Regulation Tyranny

Regulation Tyranny

By Scott Wagner Regulation Tyranny

This column is from a fed up and angry private sector business owner who also serves in the Pennsylvania State Senate.

I will be diplomatic – but fully realize that I get to see firsthand each and every day how Harrisburg and Washington are out of control with regulations on businesses.

It also seems like federal regulations coming out of Washington are being fired from a rocket launcher every single day.

I made a decision to run for the Pennsylvania State Senate because I was sick and tired of new regulations being piled onto my businesses every year for the last 30 years.

2015 was a record setting year for new regulations – as of Dec. 31, 2015 there were 81,611 pages of federal government rules, proposed rules and notices – this number DOES NOT include regulations in Pennsylvania.

At my waste company we have a MINIMUM of 60 State and Federal compliance requirements and regulations that we have to comply with either daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually.

In fact, last year my waste company hired a compliance manager to handle all of the reporting and paperwork.

On May 3, the Wall St. Journal published “Ending America’s Slow Growth Tailspin”.  The article says that, “The U.S Economy needs a dramatic legal and regulatory simplification” – in simple terms, over regulation is choking our economy and slowing economic growth.

In the May 10 issue of Forbes magazine Steve Forbes wrote an article that stated, “The Obama administration has let it be known that the White House and the regulatory agencies will be issuing a blizzard of new rules and decrees in the waning months of his miserable regime.”

Forbes goes on to say that, “The President long ago grasped that you don’t have to seize the means of production: you simply smother companies and industries with rules and regulations – preferably vaguely written to give bureaucrats wide discretion – so they survive only at your sufferance.”

Steve Forbes’s words are powerful and very true – as a private sector business owner I know first-hand all about choking regulations.

Last week I was informed by a manager at my waste company that our website must comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Regulations.

Our  website will need to be accessible to anyone with a disability (that includes people who are blind or deaf). Blind people use equipment called “screen readers” and the screen readers need to be able to work with our website software.

There have already been multiple lawsuits against companies who do not have websites that are ADA compliant.

Career politicians and career bureaucrats, many who are lawyers, simply don’t get it – all they understand is –  “Let’s choke every business in America – they can deal with all of the regulations.”

The newest and latest genius idea out of Washington DC is the third bathroom requirement for transgender people – it is all over the news.

Also, Washington is enacting regulations on overtime pay for salaried employees – many businesses factor in some portion of overtime into salaries and also bonuses are paid to recognize outstanding performance and efforts.

There are four types of regulations – Good Regulations, Bad Regulations,  Stupid Regulations and Over Regulations.

These are all regulations that effect a company that you may own or a company you may work for.

I think everyone would agree that good regulations are needed. The other three are not needed.

If we don’t stop all of this regulation madness – private sector businesses will have seen their best days.

The irony of all of the regulations impacting businesses in America is that virtually all of the people who are behind these regulations have never owned a business, started a business, taken a risk, or signed the front of paychecks.

The King of destroying businesses in America is Barack Obama – he is on a mission and he will not stop at anything.

The best example is what President Obama and regulators have done to the coal industry in America.

It is simple – too many regulations cost lots of money – lots of money that could and should go to creating jobs and providing good wages to current employees.

Businesses are being choked with rules and regulations – when are politicians and bureaucrats going to wake up and realize that they are killing jobs in America?

Regulation Tyranny

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-23-16

Who was Ivan IV Vasilyevich? He was the first Russian czar. He is better known to Russians as Ivan Grozny which means Ivan the Formidable. He is better known to us as Ivan the Terrible. It’s a bad translation thing.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-23-16

Slavery Goal Of Modern Politicians

Slavery Goal Of Modern Politicians Slavery Goal Of Modern Politicians — Richard Fernandez has a great column at PJMedia.com summing up modern politics and the goals of those who dedicate their lives to it namely slavery.

He describes an happy marriage of convenience between socialists and crony capitalists.

Those who do not own the means of production shall be legally compelled to work for those who do, and shall receive in exchange a security of livelihood, he says citing the great Hilaire Belloc.

It’s pretty obvious that this is the goal of the “never-let-a-crisis-go-to-waste” crowd.

Why is our $19.3 trillion national debt being downplayed by the official mouthpieces? Why are we letting in immigrants who hate our values?

Slavery Goal Of Modern Politicians

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-21-16

Shrews are poisonous. The southern short-tail shrew has enough venom in its bite to kill 50 mice.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-21-16

Bad Blue Moon Rising

Bad Blue Moon RisingBad Blue Moon Rising — A blue moon will rise tonight, May 21.

A blue moon is not the orb’s color but the term used to describe the third moon of a season — in this case Spring 2016 — in which four will appear.

Usually, seasons as they are a quarter of the year, have just three moons so the blue moon while not rare is not the norm. They happen about every three years.

Another definition describes them as being the second full moon of a calendar month, which is vague as it depends on time zones and what calendar one is using.

Bad Blue Moon Rising

 

Pro Teacher Bill Vetoed By Wolf

Pro Teacher Bill Vetoed By Wolf

By Scott Wagner Pro Teacher Bill Vetoed By Wolf

Governor Wolf continues to resist any reforms that would change the Pennsylvania education system.

This past Wednesday, Governor Wolf vetoed legislation designed to keep the best teachers in Pennsylvania’s classrooms and boost student achievement by ending the practice of seniority-based layoffs.

In Pennsylvania, teacher layoffs are conducted in order of inverse seniority.

The last teacher hired is the first person fired, regardless of job performance.

Pennsylvania is one of only a few states that require seniority to be the sole factor in determining layoffs.

With the Governor’s action, our Commonwealth will continue this backward approach.

House Bill 805, known as the Protecting Excellent Teachers Act, would have ensured that school districts use teacher performance to guide furlough and reinstatement decisions.

Performance ratings would have been based on the comprehensive statewide educator evaluation system adopted in 2012, under which observed educators are assigned a rating of distinguished, proficient, needs improvement or failing.

House Bill 805 prohibited school districts from using a teacher’s pay and benefits as determining factors for any layoff decision.

I co-sponsored the Senate version of this measure because a child’s education matters more than union tradition.

Governor Wolf’s refusal to enact pension reform means there will be more teacher furloughs in the future, as school districts trim personnel costs to balance their budgets.

And his refusal to sign House Bill 805 means some of our most dedicated, energetic teachers will continue to be the ones losing their jobs.

Not a surprise to anyone, the PSEA – Pennsylvania State Education Association – the teachers’ union, was out lobbying against this bill in full force when the House and Senate voted on this important piece of legislation.

It is clear that Governor Wolf and his public sector union friends at the PSEA have formed a unified partnership to snuff out any positive developments for the children in our schools and the taxpayers that pay for the education system.

Sen. Wagner represents the 28th District in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Pro Teacher Bill Vetoed By Wolf

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-20-16

The human body has 60,000 miles of blood vessels.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-20-16

Tobash Plan Bad Pension Reform

Tobash Plan Bad Pension Reform Tobash Plan Bad Pension Reform

By Leo Knepper

There are times when we can almost repost an old blog verbatim, and this is one of those times. On May 17, the House State Government Committee voted HB 1499 out of committee to the floor of the House; this is the third iteration of bad pension legislation.

As we noted last year:

“The Tobash plan was introduced last year [2014] as an amendment to HB 1353. At that time, it set up a ‘stacked’ retirement benefit system. The first $50,000 in state employee pay is eligible for a traditional pension; beyond that there is a 401(k) style plan. It is worth noting that the average state employee salary was $52,655 for 2014. In other words, the Tobash plan as introduced last year would have had impacted very few future employees. According to actuarial analysis done last year, 98.8% of the ‘savings’ projected under the Tobash plan is 15 years or farther into the future, which is a pretty big problem since SERS and PSERS are on course to be bankrupt in 15 years.”

The current version of the Tobash plan has all of the same problems and does not address the pension problem in any meaningful way. Instead, it is a reform in name only.

By their very nature defined benefit pension plans leave employees at the mercy of politicians. The current pension systems have a combined unfunded liability of more than $60 billion because elected officials are loath to make hard decisions when it comes to paying for the promises that they’ve made. HB 1499 does nothing to protect new employees or members of the current system. It creates an illusion of reform designed to avoid making government union bosses too angry and appease taxpayers who don’t have time to look into the legislation beyond the “pension reform” headline.

In their analysis of the legislation, the Commonwealth Foundation found further problems with the plan design:

“Moreover, this model provides poor plan design for workers. Public employees should be contributing more toward a defined contribution plan at the front end of their career to give their investments time to grow. Under a stacked hybrid, workers invest more in a defined contribution plan as they near retirement.

“Research shows defined contribution plans provide stable and substantial retirements when workers invest over their career.”

If Tobash’s “reform” is the best the General Assembly can muster, taxpayers are in for a double-dose of trouble. Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman (R-34) has indicated his willingness to trade a tax increase for an “overhaul” of the pension system. There is no need for a tax increase. The Legislature needs to prioritize spending. Furthermore, taxpayers should be livid that Corman would trade their hard earned money for reform that, at this point, will do little to nothing for solving the pension problem now or in the future.
Mr. Knepper is executive director of Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania.

Tobash Plan Bad Pension Reform

Stuffed London Broil — Tonight’s Meal

Stuffed London BroilTonight’s meal by Chef Bill Sr was a stuffed London broil roasted on the Weber with sides of fresh sting beans and potatoes also cooked on the grill.

The wine was a homemade red.

The stuffing is basically sauteed mushrooms and onions seasoned with garlic.

The meat was acquired on sale at the Acme in Lawrence Park.

Stuffed London Broil — Tonight’s Meal

 

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-19-16

frozen vegetables more nutritiousAre frozen vegetables more nutritious than fresh? Usually. The freezing happens shortly after they are picked which means they don’t sit around and lose vitamins before hitting the market.

William Lawrence Sr Omnibit 5-19-16