The citizens of Coralville, Iowa, are safe tonight from the scourge of unlicensed lemonade. The nationwide “War on Lemonade” never ends.
On the right is 4-year-old Abigail Krutsinger, who had the audacity to set up a table selling her own lemonade for 25 cents a cup. She was caught red-handed with the merchandise and various lemonade paraphenalia. The police officer who came to shut Abigail down told her that a permit would cost $400 — far more than the $4 she had made.
I’ve covered this very recently, so I’m not going to belabor the point. Government agencies extort money from people who want to engage in voluntary transactions with other. It’s no different from the Mob demanding protection money.