Yesterday, the Federal Government shut down Gibson Guitars. Not because they were breaking US Laws, but because:
The Federal Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. has suggested that the use of wood from India that is not finished by Indian workers is illegal, not because of U.S. law, but because it is the Justice Department’s interpretation of a law in India. (If the same wood from the same tree was finished by Indian workers, the material would be legal.) This action was taken without the support and consent of the government in India.”
GIbson has hired 580 American workers in the last few years and is a successful exporter. Their CEO is on the Board of the Rainforest Alliance.
And yet the Federal Government is spending millions of dollars on this issue. The flew agents in from New Orleans, Albuquerque, Washington DC…
According to Gibson, those guitar making scofflaws,
Gibson has a long history of supporting sustainable and responsible sources of wood and has worked diligently with entities such as the Rainforest Alliance and Greenpeace to secure FSC-certified supplies. The wood seized on August 24 satisfied FSC standards.
According to the CEO’s comments:
… [The Justice Department] has not told us what was specifically illegal…
But, they can come in like armed thugs and take your stuff. What the heck is that!
You can see a 29 minute interview here (Gibson Guitar Corp. Responds to Federal Raid.
The press release is here.
Why invest in your business when the Feds are on a power trip to shut you down? This is just another example, but local banks are experiencing this as are businesses like mine who are trying to provide services to companies like this.
You want jobs? Call off the regulators, unwind Dodd-Frank, unwind Obamacare, quit with the multi-million dollar giveaways to global corporations…
This story is just too sad to believe.
It is even worse. If you’re a private citizen and you own an old vintage instrument, the government can confiscate your instrument and fine you if you can’t prove that all of the wood and materials were imported and obtained legally.
This is virtually an impossible thing for anybody with an old instrument, like a guitar or violin, to do.
See “Torture is Okay, but Owning a Vintage Martin Guitar May be a Crime” at
http://www.outsidethemachine.com/?p=1567