Special laws for special people
Lawmakers are scrambling to save the summer concert season from federal agents poised to seize the instruments of rock and country stars because the wood used to make them may have been illegally harvested–and without their knowledge.
“I don’t want the musicians from Nashville who are flying to Canada to perform this summer to worry about the government seizing their guitars,” said Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander.
Alexander, whose state is home to famed Gibson Guitars used by bands and stars like Van Halen, the Allman Brothers, Sheryl Crow, Ted Nugent and Paul McCartney, said Friday that he and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden are working to protect the artists, their instruments and makers and eventually change the law governing illegal wood harvesting.
Everyone else who have such a guitar, too bad.
May 21st, 2012 at 10:18 am
Gee, you’d think that some Senatorial Lifer RINO like Alexander would have done some research into the piece of Legislation HE wrote to appease the Treehuggers before HE allowed it to go to the Floor. Now that the POS law HE created is affecting his Constituents and their Campaign Dollars, HE starts Tap Dancing.
I guess Nancy was correct. Maybe we do have to “Pass it to find out what’s in it.”
Wait a minute. How about this? Maybe read the Rough Draft his Staffers fed him to sign in the First Place?
May 21st, 2012 at 10:36 am
They can pry my midnight black “J” series from my cold dead hand… he he
May 21st, 2012 at 11:05 am
Constitutional Amendment Proposal:
All legislation, including proposed amendments, must be read aloud by the sponsor, with no breaks or delegation, prior to any vote. Anything not included at that time shall not be valid law.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:21 am
Strange how Martin Guitars (run by a Democrat Party supporter) wasn’t raided and shut down, but Gibson was.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:41 am
It’s not like I can lock all my guitars in a safe deposit box either, they are big suckers when placed in cases. I might have Martins, Taylors, Gibsons and many others. The ones with the ebony fret boards could be illegal, I have no idea. The government continues to show how it can over reach and regulate things 99% of the people don’t know or care about!
May 21st, 2012 at 1:51 pm
And moron boy doesn’t want to revoke his stupid law, he wants to “fix” it. Because it has worked so well, I guess.
May 21st, 2012 at 4:07 pm
Leave us not forget that the laws of the “protected” nation – not America – said that it was and is perfectly legal to export the allegedly law-breaking wood. It should be obvious that our so-called law was written and passed as protectionism, but not against those foreign devils, no indeed! Rather, to protect a favored campaign contributor(s) from the dastardly efficiences and market-changing behaviors of other American companies. Tell me again why anyone in Congress deserves respect without earning it?
May 21st, 2012 at 4:58 pm
I’m glad Senator Alexander wants to protect guitars from being seized, but he voted for the NDAA (and Obama signed it) which UNLAWFULLY allows U.S. citizens who are SUSPECTE of “terrorism” to be seized by the military and held indefintiely without warrant or legal recourse.
Thanks a lot, Lamar…and all the others who sold us out.
May 21st, 2012 at 9:35 pm
Better not have any Eagle feathers to!
Lock you right up for some wood and bird feathers they will.
May 21st, 2012 at 11:01 pm
The Indian government is bitching all the time about stuff like this. The only reason they put these trees on endangered lists is to try to force companies that want the wood to hire local handcrafters to do the work under the CITES exemptions, and thus give them an endless source of baksheesh.
Their big complaint was that the “handcrafters” were making big “art” pieces to sell to folks like Gibson, who fully intended to cut them up into expensive lumber the second they got their hands on them.
The Indian government wants to force Gibson to make guitars in India, using craftsmen with un-powered tools.
Obama went along because Gibson failed to contribute to his campaign.
May 22nd, 2012 at 12:51 am
Someone went and asked the Indian government and they don’t care. It’s the wackjobs in the USG who are choosing to interpret Indian law. Same way they threw a lady in jail for 2 years over their interpretation of a Honduran law that said lobster tails had to be in cardboard boxes instead of plastic bags. A law that was no longer valid at the time of the alleged violation.
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/alobsterstail.htm