Don't take my lemonade stand, and other tales of bureaucracy run amok

Janie Johnson of Douglas County has a book called “Don’t Take My Lemonade Stand.” It teaches children the principles of liberty and free enterprise using simple everyday examples that only a liberal could not comprehend. She shows up at conservative conferences to give motivational speeches and sell a few books.

Cartoon from Johnson's book

I was reminded of Ms. Johnson and her book by a recent column by the ever-irascible John Stossel. Inspired by one of the several news stories of children having their lemonade stands and Girl Scout cookie stands shut down by authorities, he recites the litany of bureaucratic hurdles one must leap to set up a simple lemonade stand in New York City. Here is but a brief sample:

“– Register as sole proprietor with the County Clerk’s Office (must be done in person)

“– Apply to the IRS for an Employer Identification Number.

“– Complete 15-hr Food Protection Course!

“– After the course, register for an exam that takes 1 hour. You must score 70 percent to pass. (Sample question: “What toxins are associated with the puffer fish?”) If you pass, allow three to five weeks for delivery of Food Protection Certificate.

“– Register for sales tax Certificate of Authority

“– Apply for a Temporary Food Service Establishment Permit. Must bring copies of the previous documents and completed forms to the Consumer Affairs Licensing Center.”

He doesn’t bother to list the cost of all the necessary fees or how much shoe leather and pants seat and tire tread is scuffed off in the interminable process of going from office to office and waiting and waiting and waiting, while the functionaries meander, drink coffee and ignore you.

I once followed a First Friday merchant on his monthly appointed rounds to get all the permits and pay all the fees associated with setting up a bar on his own property once a month in the Arts District. It was harrowing. It was expensive.

I’m told he recently wanted to set up a fire pit for cooking, but was told by the Health Department he first needed a permit from the Fire Department, which told him he first needed to obtain a permit from the Health Department.

And don’t even get me started on that Moapa farm-to-table event at which the health inspectors destroyed food because the event organizers failed to go hat in hand and on bended kneed to get permission to invite paying guests to eat their fresh food, which, gasp, everyone knew had not been given a stamp of approval by some far away inspector.

I once looked up what it would cost to set up a home-based business in Clark County. The fees alone ran more than $450.

In a land in which the default setting is supposed to be freedom, why does everything require a permit in advance and countless fees? We need to prune a few branches of government and feed the roots of the Tree of Liberty.