Tuesday, February 03, 2015

THOM TILLIS AND ASYMMETRIC POOP INFORMATION

I understand what North Carolina's new U.S. senator, Thom Tillis, is getting at here:
During a Q&A at the Bipartisan Policy Center on Monday, Tillis related a story from his time in the state legislature in 2010, complaining that the U.S. is "one of the most regulated nations in the history of the planet," video via C-SPAN shows.

“I was having a discussion with someone, and we were at a Starbucks in my district, and we were talking about certain regulations where I felt like ‘maybe you should allow businesses to opt out,'" the senator said.

Tillis said his interlocutor was in disbelief, and asked whether he thought businesses should be allowed to "opt out" of requiring employees to wash their hands after using the restroom.

The senator said he'd be fine with it, so long as businesses made this clear in "advertising" and "employment literature."

“I said: ‘I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says “We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom,” Tillis said.

“The market will take care of that," he added, to laughter from the audience.
Wingers love the idea that markets are perfect, or ought to be (and when they aren't it's because they've been mucked up by all sorts of liberalism and socialism). They love to believe that if you have perfect information, or as close to perfect information as possible, you'll never have a bad transaction, even in a thoroughly unregulated marketplace (or if you do it's your own damn fault). Who cares if you have to take the extra step of screening for a suitable hand-washing policy when you just want to grab a quick cup of coffee and go? An entrepreneur ought to have the right to run an establishment where the risk of E. coli is higher, because freedom.

8 comments:

Never Ben Better said...

The saddest part of all this is that he won't be laughed out of office for this, in fact, it will just endear him to his rabidly, proudly pig-ignorant base.

mikeq said...

I said: ‘I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says “We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom..."

How is this not a regulation?

Unknown said...

Isn't a right winger entitled to irony at times?

I thought it was obvious that he showed SUPPORT for the hand washing sign reg by "requiring" that customers be told the employees could have e-coli all over their hands when handling their food...Hence, destroying the business.

Ken_L said...

Duffy is a STATIST. In a free market, it would be up to customers to inform themselves about the hand-washing policies and practices of businesses they might patronise. Forcing businesses to put up signs is OPPRESSIVE MARXIST-STYLE BIG GOVERNMENT.

What next - customers forced to wear a badge saying "Sometimes I pee on the floor"?

Victor said...

The 19th Centuries "Know-Nothing's" have nothing on our 21st Century ones.

Never Ben Better said...

Yup, Victor, they've expanded and improved upon the franchise, working in anti-science, anti-knowledge, and anti-compassion to anyone who differs from the conservative white Protestant male template.

I find it troubling at times that the heyday of the Know Nothings was in the decade before the Civil War.

Ten Bears said...

The same time, Ben, as "Christians" hysterically killed off the Masons.

Joey_Blau said...

"Sometimes our employees pee on their hands. We reserve the right God.gave us not.to.tell you when"