Glib Is A No Go If You're President
President Obama got all cute with an Illinois farmer at a town hall meeting who said he was worried about about "more rules and regulations" (on things like dust, noise, and water runoff) that he'd heard would negatively affect his business.
MJ Lee writes on Politico:
The president, on day three of his Midwest bus tour, replied: "If you hear something is happening, but it hasn't happened, don't always believe what you hear."When the room broke into soft laughter, the president added, "No -- and I'm serious about that."
Saying that "folks in Washington" like to get "all ginned up" about things that aren't necessarily happening ("Look what's comin' down the pipe!"), Obama's advice was simple: "Contact USDA."
"Talk to them directly. Find out what it is that you're concerned about," Obama told the man. "My suspicion is, a lot of times, they're going to be able to answer your questions and it will turn out that some of your fears are unfounded."
Call Uncle Sam. Sensible advice, but perhaps the president has forgotten just how difficult it can be for ordinary citizens to get answers from the government.
When this POLITICO reporter decided to take the president's advice and call the USDA for an answer to the Atkinson town hall attendee's question, I found myself in a bureaucratic equivalent of hot potato -- getting bounced from the feds to Illinois state agriculture officials to the state farm bureau.
Rundown of the calls at the link.
Memo to Obama: Bureaucracy doesn't melt like butter for those of us who aren't sitting in the Oval Office while someone dials our calls for us.
On a related note, here, from Evil HR Lady Suzanne Lucas, are laws that could be eliminated to increase jobs.
> Glib Is A No Go If You're President
To be fair, it worked for him for a very long time.
Until it didn't, I mean.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at August 20, 2011 12:28 AM
Eliminate the Davis–Bacon Act.
The price to governments would drop dramatically, and the unions would be crushed.
Jim P. at August 20, 2011 6:08 AM
There was a WSJ article this week with some interesting numbers: Federal regulatory agencies have increased their staffs by 13% over the past two years. 379 new regulations were enacted in July, and there are over 4,000 currently in the authoring and commenting pipeline -- and that's not counting the upcoming regulations from Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, and the new Clean Air Act, none of which have been written yet. Obamacare alone will probably result in over 2,000 new regulations. And the new Clean Air Act absolutely will impact the Illinois farmer.
Cousin Dave at August 20, 2011 8:13 AM
What the farmer was referring to is an attempt by the DOT to force farmers to use the Hours of Service rules applicable to most truckers (who engage in actual interstate commerce.) This isn't some rumor, but a real proposal. And get this; the justification is that the produce will eventually be part of interstate commerce ergo the federal government has the right to regulate it.
Joe at August 20, 2011 12:51 PM
If the Federal Government can make you purchase health insurance, they can regulate everything else.
I R A Darth Aggie at August 20, 2011 3:47 PM
And get this; the justification is that the produce will eventually be part of interstate commerce ergo the federal government has the right to regulate it.
Posted by: Joe
And regulate how mauch can be grown in total and by any indiviudal, and how much it can be sold for, and on and on and on
lujlp at August 20, 2011 9:30 PM
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