Tag Archives: california

Regulation of the Day 133: Feeding Ducks

Posted on April 8, 2010 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 133: Feeding Ducks

A new ordinance in San Luis Obispo, California makes it illegal to feed ducks. The solons of San Luis Obispo claim that feeding the animals increases pollution.

One wonders what political intrigues and backroom deal-making went into the duck feeding ban. It was not a stand-alone ordinance; it was tucked into a bill updating the city’s storm water management regulations.

Was the duck language tucked in to guarantee a wavering council member’s vote? If so, it was a lot cheaper than the “Lousiana Purchase” and “Cornhusker Kickback” that enabled the health care bill to pass.

Joking aside, one is still left wondering what would cause a politician to hold such a grudge against ducks. Of all the sources of pollution in San Luis Obispo, ducks would have to be pretty low on the list.

(Hat tip: Megan McLaughlin)

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Friday Regulation Roundup

Posted on April 2, 2010 | Comments Off on Friday Regulation Roundup

Some of the stranger governmental goings-on I dug up over the week:

–EnergyStar has been certifying bogus products, such as a gas-powered alarm clock and a space heater with a feather duster stuck in it. Out of 20 fake items that the GAO submitted, 15 were approved, 2 were rejected, and 3 received no response.

-NASA spent $500,000,000 on a launching pad for a rocket that will probably never be built.

-In Norfolk, VA, it is illegal for hens to lay eggs between 4:00pm and 8:00am.

-In Minnesota, it is illegal for women to play Santa Claus.

-In California, it is against the law to enter a restaurant on horseback.

-From Jeff Flake’s office: The federal government is spending $935,000 on pasteurizing shell eggs in Michigan.

-The federal government is spending $73,000,000 this year on the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program.

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Posted in regulation, Spending

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Regulation of the Day 127: Landscaping

Posted on March 16, 2010 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 127: Landscaping

Southern California is a dry place, prone to droughts. So Angelina and Quan Ha, of Orange, CA, ditched their water-hungry grass lawn about two years ago. They replaced it with “a drought-tolerant garden filled with lavender, rosemary and native wildflower seeds.” They claim the switch is saving them hundreds of dollars per year, not to mention hundreds of thousands of gallons of precious water.

The city of Orange promptly sued them, claiming their lawn violates local regulations. At least 40 percent of a yard must be covered with living plants. The city contends that the sparse shrubs and plants in the Ha family’s yard don’t meet the threshold.

“Compliance, that’s all we’ve ever wanted,” Senior Assistant City Attorney Wayne Winthers said. “They put up a nice fence, but it didn’t show anything about how they had complied with code, as far as the front yard goes.”

This is a fancy way of saying, “you will do what I tell you.” This is not a healthy attitude for any person to have.

The Has pled not guilty in court on March 2. If they lose, they are looking at up to six months of jail time and a $1,000 fine.

Fortunately, after a rash of bad publicity surrounding the court hearing, the city announced within hours that it was considering dropping the charges.

(Hat tip to Megan McLaughlin)

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Posted in Nanny State, Regulation of the Day

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Regulation of the Day 121: Cussing

Posted on March 2, 2010 | 1 comment

It’s officially “Cuss Free Week” in California. Last Thursday, the state legislature passed a resolution to make the first week of March swearing-free.

Los Angeles County passed a similar measure last year, inspired by 14-year old who has started no-cussing clubs at schools across the country.

The resolution is non-binding, and will not be enforced. There are no First Amendment issues. It’s just a feel-good measure.

What doesn’t feel so good is the fact busy-body legislators feel it is their place to tell you to watch your language.

Then again, all the time they spent crafting cussing legislation was time not spent digging California even deeper into fiscal hell. Might I suggest that the California legislature also pass a non-binding “Eat Your Vegetables Week” resolution?

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Posted in Free Speech, Regulation of the Day

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Regulation of the Day 118: Unlicensed Dogs

Posted on February 24, 2010 | 1 comment

In Los Angeles, it is illegal to own a dog without a license. The city government employees eight people whose full-time job is to make sure that people are complying. But they aren’t doing a very good job of it; roughly two thirds of Los Angeles’ dog population is unlicensed.

This epidemic of unlicensed dogs is easily the most pressing issue facing America’s second-largest city. Packs of wild, unlicensed dogs roam the streets at night. People are scared to go out after dark. An entire city huddles in fear.

Or not. Maybe unlicensed dogs don’t really matter. Most places do just fine without dog licensing regulations. So why is the city government clamping down on enforcement all of a sudden?

The answer is simple: money. LA is looking at a $400 million budget deficit this year. At $15 per license, the city estimates it will make $3.6 million from full compliance. Hopefully it will spend somewhat less than that getting there.

Los Angeles is hardly the only city having revenue troubles. One wonders what other obscure regulations are being used for money grabs across the country.

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Regulation of the Day 81: Porn

Posted on December 9, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 81: Porn

Marginal Revolution’s Alex Tabarrok points to a proposed rule in California that would reclassify adult film actors as being subject to certain employment regulations. The unintended consequences are potentially fatal:

California’s anti-discrimination laws prohibit requiring an HIV test as a condition of employment; therefore the adult film industry’s current testing process, in which every performer is tested for HIV monthly, would be illegal. Nor would adult film producers be allowed to “discriminate” by refusing employment to HIV-positive performers. As a result, untested and HIV-positive performers would be able to work in the industry, raising the risks of HIV outbreaks–particularly since condom breakage or slippage can occur.

Sounds like regulators and activists need to think that one through a little more carefully.

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Regulation of the Day 64: Starting a Business in Sacramento, California

Posted on October 22, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 64: Starting a Business in Sacramento, California

assembly-line
Sit back and think for a minute about what man has the potential to create. Think about the magnitude of our achievements in just the last century. Life expectancy has doubled. Population has sextupled. For the first time in history, famine is primarily a political phenomenon, not a natural one. The human mind is capable of creating limitless, endless wealth.

Unfortunately, the human mind is nearly as adept at preventing that wealth from being created. Sacramento, California is home to some of the experts.

Katy Grimes researched what it would take to open a small factory there. “By the time I discovered that 22 government agencies would be involved in permitting and licensing, I realized that Sacramento is not an easy place to do business,” she writes.

She’s right. And when doing business is difficult, there is less of it. That means less wealth is created. Opportunities vanish into thin air. One of the tragedies of over-regulation is the amount of wealth, opportunity, and prosperity that never come to pass. Think of how many plants are never opened because of over-regulation. How many jobs are never created. How many products are never invented.

Supporters of strict business regulations say the rules keep people safe. Maybe that’s true. Maybe it isn’t. But they do keep us poorer.

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Posted in Development Economics, Philosophy, Regulation of the Day

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Regulation of the Day 61: Big Screen TVs – Mankind’s Doom!

Posted on October 15, 2009 | Comments Off on Regulation of the Day 61: Big Screen TVs – Mankind’s Doom!

bi screen tv

On November 4, California regulators may vote to ban big-screen televisions. The large sets use more energy than they would prefer.

Commissioner Julia Levin claims the ban “will actually save consumers money and help the California economy grow and create new clean, sustainable jobs.”

It is easy to imagine the ban costing tv manufacturing jobs; less so the jobs that would take their place.

Fortunately, the ban isn’t terribly enforceable. Consumers can just drive to Arizona, Nevada, or Oregon to get the kind of tv they want.

A final point on semantics: what does “sustainable” even mean, anyway? It is a meaningless buzz term, right up there with “synergy” and “paradigm.” This decade’s equivalent of “social justice.”

If anything, use of the word “sustainable” signals that a person knows not of what they speak. If you’re unable to defend a proposal on the merits, just use fashionable buzz words that poll well.

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Posted in Argumentation, Economics, Mankind's Doom, Philosophy, Regulation of the Day, The New Religion

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