Category Archives: Nanny State

Regulation of the Day 34: Diabetic Truckers

Posted on August 18, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 34: Diabetic Truckers

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 petition the government for the right to earn a living.

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Posted in Nanny State, Regulation of the Day

Regulation of the Day 28: Urine Trouble Now

Posted on August 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 28: Urine Trouble Now

Want to work for the federal government? You’ll have to comply with the approximately 32,463 words worth of regulations in the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs.

A list of certified testing laboratories can be found on pages 39,078-39-080 of the 2009 Federal Register.

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Posted in Nanny State, prohibition, Regulation of the Day

Regulation of the Day 23: Texting While Driving

Posted on July 29, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 23: Texting While Driving

Four Senators have introduced a bill to ban texting while driving.

Texting while driving is both dumb and dangerous. But making it a crime won’t make people stop doing it. It will merely make more people into criminals. Besides, all you have to do to not get caught is keep your phone below your car’s windows and out of sight. The ban would be unenforceable.

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Posted in Nanny State, Regulation of the Day

Regulation of the Day 13: The Size of Your Carry-On Bags

Posted on July 7, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 13: The Size of Your Carry-On Bags

The thirteenth in an occasional series that shines a bit of light on the regulatory state.

Today’s Regulation of the Day comes to us from Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL, 3rd term).

Rep. Lipinski has introduced the Securing Cabin Baggage Act, which would set a maximum size for carry-on bags.

In today’s American Spectator Online, I explain why the bill wouldn’t add to security, wouldn’t make flying more convenient, and may well be the result of rent-seeking.

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Posted in Economics, Nanny State, Public Choice, Publications, Regulation of the Day

An Upside to Obesity

Posted on February 15, 2008 | Comments Off on An Upside to Obesity

“Pacific islands are in the midst of a crisis of obesity and its associated dangers of diabetes, strokes and heart disease,” says a recent news article.

This rise in obesity is accompanied by a sharp rise in related health problems. Fortunately, a much larger health issue, one that has plagued humanity for most of its history, seems to have finally been wiped off the face of these islands.

That problem is starvation.

Sometimes a bit of perspective is helpful. If you’re going to have a problem, too much food is a better one to have than too little.

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Posted in Economics, Health Care, Nanny State

Barry Bonds Indicted

Posted on November 15, 2007 | Comments Off on Barry Bonds Indicted

The indictment is online here.

I’m no fan of Barry Bonds, but I fail to see why there should be legal consequences for his (alleged, but highly probable) steroid use. Upon proving his guilt, Major League Baseball should punish him for breaking the rules of the game.

But what Bonds decides to put in his body should not be a criminal matter. The prosecutors should drop their case.

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Posted in Law, Nanny State, Sports

Global Warming and Obesity: Together at Last

Posted on November 13, 2007 | Comments Off on Global Warming and Obesity: Together at Last

The AP has a gem of a story entitled “Fighting fat and climate change,” where the author combines two of today’s more popular scare stories.

The science doesn’t seem very rigorous: “The average person walking half an hour a day [instead of driving] would lose about 13 pounds a year.” Were I to follow this advice, I would apparently disappear from the face of the earth after about 13 years.

Alas, the piece is pessimistic about the people using their cars less and eating less red meat. Scientist Kristie Ebi laments that “It turns out changing people’s habits is very hard.”

She’s right. And I’d appreciate it if she’d stop trying. Thousands of people still die of malaria every year. Over a billion people do not have access to clean water. And Ebi gets worked up about… using less gasoline. Priorities, please.

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Posted in Nanny State, The New Religion

WaPo Letter

Posted on February 5, 2007 | Comments Off on WaPo Letter

My letter ran today. You can read it here.

Thanks to Don Boudreaux, who also posted it at one of my favorite blogs, Cafe Hayek.

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Posted in Correspondence, Economics, Immigration, International, Nanny State, Political Animals, Public Choice