Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 10, 1995 TAG: 9505100036
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAL THOMAS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
In a new publication from The Heritage Foundation titled ``Red Tape in America,'' there is enough material to make anyone except such zealots angry.``The purpose of this book,'' writes House Majority Whip Tom DeLay in the foreword, ``is to illustrate how the burden of excessive government regulation affects the average American. ... This book contains real-life horror stories of individuals who have lost their property or had their business harmed because of overzealous government regulators."
Here you'll read about John Thorpe, whose plans to build on his own property were thwarted by the Fish and Wildlife Service, which demanded to know what steps he had taken to preserve the salt-marsh harvest mouse. Though Thorpe wanted only to develop mostly on the dry, upland portion of his property, an agency of the U.S. government theorized that when global warming melts the polar icecaps, the Pacific will rise and inundate the habitat of the salt-marsh harvest mouse on his lowlands, forcing it to seek refuge on his highlands. For this science-fiction theory, Thorpe was denied permission to develop his land.
In another section, you can read about an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission attorney who, on being asked about an employer's obligation under the Americans With Disabilities Act, commented, ``Whether or not a personal assistant would be required for toileting and eating is going to have to be determined on a case-by-case basis.'' Also, there is a regulation that treats children's teeth as ``toxic waste'' with accompanying regulations for their disposal. Does this mean the tooth fairy is required to wear the proper government-regulated gloves and mask when exchanging a tooth for money under a child's federally approved pillow?
There are stories of overzealous IRS agents breaking into people's homes, handcuffing them and seizing property without a warrant and, in not a few cases, mistakenly. There are stories about intolerable delays and outrageous bureaucratic requirements by the Food and Drug Administration before a drug can be approved.
My favorite horror story concerns a decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to ban bear repellent in the form of cayenne pepper spray. In Alaska, people swear that a shot of this bear repellent in the snout stops a 700-pound bear, but the EPA ruled that cayenne pepper spray could not be advertised as a bear repellent because it had not been registered as a pesticide or tested for effectiveness. EPA Region 10 worker Lyn Frandsen said there was no scientific proof that the $40 pepper spray stopped charging bears. ``We need efficacy data,'' he said, talking like a bureaucrat who had never been in the woods. Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Ark., said, ``The EPA admits that the spray is probably safe to eat, if not smell. It seems like you can use it on dead bear, you can use it on bear stew, but you cannot use it on a live bear if the bear is after you.''
The cost of out-of-control regulation is astounding. Thomas Hopkins, an economics professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology and former Office of Management and Budget administrator, estimates regulation is costing roughly $400 billion a year, or about $4,000 per household. Other estimates are even higher.
On ``Meet the Press'' recently, Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said, ``There is a much deeper fear of Washington than people in Washington realize.'' That fear, and some of the anger that goes with it, is justified.
- Los Angeles Times Syndicate
by CNB