With Obama, Regulations Are Back in Fashion

[cal04]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/us/politics/13rules.html?hp

In a burst of rule-making, federal agencies have toughened or proposed new standards to protect Americans from tainted eggs, safeguard construction workers from crane accidents, prevent injuries from baby walkers and even protect polar bears from extinction.

Over the last year, the Obama administration has pressed forward on hundreds of new mandates, while also stepping up enforcement of rules by increasing the ranks of inspectors and imposing higher fines for violations.

A new age of regulation is well under way in Washington, a fact somewhat obscured by the high-profile debates over the health care overhaul and financial oversight system and by fresh calls for greater federal vigilance spurred by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the deaths of coal miners in West Virginia.

The surge in rule-making has resulted from an unusual confluence of factors, from repeated outbreaks of food-borne illnesses to workplace disasters. Some industry groups, wanting foreign competitors to adhere to the same standards they must meet, have backed new federal mandates. The push for some of the measures began at the end of the Bush administration, a tacit acknowledgment that its deregulatory agenda had gone too far.

[rpannier]

1. K&R

This is something they've been doing for quite some time, but it has gone under the radar

On this the Admin has been quite aggressive

[polichick]

2. This is good stuff - and we need to keep the regulations coming! nt

[proudohioan]

3. That really was some good stuff......

and then I made the mistake of clicking on the article and came across this asshole -

"The National Association of Manufacturers made a similar complaint about the cost of many of the new proposed mandates. “Dollars spent on compliance with cumbersome regulations are dollars not spent on hiring new employees,” said Erin Streeter, a spokeswoman for the group."

What a dick! I'm sorry, but WHAAAHHH :nopity: !!! Any excuse for not hiring/laying off folks. Well, but at least the workers you have now will be safer!

That stupid quote ruined the whole post. I wish I hadn't clicked on the link.

[Igel]

5. I'm sorry it ruined the post for you.

Really, so many inconsiderate people, with their petty concerns.

There should be a regulation preventing such things from being reported.

[proudohioan]

6. I agree! Damn it, there SHOULD be a regulation on that!

:rofl:

[fasttense]

4. Prevent injuries from baby walkers???

What is a baby walker? How are these babies injuring people, or is it the person walking the baby that's injuring people? And how exactly do you walk a baby? Do you put the infant on a leash or just stand back and watch the baby roll around?

I didn't even know you could get paid for walking babies.

[Tutankhamun]

7. Those wheeled things that encircle babies around the waist and

allow them to sort of walk while leaning are really bad for the babies' development. Those contraptions aren't popular at all in a lot of places, but I've seen a few Mexican families that, unfortunately, aren't aware of the dangers. Those things make children bow-legged. Maybe that's what is meant by baby walkers.