Overregulated Close to Home

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Maddy
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Overregulated Close to Home

Post by Maddy » Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:45 pm

Over on the Hate thread, Medium Tex wrote:

This may sound heretical, but apart from Obamacare, we could have done a lot worse over the last eight years than we have done with Obama (though I think the Republicans deserve credit as well for keeping Obama on a short leash).

To which I responded:

Wow, MT, you must not get the Federal Register.

And MT replied:

How have any of those regulations adversely affected you personally?

We were getting pretty far afield of the Hate theme, but I wanted to respond to this because, ironically, what most distinguishes this administration from the other regulation-happy ones before it, at least in my mind, is that for the first time in my life, I'm feeling personally affronted on a daily basis by the never-ending series of new rules. So I thought for a minute about exactly how the new federal regulations have affected me personally in just the last 24 hours. The following is what I was able to come up with right off the top of my head:

1. A couple of hours ago, I went on-line to buy some lime sulfur to use around the farm. Lime sulfur is a wonderfully effective, and virtually harmless, fungicide that has been used by organic orchardists and gardeners for decades. I couldn't find it anywhere. After several hours of searching high and low, I find that it has been outlawed. Why? Because a few idiots bent on killing themselves discovered that you can commit suicide by mixing it with hydrochloric acid. I kid you not. If you don't believe me, look it up.

2. Earlier this morning, I made a very long trip to the one gas pump I know of in this county that has ethanol-free gas. There were five people in line for the same (ethanol-free) pump. As anyone who repairs small engines will attest, ethanol-laden gasoline destroys small engines in short order. Since I need mine to last, I'm stuck making this pilgrimage every other week. Today there was a new sign on the pump. Where it previously read "Ethanol-free," it now reads "Ethanol-free while available."

3. My shower this morning was wimpy, as it always is. Being on a rural well system with a gravity-feed component, I have very low water pressure. But per federal regulation, all showerheads sold in the United States must adhere to certain low-flow requirements which are designed to function properly only with "normal" (i.e, municipal system) water pressure. So I've got a shower that functions pretty much like a douche bag.

4. It took two flushes to empty the toilet, as usual.

5. Last night, I was looking at the want ads for a used car. Everything was way more expensive than it used to be. I think the reason is pretty obvious: The prices of used cars have simply followed the upward rise of new car prices, which in turn have risen dramatically as the result of. . . you guessed it. . . all the regulations.

6. I've been looking for some basic appliances (refrigerator, washer) that don't have computer chips (which tend to get fried when you have frequent power interruptions) and that can be operated manually in the simplest way possible. Good luck with that! I literally hauled my last energy-compliant washing machine away because it was so freaking frustrating. I couldn't control the water level, couldn't fill it before adding clothes (important when you're dealing with hard water and have to dissolve additives), couldn't stop it on demand, etc.

7. I worked on the accounting for my little farm business and considered what it might involve to take on a part-time employee. After reviewing all of the regulations, including those pertaining specifically to farms, I gave up in disgust.

That's just the last 24 hours, and I could probably come up with many more examples if I gave it some thought.
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by MachineGhost » Wed Aug 24, 2016 5:47 pm

Maddy wrote:3. My shower this morning was wimpy, as it always is. Being on a rural well system with a gravity-feed component, I have very low water pressure. But per federal regulation, all showerheads sold in the United States must adhere to certain low-flow requirements which are designed to function properly only with "normal" (i.e, municipal system) water pressure. So I've got a shower that functions pretty much like a douche bag.
You need to use a shower head that concentrates the pressure, something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Whedon-SS1C-Orig ... 000BQPBQG/
4. It took two flushes to empty the toilet, as usual.
You could try lengthening the chain to the flapper so more water volume comes out per flush.
5. Last night, I was looking at the want ads for a used car. Everything was way more expensive than it used to be. I think the reason is pretty obvious: The prices of used cars have simply followed the upward rise of new car prices, which in turn have risen dramatically as the result of. . . you guessed it. . . all the regulations.
I've noticed that too. What was $500 for a used car back in the early 90's when oil prices were down around $10 a barrel is but a pipe dream nowadays. It doesn't make any sense with the oversupply of used cars either. The average age of a car on the road is about 11-12 years now!
6. I've been looking for some basic appliances (refrigerator, washer) that don't have computer chips (which tend to get fried when you have frequent power interruptions) and that can be operated manually in the simplest way possible. Good luck with that! I literally hauled my last energy-compliant washing machine away because it was so freaking frustrating. I couldn't control the water level, couldn't fill it before adding clothes (important when you're dealing with hard water and have to dissolve additives), couldn't stop it on demand, etc.
Best Buy sells no frills, basic appliances still. They're low-end from tertiary Chinese manufacturers. Just be sure you buy a warranty on whatever from SquareTrade. I gave the basic $200 no frills 6.9cf freezer from Igloo a 30-day trial run to make sure there were no problems but after filling it up, a few weeks later noticed there was a outside leak at the top, so got a refund from SquareTrade and still have the freezer. I guess some day the leak may get critical and need to be replaced.
7. I worked on the accounting for my little farm business and considered what it might involve to take on a part-time employee. After reviewing all of the regulations, including those pertaining specifically to farms, I gave up in disgust.
You could outsource it nowadays to cloud firms. Let them deal with the headaches. Example: https://www.waveapps.com/ or https://gusto.com/
"All generous minds have a horror of what are commonly called 'Facts'. They are the brute beasts of the intellectual domain." -- Thomas Hobbes

Disclaimer: I am not a broker, dealer, investment advisor, physician, theologian or prophet.  I should not be considered as legally permitted to render such advice!
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by WiseOne » Wed Aug 24, 2016 6:21 pm

Maddy, what a great post. If you could expand on that it might make a nice little book which you could self-publish on Amazon.

A few suggestions to add to MG's:

3. Take the shower head off and pull it apart. You'll find a small plastic insert that reduces the water flow. Remove this insert and throw it away. I've done this on every shower head I've bought since that stupid regulation took effect.

6. Put any appliance that doesn't like power surges on a surge protector. Power surges are common in NYC, so I have virtually everything more complicated than a light bulb plugged into one of these.

7. Hire someone under the table and pay cash.

I could write a followup about the number of times my life has been affected by regulations in the last 24 hours, but it would be several pages long and way too painful to write. Here's just one example:

I have a research project that could be done by a student with the right skills. Students sometimes are willing to work for free, but for a sufficiently long duration project in NYC that gets to be a bit much to ask. However, the hospital union decided to consider summer students as direct competition for their overpaid, underproducing workers.

So at a Leading Research Institution with a World-Class Medical School, I CAN'T HIRE A SUMMER STUDENT. Makes perfect sense, right?
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by MediumTex » Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:24 pm

Maddy wrote:Over on the Hate thread, Medium Tex wrote:

This may sound heretical, but apart from Obamacare, we could have done a lot worse over the last eight years than we have done with Obama (though I think the Republicans deserve credit as well for keeping Obama on a short leash).

To which I responded:

Wow, MT, you must not get the Federal Register.

And MT replied:

How have any of those regulations adversely affected you personally?

We were getting pretty far afield of the Hate theme, but I wanted to respond to this because, ironically, what most distinguishes this administration from the other regulation-happy ones before it, at least in my mind, is that for the first time in my life, I'm feeling personally affronted on a daily basis by the never-ending series of new rules. So I thought for a minute about exactly how the new federal regulations have affected me personally in just the last 24 hours. The following is what I was able to come up with right off the top of my head:

1. A couple of hours ago, I went on-line to buy some lime sulfur to use around the farm. Lime sulfur is a wonderfully effective, and virtually harmless, fungicide that has been used by organic orchardists and gardeners for decades. I couldn't find it anywhere. After several hours of searching high and low, I find that it has been outlawed. Why? Because a few idiots bent on killing themselves discovered that you can commit suicide by mixing it with hydrochloric acid. I kid you not. If you don't believe me, look it up.

2. Earlier this morning, I made a very long trip to the one gas pump I know of in this county that has ethanol-free gas. There were five people in line for the same (ethanol-free) pump. As anyone who repairs small engines will attest, ethanol-laden gasoline destroys small engines in short order. Since I need mine to last, I'm stuck making this pilgrimage every other week. Today there was a new sign on the pump. Where it previously read "Ethanol-free," it now reads "Ethanol-free while available."

3. My shower this morning was wimpy, as it always is. Being on a rural well system with a gravity-feed component, I have very low water pressure. But per federal regulation, all showerheads sold in the United States must adhere to certain low-flow requirements which are designed to function properly only with "normal" (i.e, municipal system) water pressure. So I've got a shower that functions pretty much like a douche bag.

4. It took two flushes to empty the toilet, as usual.

5. Last night, I was looking at the want ads for a used car. Everything was way more expensive than it used to be. I think the reason is pretty obvious: The prices of used cars have simply followed the upward rise of new car prices, which in turn have risen dramatically as the result of. . . you guessed it. . . all the regulations.

6. I've been looking for some basic appliances (refrigerator, washer) that don't have computer chips (which tend to get fried when you have frequent power interruptions) and that can be operated manually in the simplest way possible. Good luck with that! I literally hauled my last energy-compliant washing machine away because it was so freaking frustrating. I couldn't control the water level, couldn't fill it before adding clothes (important when you're dealing with hard water and have to dissolve additives), couldn't stop it on demand, etc.

7. I worked on the accounting for my little farm business and considered what it might involve to take on a part-time employee. After reviewing all of the regulations, including those pertaining specifically to farms, I gave up in disgust.

That's just the last 24 hours, and I could probably come up with many more examples if I gave it some thought.
Legitimate points, though people in other parts of the world might marvel at such luxurious worries.

If I could choose between Obama's regulations and fewer regulations, I would probably choose fewer regulations. If, however, all I needed to do to work around the political stupidity du jour is make a five minute adjustment to my toilet and plug in a power strip, I'm just going to do those things and move on.

Politicians will ALWAYS be chipping away at your freedom and flexibility. It's what they do. If, however, you regard them in the same way as you regard mosquitoes, assholes, and bad weather, you will quickly build up a set of effective defenses against them that will allow you to focus on the things that matter to you without becoming too distracted. It's important to remember, though, that the proper response to mosquitoes is not to annihilate the species, but rather to simply make the mosquitoes seek more appealing targets than you, which is a vastly easier task.

Complaining about things you can't control has a cost as well. Thankfully, staying ahead of the schemes of bureaucrats and politicians in this country isn't really that hard. Rather than watering the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants, I would rather replace the tree of liberty with a cactus that can take care of itself, allowing me to think about other things.

But then again, if I had the choice between being a lion and a skunk, I would probably be a skunk. Nobody fucks with a skunk, but lions get killed all the time.
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by Maddy » Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:44 pm

All very good suggestions, and reminiscent of the counsel of Harry Browne, whose motto was "If you can't vanquish the idiots standing in your way, sidestep them."

It's the "It's for your own good" regulations that really drive me nuts. At this moment, I'm looking at a window that spontaneously exploded a couple of days ago (who would have thought a window could do that). It's made of tempered glass, which, it turns out, has a nasty habit of doing exactly that when the inside/outside heat differential and/or barometric pressure are just right. So the obvious solution is to replace the window with regular glass, right? Not so fast! The repair guy tells me that there's a regulation that requires him to replace the window with tempered glass when the window is within x number of feet of a bathtub. Never mind that a window exploding next to the bathtub could cause some serious discomfort to a naked body, or a lifetime of PTSD, for that matter. When I heard that, I was tempted to drag the damned bathtub out of the house, but I'm not sure that's what Harry had in mind.

Another one that makes me crazy are the notices that you get (at least one every couple of weeks) from your bank, your insurance company, your credit card company, your utility companies, etc., the purpose of which is to disclose something to you. The disclosure is always buried in three pages of legalese, so it ought to be obvious that nobody reads, much less understands, it, but the feds like pretending that you're being helped. The one I really love is the Notice of Privacy Policy which details all of the ways that somebody plans to profit from your personal information. Or the inch-thick stack of disclosures you get when you buy a house or take out a mortgage loan. Do they seriously think people read this stuff? You can't find the fricking interest rate because they're busy telling you not to eat lead paint!
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by MediumTex » Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:08 pm

Maddy wrote:Another one that makes me crazy are the notices that you get (at least one every couple of weeks) from your bank, your insurance company, your credit card company, your utility companies, etc., the purpose of which is to disclose something to you. The disclosure is always buried in three pages of legalese, so it ought to be obvious that nobody reads, much less understands, it, but the feds like pretending that you're being helped. The one I really love is the Notice of Privacy Policy which details all of the ways that somebody plans to profit from your personal information. Or the inch-thick stack of disclosures you get when you buy a house or take out a mortgage loan. Do they seriously think people read this stuff? You can't find the fricking interest rate because they're busy telling you not to eat lead paint!
As you may know, I am basically a tax lawyer, so I spend lots of time around regulations issued by the Treasury Department.

I always get a chuckle when I read the lengthy "Paperwork Reduction Act Notice" that is at the beginning of every set of Treasury Regulations. I would love to know how much paper has been wasted printing "Paperwork Reduction Act Notices" that NO ONE ever reads.

The Orwellian flavor to the names of many big pieces of federal legislation is endlessly entertaining.

The PATRIOT Act hollowed out the bundle of rights that our patriotic founding fathers fought so hard to create for us.

The HEART Act makes sure that when employees are basically kidnapped by the government for extended periods of reserve duty and killed or maimed in pointless wars, their private sector employers will bear some of the cost of the death or injury.

The Affordable Care Act, of course, was the piece of legislation that set in motion enormous increases in the cost of health coverage as the government foolishly imagined that a bunch of previously uninsured sick people could get coverage without the cost to everyone else going up.

...and so on.
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by WiseOne » Thu Aug 25, 2016 7:21 am

I think the point of Maddy's post, and my response, was not just for the purpose of complaining, but to point out the many ways that regulation adds drag to our everyday activities and reduces our productivity. Having to plant that cactus, remove the low-flow device from shower heads, and wade through useless paperwork has that effect, and mostly we don't even realize it. We tend to think of "regulations" as applying to big business and not us.

Also it was kind of fun to read :-)
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by Mountaineer » Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:27 am

Image

Is that MT and a cactus? :o

... Mountaineer
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by Maddy » Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:45 am

Here's a timely one that threatens to hit close to home: Seems that the lawmakers in Louisiana are working on legislation that, in the future, would prevent citizen rescuers from coming to the aid of victims of natural disasters:
The Good Samaritans who rescued hundreds, maybe thousands of people during the Great Flood of 2016 are not happy after a state lawmaker announced that he wants government regulations on future actions by the citizen heroes.

Some of those Good Samaritans, a loosely-organized group called the 'Cajun Navy,' are being interviewed by media around the country, but that attention is nowhere near the pushback lawmakers are discussing when it comes to possibly breaking the law in the future if they save lives again.

It didn't matter if it was during the day or night. People with boats took it upon themselves to save strangers, hundreds upon hundreds of them, even when their own property was flooding.

The Facebook community dubbed them the "Cajun Navy."

"For the most part, these people are not going to wait for assistance. They're doers," said Cajun Navy member Dustin Clouatre of St. Amant.

He got in his pleasure skiff and with others, cleared out entire neighborhoods under water.

. . .

Republican State Sen. Jonathan Perry of Vermillion Parish, is working on legislation that could require training, certificates and a permit fee to allow these Good Samaritans to get past law enforcement into devastated areas. He said some were turned away.
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/ne ... /89228802/
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by Maddy » Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:36 am

The article about cracking down on good samaritans in Louisiana was interesting to me because it was not terribly long ago that my area experienced a number of devastating wild fires. I'm talking about huge forest fires covering hundreds of thousands of acres on state and federal land. The state and federal folks whose job it apparently is to fight these fires did not respond for weeks. They admitted that they were stretched too thin. Meanwhile, our local volunteer fire departments proceeded to fight these fires with virtually no governmental assistance.

Now, I've got to explain what I mean by "volunteer fire departments." These are little districts composed entirely of local guys, most of whom work full-time at the mill or at some other blue-collar job in town. They carry cell phones, and when there's a fire, they leave work, get into their pick-up trucks, and speed off to wherever the fire is. There are no fire hydrants out here, and we have no tanker trucks, so the first order of business is to find a nearby pond or creek that they can pump from. Neighbors who have a source of surface water are always quick to respond.

Getting into some of these back woods areas can be difficult, so you'll often see ad hoc teams of community members coming out with chainsaws, axes, bulldozers, and whatever else it takes to get the job done. On the local radio station, there will be an announcement that they need a pilot with a small plane, or someone who can bring and operate a certain kind of heavy equipment, and an hour later there will be several guys who appear with their machinery, ready to roll. A farmer will call in and announce that he's set up a landing pad or runway in his hayfield, replete with night lights. Some other landowner will have set up a base camp on his property.

During a recent spate of wildfires, we had local volunteers who were singlehandedly fighting forest fires covering many thousands of acres of timberland. At times, all they could do was create firelines and enforce them. Our entire community basically shut down, with many community members going out with whatever equipment they had and joining the effort. One local woman, I'm told, made something like 50 gallons of chili and delivered it to the base camp, where hoards of local people were showing up with coolers packed full of sandwiches, energy bars, and cold drinks. The restaurants in town stopped serving dinner and concentrated on churning out food and drinks for everybody involved in the effort.

You'd drive down Main Street and see groups of three or four local guys walking down the sidewalk, all blackened with soot from head to foot. They'd be back on the fire line in another four hours. Lots of people were rolling down their car windows and yelling "God bless you" and other words of encouragement. Just about every business had a big sign out front that read, "Thank you firefighters."

What I witnessed during this three-week period of time was a testament to what people can, and will, do if the forces of government will just leave them alone.
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by MediumTex » Thu Aug 25, 2016 5:18 pm

Maddy wrote:What I witnessed during this three-week period of time was a testament to what people can, and will, do if the forces of government will just leave them alone.
The trouble with the "forces of government" is that it's defining characteristic is not leaving people alone.

Telling people what to do is how a government knows it exists. Imposing control on others is how governments experience existential validation.

It doesn't always start out that way (see U.S. Founding Fathers), but it always ends that way (see current U.S. government).

IMHO, the best protection against tyranny in the U.S. system is to encourage the maximum amount of inter-party acrimony, and then try to always make sure that the party that controls Congress is different than the party in the White House. That's one of the reasons that I actually kind of like the current neutered Obama/"oppose everything" Republican Congress setup.
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Re: Overregulated Close to Home

Post by I Shrugged » Thu Aug 25, 2016 6:53 pm

Maddy,

I operated a good sized "small business" that fell under the purview of the usual government agencies plus a couple of specialized regulatory agencies.
At some point I decided to just stop obeying laws or regs if they were stupid in my view, and in doing so, I wasn't hurting anyone, and the consequences of getting cited were not bad. Sometimes I saw that compliance might cost 20X while a mild regulatory rebuke might include a penalty of X. And in fact, I never did get cited. This might be something like letting an employee smoke indoors in a place where they didn't bother anyone else, versus standing outside in the alley on a smoke break and not getting anything done.

However I never considered that approach with the agencies which could really hurt me, such as the Dept of Labor, IRS, and the like. With them I was scrupulous.

But you might have some regs that are so stupid and useless that even the regulators don't want to mess with them. It's a place to start.
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