We see this a lot in Minnesota, where liberals happily plaster their Prius bumper with signs that profess they’re “Happy to Pay for a Better Minnesota,” then move to a state where tax costs are lower. I got that same vibe from this television report on the impact that the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act will have on small businesses up and down the distribution chain, let alone consumers. The reporter interviewed one such small-business owner who cheered greater regulation — right up until it started affecting her pocketbook (via Q&O):

It doesn’t get much more clueless than this, but it does mirror what happens in Congress when these kinds of regulations get proposed.  Politicians stick names on in like “Safety Improvement Act” in order to make a vote against it look like a vote against safety.  No one considers the ramifications of the bill until it goes into effect, and suddenly we’re talking about putting good used clothing in landfills instead of on people, and ensuring that only the biggest toymakers and clothiers can afford the testing necessary to sell their goods.

Of course, we’d get less of that if we had fewer clueless citizens cheering on legislation about which they know next to nothing — until too late.  That’s what is ridiculous.