The Obama Administration Gave Them Lemons, They Made Lemonade

The American Thinker posted a follow-up story today about the government’s 2011 raid on Gibson Guitar Company.

The article reminds us of the details of the raid:

In 2011, the Department of Justice conducted raids on the Tennessee facilities of the famed Gibson Guitar company and confiscated large quantities of tonewood that had been imported from India and Madagascar.  The action included armed SWAT teams, with automatic weapons, who apparently feared being garroted with a guitar string by an enraged Gibson employee.  These raids were conducted due to the Lacey Act, which bans the importing of certain woods.  The issue at hand was not that the wood was endangered or illegally harvested, but that it was not of the proper thickness that would have meant that some labor had been performed on it by workers in India and Madagascar.  This was the law in Madagascar and India as a nod to the unions in those countries.  Gibson, who hand-makes its guitars, cannot guarantee the craftsmanship of its products if a portion of the work is done outside their facilities.

There were a number of problems with the justification for this raid. India and Madagascar, the countries involved, were not interested in pursuing the matter. The guitar manufacturers CF Martin and Company and Fender.use the same kind of wood, and they were not raided.

The article reports:

The principle difference seems to be that those companies contributed to Democratic candidates, while Henry Juszkiewicz, the CEO of Gibson, gives openly to Republicans, and Gibson has plants in a right-to-work state.

This is pretty much old news, but there is a new twist to the story. Gibson had a special use for the wood the government returned to it.

The article concludes:

Gibson took that wood and made it into the Government Series II Les Paul.  These special edition guitars are hot stamped in gold with the Government Series graphic, which is an American bald eagle holding a Gibson guitar neck.  It is an admirable statement of defiance of an abusive government and a refusal of a historic American company to be intimidated.

Score one for the good guys!

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The Right To A Speedy Trial

Today Hot Air posted a story about the ongoing saga of Gibson Guitar Company. As you know Gibson Guitar in Memphis and Nashville was raided in August of last year (see rightwinggranny.com) by the federal government and charged with violating the Lacey Act. During that raid, the government confiscated property worth at least $500,000. The guitar manufacturer had not followed to the letter a small part of India’s laws in importing the wood for its guitars. They had not violated United States laws.

Hot Air reports:

Apparently, Gibson used an inappropriate tariff code on the wood. According to Reason.tv, “At issue is not whether the wood in question was endangered, but whether the wood was the correct level of thickness and finish before being exported from India.” In other words, Gibson’s violation had nothing to do with forest preservation.

So how is the case progressing? The article reports:

Turns out, the DOJ has filed no charges. That means Gibson hasn’t had its day in court to defend itself — and the government still has all that confiscated property.

Thankfully, according to the article, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul has introduced legislation to amend The Lacey Act to remove each and every mention of “foreign law” in the Act and to substitute a civil penalty system with The Lacey Act’s current criminal penalties.

I hope this is resolved quickly–Gibson needs its wood–they make fantastic guitars.

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The Wall Street Journal Comments On Gibson Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Invader

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Kimberly Strassel at the Wall Street Journal (unfortunately, subscribers only) posted an opinion piece on the August raid on Gibson Guitar by federal agents. The charges against the guitar company are rather complicated.

Ms. Strassel reports:

The company, after all, is not accused of importing banned wood (say, Brazilian mahogany). The ebony it bought is legal and documented. The issue is whether Gibson ran afoul of a techinical Indian law governing the export of finished wood products. The U. S. government’s interpretation of Indian law suggests the wood Gibson imported wasn’t finished enough. Got that?

This whole episode was a set-up. The idea was to discourage imports. In 2007, the Lacey Act, which was passed in 1900 to stop trade in illegal wild game, was expanded to cover “plant and plant products” and related items.

The article reports on the impact of this change on one company:

Furniture maker Ikea noted that even if it could comply with the change, the “administrative costs and record-deeping requirements” would cause furniture prices to “skyrocket.” The wood chips that go into its particle-board alone could require tracking back and reporting on more than 100 different tree species.

If you want to see an economy grow, this is not the way to grow it. Tennessee Representatives Marsha Blackburn and Jim Cooper are working to give companies some relief from this insanity. This is, unfortunately, another example of run-away government.

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The Continuing Attack On Gibson Guitars

Gibson guitar SG Standard 1969

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The Nashville Business Journal reported on Wednesday that federal authorities filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee that mirrors a 2010 action that sought official forfeiture of wood obtained in a 2009 raid of Gibson facilities. The latter of those cases has been stayed, pending the outcome of the most recent suit.

The article reports:

As has been the case in previous allegations, at issue is the classification of certain wood imported to the United States from India. Namely, a June shipment of 1,250 sawn logs was classified as “finished parts of musical instruments,” which is allowed under Indian law. In reality, according to the sworn affidavit of Fish and Wildlife Service agent Kevin Seiler, the wood was unfinished – a violation of the Lacey Act.

There are a few interesting facts about this action. First of all, the laws of India were totally complied with–the Obama administration is the problem. Second of all, the question is not the wood–the question is whether or not the wood is unfinished. Think about that a minute. If people in India do the job, it is okay with the government. If people in America do the job, the Obama administration raids their company. I thought the Obama administration was trying to keep jobs in America.

I am sure that it is simply an incredible coincidence that one of Gibson Guitar’s main competitors is a major contributor to Democrat Party coffers.

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Is The Government’s Treatment Of Gibson Guitars Encouraging Employment ?

Gibson guitar SG Standard 1969

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Yesterday the Washington Examiner reported that Representative Fred Upton, R-Mich., Representative Mary Bono Mack, R-Fla., and Representative Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn. have sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services Director Daniel Ashe questioning the two raids on the Gibson Guitar factory by federal agents. The spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment to the Washington Examiner on the raids.

The letter pointed out that although the American government was investigating whether Gibson Guitar imported ‘sawn wood’ from India, the Indian government was satisfied that the requirements to export the wood to America had been met.

The Washington Examiner posted part of the letter:

We are deeply troubled by the suggestion that if Gibson had the skilled work done in India, using the same wood, instead of here in America, then the importation would have been legal and the Department of Justice would not have carried out this heavy-handed enforcement action.  If this is true, it is hard to conclude anything other than the fact that your agencies and this Administration are actively pursuing regulatory and legal policies that discourage job growth in the United States and encourage shipping those very same jobs overseas, through the selective enforcement of laws enacted over one hundred years ago.  This is unwise in the extreme.

The idea that the Obama administration suggested that Gibson should send work overseas at a time when the Obama administration is condemning corporations for sending work overseas is amazing. If the goal of the Obama administration actually is to create jobs, this is not the way to do it.

 

 

 

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Government Thuggery At Gibson Guitar

guitar Gibson Les Paul Classic

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On August 26, I reported on the Wall Street Journal report on the federal raid on the Gibson Guitar factory (rightwinggranny.com). Yesterday the Wall Street Journal updated the story.

The article reports:

Federal agents first raided Gibson factories in November 2009 and were back again Aug. 24, seizing guitars, wood and electronic records. Gene Nix, a wood product engineer at Gibson, was questioned by agents after the first raid and told he could face five years in jail.

“Can you imagine a federal agent saying, ‘You’re going to jail for five years’ and what you do is sort wood in the factory?” said Mr. Juszkiewicz, (Henry Juszkiewicz, chief executive officer of Gibson Guitars) recounting the incident. “I think that’s way over the top.” Gibson employees, he said, are being “treated like drug criminals.”

Michelle Malkin added a few new facts to this story yesterday on her blog. She points out two very interesting aspects of the story:

1)Andrew Lawton and Landmark Report note that Juszkiewicz has donated to GOP candidates, while one of his leading competitors “is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of election cycles.”

2) Stacy McCain has the transcript and Ben Howe at RedState also spotlights Juszkiewicz’s recent KMJ interview in which the CEO revealed that the feds asserted in a court pleading that Gibson would be better off shipping their manufacturing labor overseas to Madagascar… 

Aside from the thuggery, what impact does this kind of behavior on the part of the government have on unemployment in this country?

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Things That Happen In Washington That Seem Unimportant At The Time

Spanish guitar (C.F.Martin)

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The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) website reports the following about the Lacey Act:

The Lacey Act combats trafficking in “illegal” wildlife, fish, and plants. The 2008 Farm Bill (the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008), effective May 22, 2008, amended the Lacey Act by expanding its protection to a broader range of plants and plant products. The Lacey Act now, among other things, makes it unlawful, beginning December 15, 2008, to import certain plants and plant products without an import declaration. This page will serve as a clearinghouse for all information related to the implementation of the Lacey Act declaration requirement and will be updated promptly as new information becomes available.

That sounds pretty harmless; however, it is not.

Today’s Wall Street Journal reports on some rather unexpected consequences of that amendment process.

The article reports:

Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson’s chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company’s manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. “The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier,” he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.

Good grief. The long arm of the law has gotten totally out of control. The article further reports:

If you are the lucky owner of a 1920s Martin guitar, it may well be made, in part, of Brazilian rosewood. Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agent—not to mention face fines and prosecution.

At a time when the unemployment rate hovers around 9 percent, the federal government is hassling a guitar manufacturer and musicians with classic instruments. What a total waste of time.

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