Forget it, kid!

I hate lemonade and never stop at sidewalk lemonade stands, no matter how cute the kids are, although plenty of people, far more generous than I am, do. I should make clear that I admire their budding entrepreneur spirit and, if they're selling cookies, I'm in. If you like that sort of thing, buying home-baked cookies or lemonade from kids on the street, get this.

Last week a couple of 13-year-old boys, Andrew and Kevin, met with great success, to the tune of $120, selling home-made sweets in a New Castle, New York park. Deciding to build on their initial gain, they expanded their menu to include Gatorade and water for the second day of business. Unfortunately, a man named Michael Wolfensohn happened to pass by....

He quickly pulled out his cell phone and called the cops to report the reprobates for operating their cookie stand without a license. The police soon arrived and shut down the dangerous baked goods operation. "All vendors selling on town property have to have a license, whether it's boys selling baked goods or a hot dog vendor," Wolfensohn said proudly afterward...  

Thank you, Mr. Wolfensohn, for teaching those boys a lesson! The next time Andrew and Kevin decide to sell frigging anything in the park, they will take out the necessary permit that requires a $1,000,000 certificate of insurance and, way better for the town coffers, pay the fee of $150 for every two hours they are in business.

It won't be long before only virtual reality kids will be able to sell lemonade.

Here's the whole article, written with a well-deserved splash of sarcasm.

But, and that's a big but, lemonade stands aren't the only small businesses that have to pay a lot of money to various levels of government before they can even earn their first $1 ~ for no particular reason other than to enrich and grow the government.

Businesses are often successful because they are providing a very narrowly defined product or service. Intricate African-style braiding is one of those services. Braiding salons began to popping up in inner city neighborhoods a few years ago and now, of course, they have attracted the attention of government regulators and special interests, in this case, the cosmetic art profession. 

It's difficult to see why braiders will be required to pay God knows how much money, and take 300 hours of classes, to obtain a license except for the profit of licensing agency and the protection of the established cosmetic lobby.

The Cato Institute makes an interesting point about what Chris Edwards calls political entrepreneurship, those in business who both grow and protect their companies with government money and not-to-be-admired relationships.

Edwards calls them Tools of the State.

John Stossel, as usual, nails it.