After suffering under the crippling burden of mass looting for far too long, America’s business owners, the usual victims of riots, have finally had enough and are standing up to the inept (or dastardly) government officials that are not only letting riots and looting happen, but sometimes even egging such anti-social, anti-private property activity on.
In fact, the problem has gotten so bad that even Big Business, which is typically liberal, is stepping up and complaining about the flash mob looting problem.
In a letter sent to Congressional leadership, the CEOs of 20 major companies, including CVS, Walgreens, and Nordstrom, complained about the situation retailers are facing today and urged lawmakers to pass legislation that would make it much harder for the flash mob looters to sell the goods they steal.
One significantly important, and urgently worded, paragraph argues:
“Retailers have made significant investments to combat organized retail crime, but as they note in today’s letter, criminals will continue these brazen thefts as long as they are able to anonymously sell their stolen goods via online marketplaces. Fortunately, there is a growing consensus among business leaders, law enforcement, and a bipartisan group of policymakers that INFORM Consumers Act is an important and appropriate step to stemming the tide. Deterring these crimes starts with making it harder for thieves to sell stolen goods online. We urge Congress to seize this opportunity to help protect communities, families, and consumers.”
Two more, describing the solution (the INFORM Consumers Act), have this to say about how to combat the rampant issue in an effective way:
There is no simple answer to stopping organized retail crime or the sale of counterfeits—but key to stemming the tide of these growing problems is transparency. If a customer buys a product from a local retail storefront or ecommerce site and it is broken or otherwise defective, the consumer knows exactly who to contact. There is accountability. In the current environment, criminal networks and unscrupulous businesses have exploited a system that protects their anonymity to sell unsafe, stolen, or counterfeit products with little legal recourse. This lack of transparency on particular third-party marketplaces has allowed criminal activity to fester.
The INFORM Consumers Act is a simple, bipartisan measure that will increase transparency online for all marketplaces, making it easier for consumers to identify exactly who they are buying from, and make it harder for criminal elements to hide behind fake screen names and false business information to fence illicit products while evading law enforcement. The legislation has unified retailers, consumer groups, manufacturers, law enforcement, and all those serious about stopping the sale of counterfeit and stolen goods sold online.
The letter was sent on the behalf of the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which, its website states, includes “more than 200 retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers, which together account for more than $1.5 trillion in annual sales, millions of American jobs, and more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities, and distribution centers domestically and abroad.”
Congress, full of BLM sympathizers on the left, is unlikely to take action on such a bill, as that would mean taking a firm stand against crime, something the police-hating left seems unwilling to do.
Still, this letter should serve as a wake-up call. The CEOs and companies listed aren’t conservative, nor are they reactionary. If anything, they’re to the left. Yet still, they’re arguing it’s time to crack down on crime and criminals, something that would have hardly been believable even a few short months ago. That’s probably because, as ZeroHedge reports:
The retail industry has been decimated by the wave of smash and grabs in liberal cities where progressives have downgraded retail theft from a felony to a misdemeanor. Retailers, such as electronic store Best Buy saw its margins slide in its latest quarterly report to do thefts.
Major retail chains across the country are on alert this holiday season for criminal gangs. Some stores have even redesigned their front entrances to prevent robberies.
At this point, many law-abiding Americans are suffering thanks to criminals thanks to soft on crime policies. Perhaps this letter will be the canary in the coal mine and wake Congress up to the crime problem.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
This story syndicated with permission from Will – Trending Politics