maddogs hideaway

The government wants to control what TV you watch, what light bulbs you have in your house, how big a soda you can buy, and apparently, you can’t even feed poor kids in this country without having some useless government official sticking his nose into it.

Angela Prattis has spent part of the summer distributing meals to hungry children in Pennsylvania, but now, the township has informed her that if she does not obtain a costly “ordinance,” she will be fined $600 each day she distributes food.

(Related: MI Teen Starts Hot Dog Stand to Help Disabled Parents, Shut Down by City Almost Immediately)

 

The Daily Times has more:

“I’m not stopping,” said Angela Prattis, who has been distributing meals she receives from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to about 60 children from a gazebo on her property this summer. “These kids are hungry. I’m not tearing down the community. I’m keeping the children out of harm’s way.”

Prattis, who has lived in the township for about three years, started distributing meals and drinks to underprivileged children at her church, the Church of the Overcomer in Trainer, several years ago. This year, after giving birth to her second child, she began distributing the meals from the gazebo in her yard.

Township Council Chairman Stanley Kester said the township was notified of the distribution via a telephone call from another resident a few weeks ago. He asked the township solicitor, Stephen Polaha, to investigate the matter, and in a response to council two weeks ago, Polaha returned an opinion stating that, in terms of the township’s zoning laws, the distribution “was not permitted without a variance.”

That variance costs about $1,000, according to NBC10.

This works about the same way as a mob shakedown.

“You sure do seem to be doing some good work for those kids. It sure would be a shame if you couldn’t do that anymore. Pay us $1000 in protection money and we’ll make sure you don’t have any problems.”

Too harsh? Well, here’s a question: What does she get for her $1000? Nothing. What do those kids get for the $1000? Nothing. What is the government doing in exchange for the $1000? Nothing. What’s wrong with asking the most basic of questions that every consumer considers before he buys something: What am I getting for my money? Why doesn’t anyone in the government ever seem to feel compelled to answer that question?