"I'm From the Government and I'm Here to Help"

As I pointed out about 18 months ago, our lawmakers are always eager to help us solve our own problems.  This often leads to more regulations with ineffective solutions, solutions to problems that don’t exist or unintended consequences.  Motives are good but are based on the assumption that we are unable or unwilling to take care of ourselves or we otherwise acting irresponsibly.

The original post described how Congress was seeking to supplement the ineffective “Do Not Call” list with a special requirement to eliminate computer-generated calls.  The ROBOCOP Act was intended to require that telephone service providers come up with technology allowing their customers to block them.  They felt that these calls were “an annoying problem for telephone customers” as companies delayed dealing with them.  The simple solution of responsible citizens using caller ID to answer only recognized numbers and not buying into every sales pitch that comes over the phone apparently never came up.  We were assumed to be victims.

Now we face another crisis that we are unable to deal with, colorful soap tablets.  A couple of New York State lawmakers want a law to force companies to change the color of the laundry detergent tablets to make them less appealing to children.  I guess they didn’t understand that the “Tide challenge” was teenagers showing off, not children being poisoned. (One baby died in FL back in 2013 and only “eight deaths as a result of eating detergent pods were reported from 2012 to early 2017 in the US, involving six adults suffering from dementia and two children.”)

The company argues that consumers have a choice.  They make Tide in an all-white tablet and in liquid and powder form.  “But New York lawmakers and consumer advocacy groups said more should be done, including the Legislature passing the bill.  They call the new law ‘a sensible measure to address the products' dangers.’”  Yes sensible, if you want to step in to protect people from every possible danger. How many other laws do we need to prevent one death per year?

If that’s not bad enough, California wants to put a warning on coffee due to cancer risk.  Scientists found that high doses of the chemical that gives coffee its color, acrylamide, causes cancer in mice.  They have a law, referred to as Proposition 65, that forces companies to warn customers of all products on the list that they might come in contact with.  California coffee shops are fighting a lawsuit forcing them to comply.

There are currently over 800 chemicals on that list.  Their website explains:  “The list contains a wide range of naturally occurring and synthetic chemicals that are known to cause cancer or birth defects or other reproductive harm. These chemicals include additives or ingredients in pesticides, common household products, food, drugs, dyes, or solvents. Listed chemicals may also be used in manufacturing and construction, or they may be byproducts of chemical processes, such as motor vehicle exhaust.”  You likely can’t run any business without posting warnings – even for chemicals that in high doses may cause cancer in mice.  The only thing they are not protecting their citizens from is information overload!

But why would state and federal lawmakers feel justified in assuming citizens are unable or unwilling to take care of themselves or would choose to act irresponsibly?  One doesn’t have to look very far for examples.

Recently LL Bean, the Maine-based company specializing in clothing and outdoor recreation equipment had to change its generous lifetime return policy.  “The company, which has touted its 100 percent satisfaction guarantee for more than a century, is imposing a one-year limit on most returns to reduce growing abuse and fraud.”  They found that over the past few years people have been returning “items that have been destroyed or rendered useless, including some purchased at thrift stores or retrieved from trash bins.”  The expense is unsustainable.

When lawmakers make these assumptions and pass more laws trying to protect us from ourselves it impinges on our freedom and raises our costs.  Until everyone begins to act more responsibly, we can expect more of the same.