If you sell poultry or livestock, it’s a good idea to weigh them first. Makes it easier for buyer and seller to agree on a fair price.
For some reason, seven sections of the Code of Federal Regulations (see here, here, here, here, here, here, and here) deal with the use and maintenance of the scales used to weigh the animals, the people operating them, proper procedure, and finally, weighing the animals again.
Is this really a federal matter? If so, what…
Many, if not all, people depend on government employees to be positive role models for their children. They can give kids something to which to aspire; to show what they can be if they only work hard and stay in school. To give us all a walking, talking example of a life well lived.
It is in that spirit that Executive Order No. 13513 prohibits federal employees and contractors from texting while driving while on duty.
As the Order reminds us, “With nearly…
Kahlua contains 20% alcohol in 49 states. But in Ohio, it is 21.5%. Weird, huh?
Turns out regulations are the reason. My friend Jacob Grier pointed me to an article showing that Ohio groups alcoholic beverages into two categories: wine/beer and spirits. Any beverage below 20% alcohol is in the wine/beer category and can be sold in grocery stores. Anything above 20% is classed as a spirit and can only be sold in state-run liquor stores.
Drinkers often mix Kahlua with spirits such as…
In today’s Politico, I take a look at one of the 397 new regulations in the House version of cap and trade legislation. If the bill passes, almost all homes for sale would be required to undergo an environmental inspection. The home cannot be sold until it is up to code.
One unintended consequence could be the end of fixer-upper homes.
Another would be lower home ownership rates. Which, of course, directly contradicts of decades of federal policy.
Shovelnose sturgeon population figures are healthy. Why does the Fish and Wildlife Service want to list it as a threatened species, then? Because it looks like the pallid sturgeon, which is currently listed as endangered.
The case for regulatory sunset provisions is inadvertently made by an entire chapter in the Code of Federal Regulations devoted to lawsuit rules for the Y2K computer bug from nearly a decade ago.
In Jersey City, New Jersey, the school district is requiring students to “sanitize their hands when they walk into the class in the morning, before and after lunch, and after each restroom visit.” That’s a requirement. As in, not optional. The district will be providing hand sanitizers at a cost of about $100,000.
Want to be a barber in Nevada? You’ll need to get a license first. One of the requirements is a chest X-ray, of all things. And a blood test.
More onerous is the 18-month apprenticeship under a licensed barber, which requires its own license – plus another chest X-ray and blood test.
Occupational licensing regulations are rarely in place to benefit consumers. Their primary purpose is often to limit competition by putting up barriers to entry. Why do this? Because keeping the…
Until last Friday, it was illegal for certain producers to sell or import U.S. No. 1 grade “Creamer size” (long and skinny) Irish potatoes. Creamer size potatoes are identical in taste, texture, and weight to their stouter, rounder counterparts.
In the Idaho-Eastern Oregon growing region, this led to over $7 million worth of potatoes to go unsold. That’s a lot of uneaten meals. Hopefully the USDA will repeal similar aesthetic restrictions on other types of food. It is bad policy to keep…
If your company exports chemical weapons, make sure you keep good records. Every year, on company letterhead, you have to list ten things for the government. This includes which chemicals you exported, in what quantities, to whom, etc.
Reasonable enough. Chemical weapons in the wrong hands could pose a legitimate security threat. And supplying people with the means to kill other people is, shall we say, ethically dubious.
Still, the sixth item of our ten struck me as superfluous: “Purpose (end-use) of…
Even the humble wooden crate cannot escape the government’ watchful regulatory eye. The rules include provisions for:
-Which types of trees from which countries may be used to make crates.
-Bark removal from the logs used to make the crates.
-Pest inspection.
-Heat treatment.
-Fumigation.
-Treated wood must be marked (the Department of Defense is exempt from this requirement).
-There are other rules for bamboo crates.
-And for loose wood.
It is a federal offense for telemarketers to charge their customers without permission. In regulatory lingo, this is known as “Causing billing information to be submitted for payment, directly or indirectly, without the express informed consent of the customer or donor.”
In English, this is called stealing. Which was already against the law long before this regulation hit the books.
In Virginia, state law requires hearing aids to be calibrated at least annually. Records must be kept for three years.
Having already solved all of the country’s economic problems, the FTC now has time to threaten to step in and stop Budweiser from selling cans of Bud Light with college sports team colors on the labels.
Hat tip to Mark Calabria.
Want to fly a plane? The FAA just published 72 pages worth of changes to its already extensive certification rules. 173 changes in all.
Don’t forget to list your current residential address when applying for a knowledge test.
While cleaning my microwave oven at home the other day, I noticed a little metal badge on the inside with the model number, serial number, and some other information. At the bottom, it declared in capital letters:
“THIS PRODUCT COMPLIES WITH DHHS RULES 21 CFR SUBCHAPTER J.”
So I looked it up. The rule says, among other things, that appliances have to have little badges on them that say they comply with rule requiring the little badges. Perhaps this comes from the…
The $787,000,000,000 stimulus contains a provision requiring the Department of Homeland Security to buy US-made textiles. Basically, that means TSA uniforms will go up in price.
Let’s look at the logic behind this. If DHS would just pay more money for the same product, leaving less money left over for purchasing other goods, we can stimulate the economy. Jobs will be created or saved.
Amazing that some people still think that restricting trade and voluntarily paying higher prices will increase prosperity.
…
In 49 states, it is illegal to practice medicine outside of the state in which you are certified. Tennessee is the lone state with an open market.
Jacob Grier found a news article showing how this closed-shop style of regulation puts a damper on efforts in California to provide free medical care for people who can’t afford it.
Tawnya Benner, 38, would like to drive a truck for a living. She’s qualified to do it, holding a commercial class driver’s license from her home state of Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, she has diabetes, so it’s illegal. There is a federal “prohibition against persons with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) operating commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce.”
Tawnya is one of 24 people applying for an exemption from the federal ban. Let us wish them all the best of luck as they…
The ITA’s antidumping duty on pressure-sensitive plastic tape from Italy was set to expire soon. Unfortunately, ending the levy would “likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping,” so it’s here to stay.
Domestic tape producers must be pleased. Consumers, not so much.
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