[OSHA has] substantially overstated the risks of fires, explosions and other hazards…the costs of the rule greatly exceed the benefits.
We believe that the experience of the last few years teaches that in addressing problems of health care financing we should try at all costs to avoid the establishment of new Federal or State bureaucracies and regulatory regimes. We, further, should avoid the creation of new Government entitlement programs, the addition of new financial burdens on the Federal Health care budget, or the distortion of the marketplace by eliminating choice or reducing competition in health care.
Our concern is that too many regulatory bodies are reacting to this need and that divergent or contradictory rules would be established which would in effect create chaos for the designers, builders and operators.
Vague statutory requirements and misguided management over the years have given OSHA one of the worst track records in the history of federal agencies. As a result of OSHA operations, the costs of doing business have increased substantially among affected industries. In addition, many employers, both business and farming, have complained of harassment, lack of adequate technical advice, and total disregard for local operations or the realities of doing business….For years, I have introduced and co-sponsored bills to eliminate small businesses from coverage of OSHA….I can think of few other issues which have so consistently irritated my constituents…I shall certainly continue my efforts to eliminate the costly and counterproductive practices of OSHA which lead to uncertainty, increased disillusionment with the federal government, and which show questionable benefits in terms of increased health and safety.
Our production could be increased but we are severely hampered by overzealous Federal inspectors and voluminous and continually multiplying Federal laws and regulations.
The coal industry accepts its responsibilities for the safe operation of its mines and where regulation achieves greater safety, we have no quarrel. But, where it does not enhance safety, we believe that Federal regulation is misplaced and counterproductive. Rigid, inflexible, thoughtless regulation, no matter how well intended, can have a plainly detrimental effect on achieving a safe, efficient, and productive coal industry. It’s the overregulation and enforcement of the Act as an end in itself that has caused the coal industry most of its problems…
In California, Mexican farm workers are no longer allowed to use the short-handled hoe they have used for generations; now they are required to use long-handled American type hoes. . . .This is not because the workers or the farmers want to change: but apparently because the city people, driving by, feel more comfortable watching the workers use the kind of hoes that look good through car windows.
In many cases, the net effect of government regulations is a burden on consumers, taxpayers, and business which is much greater than the benefits.
Government regulatory activities frequently result in much overlapping and duplication of effort, contradictory requirements, and an increasing drag on productive economic activities.
To many groups, the [Consumer Product Safety] Commission’s actions, to date, appear to project an anti-business bias. The Commission too frequently seems to forget that government does not have a monopoly on concern for product safety.
