Full transcript here, but this line bothers me:

But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.

This just doesn’t make any sense. Would you buy a car without test driving it? Would you buy a TV without looking at the picture? Pick out a computer without looking at its specs? The answer is (or should be) no, and it’s asinine to think it’s a good idea to do that with a major piece of legislation.

Blind purchases, or buying without investigating the item, are just bad. If you don’t price compare something, you’ll probably pay too much. If you don’t read reviews, you might bypass the better quality model for a cheaper, shoddy one. If you don’t flip through a book before buying it, you might find out it wasn’t worth your money.

Regardless of where you stand on this issue, isn’t it a good idea for your elected officials to know what’s in the bill and share that with us before they put something into law that will effect every person in the US? That’s the type of thing that gets on my nerves, and should annoy you as well.

Lately on Consumerst there’s been a rash of posts by people who felt they were abused because they didn’t want to show their receipt when leaving Walmart or another store that checks. I cannot understand what the big deal is about.

The people who defend shielding their receipt from prying employee eyes say it’s a matter of privacy, civil rights, and whatever else. Walmart is no government-run store. It’s a private business who wants to appear like they’re doing some loss prevention. The position gives a few people at each store a job. I can’t understand the argument about the “evil receipt checkers”.

Is getting your receipt checked sometimes annoying? Yes. Sometimes there’s a line (perhaps started by someone who didn’t want to show their receipt). They rarely count everything you have; most of the time they look at the list, glance at the cart, mark it and send you on your merry way. It’s a pretty non-invasive process.

Are there problems with receipt checking? Of course. At a Walmart in a town nearby, I’m pretty sure they racially profile who they check the receipts for. I am white and I have never had them ask for a receipt, but I have seen someone double and triple checking receipts for minority customers almost every single time. When that happens, I do feel bad, because that is unfair and they need to check everyone’s receipts if that is happening. However, I’ve been in Walmarts in a dozen states, and it’s just that one store where I’ve seen something like that.

Do you have a problem showing your receipt when you leave a store? Have you ever been accosted by the receipt checker?