The UPS fellow rang the doorbell this afternoon and left an envelope on the front step, having gotten back into his truck before the door could be opened; those guys are quick. I glanced at the return address and recognized it had come from the Institute for Justice, Texas Chapter. I’d been interviewed several months ago by one of their young lawyers, Wesley Hottot, doing a study on the impact of licensing various businesses by the State of Texas, anyone involved in the locksmith industry falling under the authority of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Private Security Bureau (DPS/PSB).
Wesley Hottot read at least one of my articles regarding the licensing of the locksmiths in Texas which had been on the internet and wanted a face to face interview ( There are three more links included at the bottom of that article). He was putting together recommendations to the State of Texas reminding, perhaps enlightening those unaware of the unintended consequences of their actions, specifically, “Occupational licensing is making it harder – much harder than it need to be – for Texans to open a business, create well-paying jobs or switch careers”.
As a matter of courtesy, I’d sent copies of these locksmith related articles to my elected State Representative, Debbie Riddle and eventually was “granted” a small amount of time to meet with a person I’d mistakenly considered a conservative voice. I listened for much more time than I’d intended to her ego trip explanation of how her time was so valuable, visiting schools to be seen rather than supporting individuals with real concerns. I’d taken off half a day’s work to talk about the State of Texas imposing harsh and unrealistic licensing standards on the locksmith industry and wasn’t all that thrilled to be treated like a school boy who would faun over such a prestigious and important official.
I was told that she supported licensing of just about any important industry to make the world a safer place; locksmiths, she said, should be held accountable just like doctors, lawyers or engineers. My information regarding mandatory continuing education requirements fell on deaf ears.
She was interested in the fact that the State Comptroller’s Office was giving out conflicting information regarding the collection of taxes, something which was dear to her ice cold heart; her being on the all important committee of How We Spend Your Money, I may have the name of the committee off a bit. I left her copies of the various faxes I’d received; one instructing me to collect tax on everything I did while the other instructed me not to collect taxes on exactly the same work.
More recently we got a special notice from the DPS/PSB explaining how locksmiths were NOT to record a customer’s driver’s license on any work order; curious since a year or so earlier we’d been given a mandate to include such documentation on all work orders underneath the signature line where the customer’s verified picture ID had been viewed prior to doing any locksmith work. It seems the left handed bureaucrats never bothered to look up previous legislation before making everyone have new stationary printed in violation of that older law, my oh my how I love the way the State of Texas tosses around the word Mandate.
This evening when I opened the envelope I was more than a little surprised to see my image on the front cover of a very nice magazine publication, Bureaucratic Barbed Wire: How Occupational Licensing FENCES OUT Texas Entrepreneurs . As Gomer Pyle would have said, “Well, Gooollllllyy and Shazam! There I am on the cover of a magazine.”
Then on page 35 was yet another picture of me which he’d taken the day of the interview while I stood beside my truck, complete with my one time mandated ( there’s that word Mandate again) magnetized signs; but which quickly became un-mandated, those waffling bureaucrats in Austin cost me another hundred and twenty dollars for signs I didn’t want to begin with so I keep them on the inboard side of the protective shell.
A while ago I was visiting a few of my regular sites on the internet and found an article which tied in with my thoughts regarding bureaucrats screwing up just about everything they touch and control. Rhod over at It Don’t Make Sense posted a warning regarding the establishment of The United States Public Service Academy, Enarchs and H.R. 2102 .
“Here's where H.R. 2102 comes in. Many Democrats, and a few of the suspect Republicans, have seen the future, and it's Them. They've concocted an American version of the ENA. The United States Public Service Academy. Anyone interested in this monstrosity can resort to Google, and read of the sad formulae for the multiplification of liberals and other world-turners who will gorge at the public trough and manage your life.”
{…}
“Such an idea from such people is a cancer on a free society. Civil servants churned out by an intellectual Gulag end up managing everything from Washington DC down to your local transfer station. The bad always drives out the good. H.R. 2102 is being driven in the dark, with the lights out. Pay attention. These criminals, liars, punks and shrews keep a low profile.”
So, how’s that hope and change thing working for you? As if it’s not enough for the State of Texas to produce its own crop of Lilliputian bureaucrats, now, if H.B. 2102 gets pushed down our throats by the left leaning Congress at the federal level we’ll be manufacturing an entire generation of these useless elitists.
Wesley Hottot read at least one of my articles regarding the licensing of the locksmiths in Texas which had been on the internet and wanted a face to face interview ( There are three more links included at the bottom of that article). He was putting together recommendations to the State of Texas reminding, perhaps enlightening those unaware of the unintended consequences of their actions, specifically, “Occupational licensing is making it harder – much harder than it need to be – for Texans to open a business, create well-paying jobs or switch careers”.
As a matter of courtesy, I’d sent copies of these locksmith related articles to my elected State Representative, Debbie Riddle and eventually was “granted” a small amount of time to meet with a person I’d mistakenly considered a conservative voice. I listened for much more time than I’d intended to her ego trip explanation of how her time was so valuable, visiting schools to be seen rather than supporting individuals with real concerns. I’d taken off half a day’s work to talk about the State of Texas imposing harsh and unrealistic licensing standards on the locksmith industry and wasn’t all that thrilled to be treated like a school boy who would faun over such a prestigious and important official.
I was told that she supported licensing of just about any important industry to make the world a safer place; locksmiths, she said, should be held accountable just like doctors, lawyers or engineers. My information regarding mandatory continuing education requirements fell on deaf ears.
She was interested in the fact that the State Comptroller’s Office was giving out conflicting information regarding the collection of taxes, something which was dear to her ice cold heart; her being on the all important committee of How We Spend Your Money, I may have the name of the committee off a bit. I left her copies of the various faxes I’d received; one instructing me to collect tax on everything I did while the other instructed me not to collect taxes on exactly the same work.
More recently we got a special notice from the DPS/PSB explaining how locksmiths were NOT to record a customer’s driver’s license on any work order; curious since a year or so earlier we’d been given a mandate to include such documentation on all work orders underneath the signature line where the customer’s verified picture ID had been viewed prior to doing any locksmith work. It seems the left handed bureaucrats never bothered to look up previous legislation before making everyone have new stationary printed in violation of that older law, my oh my how I love the way the State of Texas tosses around the word Mandate.
This evening when I opened the envelope I was more than a little surprised to see my image on the front cover of a very nice magazine publication, Bureaucratic Barbed Wire: How Occupational Licensing FENCES OUT Texas Entrepreneurs . As Gomer Pyle would have said, “Well, Gooollllllyy and Shazam! There I am on the cover of a magazine.”
Then on page 35 was yet another picture of me which he’d taken the day of the interview while I stood beside my truck, complete with my one time mandated ( there’s that word Mandate again) magnetized signs; but which quickly became un-mandated, those waffling bureaucrats in Austin cost me another hundred and twenty dollars for signs I didn’t want to begin with so I keep them on the inboard side of the protective shell.
A while ago I was visiting a few of my regular sites on the internet and found an article which tied in with my thoughts regarding bureaucrats screwing up just about everything they touch and control. Rhod over at It Don’t Make Sense posted a warning regarding the establishment of The United States Public Service Academy, Enarchs and H.R. 2102 .
“Here's where H.R. 2102 comes in. Many Democrats, and a few of the suspect Republicans, have seen the future, and it's Them. They've concocted an American version of the ENA. The United States Public Service Academy. Anyone interested in this monstrosity can resort to Google, and read of the sad formulae for the multiplification of liberals and other world-turners who will gorge at the public trough and manage your life.”
{…}
“Such an idea from such people is a cancer on a free society. Civil servants churned out by an intellectual Gulag end up managing everything from Washington DC down to your local transfer station. The bad always drives out the good. H.R. 2102 is being driven in the dark, with the lights out. Pay attention. These criminals, liars, punks and shrews keep a low profile.”
So, how’s that hope and change thing working for you? As if it’s not enough for the State of Texas to produce its own crop of Lilliputian bureaucrats, now, if H.B. 2102 gets pushed down our throats by the left leaning Congress at the federal level we’ll be manufacturing an entire generation of these useless elitists.
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