August 20th: Lemonade Freedom Day

Written By: Wendy McElroy  |  Posted: Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

            August 20 is Lemonade Freedom Day and everyone who can do so is asked to set up a stand; everyone else is urged to imbibe. The reason? Authorities across America are closing down kids' lemonade stands because, in many states and localities, they violate health codes, licensing laws, and other permit requirements. A recent headline in Reason online declared, "Lemonade-Stand Crackdown Continues: Cops Make Girls Cry From Georgia to Wisconsin." (Reason's archive is filled with news stories about similarly closed stands.)

            Small business ventures in America are being regulated into bankruptcy. According to a report from the Heritage Foundation entitled "Red Tape Rising: Obama's Torrent of New Regulation" (Oct. 16, 2010), "[T]otal regulatory costs [to business] amount to about $1.75 trillion annually, nearly twice as much as all individual income taxes collected last year."

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