You gotta give them credit for being practical: The state of
California is selling items that were confiscated by airport
security on EBay. CaliforniaGold2000 is the state’s EBay handle,
and since the program’s inception in November 2002, it has earned
more than $16,000 selling more than 5,000 pounds of objects from
the Sacramento and Oakland airports alone. ?Among the oddest items
confiscated and sold,? writes Suzanne Herel in the San
Francisco Chronicle, ?were at least three circular saws,
hatchets, curtain rods and a little girl’s baton.? The money is
divvied up between the state and federal governments. The
Transportation Security Administration lets airports decide whether
or not to participate in the program, and some are still choosing
to recycle their items. But with most states wrestling with serious
budget crises, California’s new way to pick up some extra cash may
catch on in the rest of the country.
?Anne Geske
Go there>>
Bureaucrats Get EBay Fever
