt should not also regulate the free market to the point that new business ventures are nonexistent.
You obviously do not understand how a bureaucracy works.
That's by design. Government has a vested interest in making everyone a criminal. They have no control over honest men, but make them into criminals and then they have leverage and control. Insidious, isn't it?
Just shows us that a) we have a runaway government, b) there are way too many government workers who have the time to search out a kids lemonade stand instead of looking for real problems.
How does paying for a permit "protect" the public? It doesn't. All it does is line the pockets of the corrupt and make the honest citizen poorer. This is a clear cut example of a "barrier to entry". Government hates small business.
Yes, like they almost ripped off the arm of that little kid to get him up by President Camacho as he signed away our freedoms enacting Obamacare. Maybe this incident will motivate this little girl to become the first conservative woman president.
No. It was pure evil. Let's start calling a spade a spade. It was theft of innocence. It was a moral abomination.
Typical marxist government behavior. Treat us all like children and threaten us with dire consequences if we don't do what "mommy" government says. No surprise there. After all,it's the Peoples' Republic of Oregon, don't forget.
I had a horrible realisation yesterday.
A friend of mine was talking about how he'd love to build a small shed and a garage on his property, then have a security door that leads to a set of stairs into a secret underground home.
For some reason the idea of a secret underground room made me think of a news story I heard about a few years back about a man who was arrested because he built a secret rape dungeon that he hid the entrance to behind a stack of returnables in his garage. The man was kidnapping people and had been doing this for like 20+ years.
What's the point, how does this relate to government bureaucrats run amok?
Its then when I realised that my friend would get in more trouble, possibly serve more jail time, and face stronger prosecution for his secret underground home, than that man who build his rape dungeon.
Because while that rapist was kidnapping and raping women for decades, he didn't commit the horrible crime of under paying on property tax, or violating zoning, or not being up to inspection code, and so on.
It makes me sad that government bureaucracy via taxes, ordinances, zoning, licensing, and the rest put honest citizens at more peril than people who commit real crimes that hurt people.
Bureaucracy is the government getting in the way of real people creating real jobs, even if those people are a 7 year old little girl and her mom setting up a lemonade stand.
i am surprised she didn't get cited for not hiring union employees, and not paying into thier pension plan. then, did she have a epa permit for the water, did she use domestic sugar, or did she import lower cost sugar? possibly she may have smuggled the sugar to avoid the tarrifs. did she hire a licensed sign maker with union employees to make the sign, and were seiu thugs employed to hang the sign. and did she make sure she didn't violate any osha regs, in the working conditions of her employees. lastly did she have a resale certificate from the state, and charge sales tax on the lemonade? now we know why kids don't want to mow lawns any more
These "Obama Government bureaucrats" are no better than the Italian Mafia, wanting a piece of every bit of business. In fact, the Mafia is more honorable, not even they would stop a little girl from having her lemonade stand…
Vote them out people, it is our country and they will take whatever we allow them to take. Stand up for your own rights, no one is going to do it for us…..
Indeed. I hope her mother used the experience as a teachable moment to explain to the child WHY these men were evil and what their REAL motivation was. That would be a powerful lesson.
That $120 "Occupationall License" was supposed to pay for the goons who drive around and shut down lemonade stands and Girl Scout cookie sales. Now where will they get revenue to pay these people?
The sad thing is that this boondoggle probably cost more than $5000 in civil service salaries alone dealing with the backlash from outraged citizens.
Our tax dollars at work.
So are you for large amounts of regulation?
Independent and self reliant should not apply either, they are only needed to help pay for the entitlement programs.
You obviously don't realize that bureaucracy interfers with work….Let me quote John Galt…"Get out of my way!"
Spread the wealth! Give them the wealth!
Exactly. I regularly ply my Architectural moonlighting trade on a cash-only basis. Granted, I do need to maintain my State license and professional insurance, but the client gets a discount and I get to pay down my debt with the extra income.
Obama years = pay down my debt. Once he and his ilk are ousted it'll be time to buy again.
The classic case of a beaurocrat justifying their existence. We need to fire about 20 to 30% of them.
Government red tape,……………
ever try and get a building permit that requires a complete set of drawings.,…….
and just wait till going "green" becomes law.
State, local or federal? Lemonade stands are the worst way to teach entrepreneurship. The kids get the lemons, sugar, water, cups from parents and pocket all sales income. What business operates on 0$ operating costs? It teaches the kids about entitlements.
I'm glad the County Executive apologized to the mother, but the two idiot martinets who ruined a little girl's day should be forced to go to "common sense and decency" classes.
In a way it is a very good lesson.
Hopefully she shares her experience with her friends and tells them that this is what happens when government has too much power.
There is hope for the next generation.
The underground economy, or black market if you will, will end up being the driving force of the resistance to and against the current regime. Economic freedom WILL happen, regardless of the hand of the state.
This is yet another argument for bringing back tar and feathers.
I would have left the stand open and then rallied the public.
Anybody make my daughter cry and they would be on the ground.
Nazis.
The bureaucracy is here to stay. Get used to it and get in line.
When it comes to lemonade stands, yes.
Absolutely. The more burdensome the government becomes, the more we'll start to ignore it and find workarounds to avoid it. The Age of the Entreprenuer Outlaw is here.
In the future, she'll know to get a license. Welcome to the real world kid.
If the little girl had worn a hijab, do you think the regulators would have cared? Just asking.
Stories like this make me sick. It's a lemonade stand! I wonder why countries all over the world are taxing the crap out of their people. Why are Gestapo-like agents roaming the streets to harass little girls who want to try their hand at selling lemonade? This is so stupid, and I resent the intrusion into our lives.
I would like people to tell me — if we, in the West — are "free," from what are we free? If we can't breathe and live without being ordered about at every turn, I ask for the definition of "free."
Regierung über alle.
Won't be long before we'll be required to get a permit to take a dump. Gotta go now…..
A lemonade stand teaches the most important lessons of all in business.
1) Dedication
2) Work ethic
3) Self reliance
4) Independence from government
5) Entrepreneurial spirit
These are the foundations of successful businesses and successful lives, they are inseparable.
Strange that Obowmao is trying to HIRE 20-30% more…..
Did the Portland officials have to call in a SWAT Team? The article doesn't say.
She is only seven, according to the story you blooming idiot. Operating costs lessons come a little later, with good supportive parents in place.
Yes, its ALWAYS about "safety" isn't it? The government is killing us with "safety."
If this fuss were over a lemonade stand in front of her home, I would be outraged. But, as the blogger pointed out, this was at a FAIR. All vendors at a fair have to pay rent or some type of fee to put up their booth, in return there is usually some promotion or advertisement, and infrastructure such as porta potties, electric power and so on, provided by the fair organizers.
By setting up shop at a sanctioned, organized event, she was essentially freeloading off the others that had paid for the event in the first place.
The budding entrepreneur learned a couple of lessons. 1.) there is no free lunch. 2.) location is everything. Next time, set up the stand in front of your home and don't mooch off other vendors.
We must stop them at all costs. We have no other viable choice. Our Constitutional Republic must survive.
My bad. I should have said that in my first post. darn…insensitive southern white anglo saxon protestant baby boomer conservative right handed gun owner gas guzzler truck owner gas guzzler boat owner …and oh, yeah….tax payer. I must be on every one of big sis' watch lists hahaha
A licence for a 7-year-old's lemonade stand. Good grief. If this had happened to my boys, I would have kept the stand open, gone next door and grabbed my neighbor's "Don't tread on me" flag, and then called the police station and fire station up the street and offered the fellows there free lemonade if they'd come on by. And then wait for the bureau weenies to show up again.
Why are you discriminating children who operate lemonade stands?
These government traitors have to get their grubby fingers into everything we do. tax this, license that….more of the same thievery politicians perpatrate every single day. i don't recall giving license to Michelle Antoinette to drag 50-60 of her closest Socialists to that racist country known as Spain. Funny…..why would you go to a place that is "deemed" racist? This little girl should have done the Spanky routine and set up shop on her sidewalk in her neighborhood. Regardless, this poor thing just learned the hard way that the Liberal Progressives and like-minded RINOs will stifle hard-work and American entrepenurial spirit…….what is to becaome of her in the Future?
Patriots of Mine……today the resistance stands firm!!
Another lib sociobot…
To spread the wealth would we not first have to earn it? Aw shucks I forgot that the govt can do anything they want what was I thinking.
Another right-wing capitalist! She should have said she was a mooslim and she could have qualified for stimulus $…
Only 20-30%? You really are a conservative. lol
I'd say more like 60-70%..
True that bureacracy is here to stay, but we should cut down on it. Like say, get rid off all the unneeded bureacracy, and cut it by roughly 90% in the government. So then, we will still have it, but far less of it.
I posted this on FB yesterday and got one lousy "like".. Apathy is the enemy.
You might be right about letting them fail, but I hope it does not come to that. I think if the govt were forced to cut their spending on wasteful programs and are forced to operate efficiently maybe the complete failure of the govt could be avoided. I know this is quiet possibly wishful thinking, but I was always taught to hope for the best and plan for the worst.
I did say in an earlier post, but I dont know if its too much. But why not just fire about 90% of them.
Yeah, these are examples of beaurocratic bs. C'mon. The girl was offering 'free" lemonaide. It's a common dodge. So should car washes be charged too? Ebay transactions? Babysitting? Where do you draw the line?
I don't think we should let small businesses make profits that are untaxed. But there needs to be some rationality attached to it. If a booth at the fair is raking in hundreds or thousands each day, tax away. But leave alone the little girls who just want to buy the latest Justin Beiber fan mag, you big brutes.
Are you a little envious because you missed the opportunity to have a lemonade stand when you were younger?
How exactly does this teach a child about entitlement programs? Does it teach the child that if other children have the cups they need for the lemonade stand they can just take them? Does it teach them that since other children are doing better than them a regulation should be passed to level the playing field? Does it teach them to look to others to take care of their every need?
I do live in Oregon, Down south where people are a bit more sane. My sons had lemon aid stands for several summers and made very good money with it. The local cops and enforcers left them alone. Between the two of them they made enough money to purchase their own school clothes, some video games and some other things they wanted. Shows that kids can and will do the right thing if they are allowed too. But the nazi enforcers want all the little kids to fall in line and get the entitlements they so justly deserve.
The bureaucrats that shook down the kid should be in prison. Where the heck is common sense?
No — Halloween and "Trick or Treat," a liberal's favorite holy-day teaches kids all about entitlement and intimidation tactics to get what you want.
Lemonade stands teach all about business and how the government is always there to get their cut — or shut you down. A valuable real world lesson.
Prohibition of pot is a perfect example, as was the prohibition of alcohol…crime syndicates profit and tax payer dollars in enforcement and "prevention" efforts are wasted by the hundreds of billions. Social conservatives have just got to realize that the Tea Party's number one objective is smaller government and not divisive social politics.
Social politics belong at the local and state levels not the federal government. We should be for Gay Right activist Freedom to bring the issue to vote and challenge the vote in court, doesn't mean that we vote yes on the issue.
Well said!
In a sea of crap it is far easier to control the flow.
For god's sake whatever you do get your conservative friends and family to vote!
I know, we have voter fraud by mail but turnout is everything even though the Oregon media mafia crooks cook the numbers but we have to try anyway.
If you can, do what I'm doing and go to a ballot drop off and video tape everything, this is for all of the marbles and we must win!
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