Thousands of charities, from international organizations to local churches, raisemoney through silent-auctions, often featuring gift baskets donated by supporters.Those gift baskets frequently include bottles of wine, beer, or other spirited prizes.But it turns out that in many States the liquor laws prohibit such gift baskets,especially in places like churches or community centers that have no liquor license– even if the bottles remain unopened. The legislature in one state, Colorado, isabout to repeal that old law, and leave charitable fund-raisers free to do their bestfor their good causes. Many of these legislators have looked through the lens ofliberty, and realized that fund-raising strategies of non-profit organizations are notthe government’s business. But many states still require permits and fees for suchevents. If your State is one of them, it’s time for you to act.

Lens of Liberty

Auctioning Our Freedom

A couple I know was sitting in their hot tub, in the privacy of their secluded backyard, when suddenly a man with a clipboard came wandering onto their patio,looking around and taking notes. They asked what he was doing, and he identifiedhimself as an inspector from the Homeowner’s Association. He claimed the rightto go anywhere on any property, with or without the owner’s permission, anytimehe wants. But these homeowners look through the lens of liberty, and theyunderstand their right to privacy, enshrined in the Bill of Rights. They know that inAmerica, all governments – including local homeowners associations – only getpower from the consent of the governed. If your right to privacy doesn’t matter toyou, it certainly doesn’t matter to anyone else – what have you allowed in yourneighborhood?

Hot Tub Privacy

A friend, struggling to make ends meet, found that he could rent his spare room bythe night, and earn a nice supplemental income. But he also found out there arerules about competing with hotels. Cities from New York to Denver have startedadopting rules to stop such practices – not because there is any danger to publicsafety, but because Air B-n- B has become serious competition for hotels, just asUber competes with taxis. Many tourists enjoy staying at bed-and- breakfasts, andtraveling is a different experience when you get to know your hosts, in theirhomes. We understand why hotel chains may be threatened by such competition,but a look through the lens of liberty tell us this is not the government’s business.Such favoritism limits your choices, but if you don’t defend your right to staywherever you want, who will?

No AirBnB Here

Many of us share great memories of eating ice cream in the park, one of the greatpleasures of summer. But we’ll have no more of that in Boulder, Colorado. Thecity has now banned ice cream as an option for vendors in all the local parks.That’s because the ice cream bars that were being sold come in larger sizes, andhave higher sugar and fat content, than is allowed under the City’s latest nutritionguidelines. Those rules apply to all ice cream, but also to nuts, chips, packagedfruits, cereal, cookies, pudding, and all other snacks. Should city governments evenhave rules for such things, or should we all look through the lens of liberty, andinsist that such regulations be withdrawn? We can decide for ourselves when andwhere we want to enjoy ice cream.

The Ice Cream Anti-Social

New York is famous as the “city that never sleeps,” but be careful what you do afterhours. There are 26,000 bars and restaurants in New York City, but if you enjoylive music, singing, or dancing, you could be breaking the law. That’s because aProhibition-era law still forbids three or more people from dancing, anyplacewhere there is “musical entertainment.” Any exceptions require an expensive city-issued license that very few businesses actually have. Instead of looking throughthe lens of liberty, city officials still go to court to defend that old “cabaret law.”In one recent case, they argued that “there is no protected First Amendment rightof expression to engage in recreational dancing.” We should tell our officials theyhave no right to regulate us, if we want to dance the night away.

Dance the Night Away

I see protests on TV and sometimes wonder if the demonstrators even understandwhat they’re protesting. Now, a report by the National Association of Scholars,says many university courses aimed at understanding the American system, havebeen replaced by vocational classes on how to undermine it. Instead of teaching thefoundations of constitutional law, individual freedom, and self-government, thesenew courses now teach how to organize protests, occupy buildings, and stagedemonstrations. Americans citizens have always enjoyed the right to protestpolicies with which they disagree. But looking through the lens of liberty is avital first step, in understanding the very system that guarantees the right to protest.Without that basic understanding of our founding principles, students are actuallybeing cheated of the opportunity to be full participants in our republic. Theyshould protest that!

No Need to Learn Civics

On Halloween, thousands of college students attend costume parties, the bizarreattire being part of the fun. But this year they found the “PC police” in charge oncampuses across America. One university said it didn’t matter if students admiredPocahontas, or if Prince was their favorite singer – minority students were allowedto wear such costumes, but white students could not. Desperate to avoid offendinganyone, dozens of colleges posted such rules. One advises against “traditional headwear from other cultures,” while many others simply tell students not to wearcostumes representing a culture that is not their own. Well, that certainlyeliminates devils, witches, ghosts, and superheroes. Maybe we should lookthrough the lens of liberty, and realize that making everyone dress up asthemselves would be a mean trick, not a treat.

Father Knows Best for Halloween

A woman in Philadelphia, having an argument with her boyfriend in a restaurant,got so angry she threw a soft drink at him. Then, as she was storming away, sheslipped on the wet floor and broke her tailbone. Never mind that the floor was wetbecause of the drink she herself had thrown, she was still so angry she decided tosue. She did not sue the boyfriend, because he didn’t have any money. She suedthe restaurant for having a wet floor. A jury ordered the restaurant to pay her$113,000. Her medical bills were real, of course, but does that make the businessowner responsible? Looking through the lens of liberty, if we see any law-abiding citizen being held liable for the bad behavior of another, it ought to makeus all angry enough to do something about it.

Throw Down That Drink

Our Constitution does not guarantee the right to break into someone’s house. Yet aburglar in Bristol, Pennsylvania thought he had that right, and a jury agreed! Hebroke into a home, but got locked in the garage trying to escape. With no way outand the homeowners away, he spent 8 days in that garage, surviving on a case ofPepsi and a large bag of dog food, until the homeowners returned, and calledpolice. He claimed because the garage door opener didn’t work, he had sufferedundue mental anguish, and sued the homeowners’ insurance company. Shockingly,the jury sided with him, and made the insurance company pay him $500,000 for hisordeal. We should all look through the lens of liberty and remember theimportance of personal responsibility, especially before we serve on juries.

Have another Coke

Katherine faced a difficult battle with cancer, and decided to do what she lovedmost, baking cupcakes. She and her sister set up a food truck called “Cupcakes forCourage,” and were doing well, until the heavy hand of the law swooped in. TheCity of Chicago prohibits food trucks within 200 feet of any restaurant, and in thatneighborhood it means 97 percent of all streets are off limits. These gutsy galslooked through the lens of liberty, and fought the City’s attempt to protectfavored businesses against competition. Courts sided with the City, but Katherinegets the last laugh. Her baked goods sell so well, she now has 2 food trucks and 2stores. The fight against government chipping away our freedom is needed in everytown and neighborhood – including yours. Let’s join that fight.

Courageous Cupcakes

A woman in Austin, Texas tripped over a toddler who was running inside afurniture store, and she broke her ankle. She sued the store owners, claiming theyhad created an unsafe environment for their customers. A jury agreed with her,ruled against the store, and awarded the woman $80,000 in damages. Everyonewatching the case was shocked by the outcome, because the toddler was her ownson! That jury should have looked through the lens of liberty, and recognized thatthe store was not at fault – she was. America was founded on the simple principlethat ordinary people can govern themselves – but that requires personalresponsibility. Accidents happen. But instead of blaming others and filing lawsuits,we ought to just watch where we’re going. And more importantly, put a stop tothese frivolous lawsuits.

Watch Where You’re Going

When you make a right turn in your car, you have to slow down a bit. But inBeaverton, Oregon, traffic lights were timed to go from yellow to red, withouttaking into account the time it takes to slow down – as if drivers are expected toturn at full speed. A Swedish-born electrical engineer noticed the problem, andanalyzed all the lights in town. But when he shared his research with officials, theirresponse was to fine him $500 for practicing engineering without a license. Theywere angry that anyone would question their traffic cameras – and they wanted thelicensing revenue. If they looked through the lens of liberty, they would knowthe government works for us, and every citizen has the right to ask government tosolve problems – tell your officials that right does not require a license.

Slow Down, Pay a Fine

Two Colorado neighbors both had pet dogs, and jobs requiring frequent travel. So they had an arrangement for many years, where they took care of each other’s dogs when either was out of town. Then they found out they had been breaking the law all along, and could face stiff fines. Like many other states, Colorado required anyone who cared for a pet to have a license and pay fees. But the law made no distinction between a large commercial kennel, and a neighbor or family member. One of these neighbors looked through the Lens of Liberty, and realized her private dealings with friends were none of the government’s business. She took up the cause and convinced the State to change the law, so that helping your neighbor take care of their dog is no longer a crime. Good job

Watching The Dog

A Wisconsin hardware store owner could no longer stay in business, so he sold his building, liquidated his inventory, and closed up shop. Then he got a $510 fine for not having a permit to go out of business! Regulations, fees, and permits make it difficult enough to stay in business. But in Milwaukee, Boston, Albany, and hundreds of other cities, you also need a permit to close your business. They require an itemized inventory of all equipment and supplies, every day the business is selling anything, along with a percentage of the revenue as a fee. A look through the Lens of Liberty reveals no legitimate reason for what one writer calls the “sayonara tax.” Businesses fail for various reasons, but do they really need government to drive the lastnail in the coffin?

The Sayonara Tax

In Aspen, Colorado, the city provides office space to the county, but only on the strict condition that microwaving fish sticks must be strictly prohibited. After considerable debate and a public hearing, the county commissioners agreed that fish sticks should never be microwaved. So their intergovernmental office space agreement not only specifies office hours and building codes – but also bans fish sticks! The smell of certain foods in the breakroom is a common complaint of office workers everywhere. But most people look through the Lens of Liberty before trying to make their personal tastes a matter of law. Do we really need contracts to dictate what workers can and cannot eat? Surely elected city and county officials have more important business to worry about than what’s for lunch.

Mrs. Paul Not Welcome Here

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