So they need to enact the regulations so you can see what's in them. Hmm where have I heard that before?

Oh, you don't have to be in farming or other ag business to run afoul. I opened a branch office for outpatient substance abuse treatment within city limits in an office suite within an existing building and still had to file an environmental impact statement. It took 6 pages of forms for me to state 'none'.

I would never doubt the general uselessness of Govt' agencies. But, I read the whole piece at Politico and I have to say the reporter was told TWICE to call the Illinois EPA to find out about regulations regarding dust and it doesn't appear he ever attempted to do that. Of course one person told him that his message had been forwarded to IEPA, so they never got back to him either.

Ok, RofC, let's assume the farmer's question falls outside the pervue of the FDA to answer due to its speculative nature. Given the track record of this Administration and its many Czars, and the Congress of it's first two years, isn't this man's concern just a teensy weensy bit justified ?

I'll give the president this much: At least his answer was location-appropriate, given that it was one big sack of manure.

What a telling answer.

I deal with State and Federal agencies all the time in my line of work. I spend most of me time reminding regulatory staff of their rules and their organizations scope and course of work to keep them from legislating from their desk.

The LAST thing I would ever do is "call up" any agency to ask information in anything, including what their phone number is.

If a reporter interviewed the Farmer he'd get an education on how active and accurate his information is. Counties and City's are already required to abide by dust and noise rules. Businesses in City's have been able to address these rules by paving areas where equipment goods are stored. I'm at a loss how a Farmer would be able to address these same rules. I doubt paving is an option, but I have no doubt a person from USDA would suggest that as an option. Really.

Most organizations that follow regulatory rulemaking efforts don't use the same scare tactics Community Organizers use.

His answer and advice is quite telling of his personal knowledge and experience of Government and Community Organizing.

Scary.

You're exactly right, jmc. Call the IRS five times with the same question, you'll get five different answers.

Obama (and almost all politicians) have no clue the impact they have (negatively) on the average citizen. They write legislation that's in the hundreds of pages, and there's never any thought to how this will actually affect people. The end result is a mish-mash of regulations, and one agency has no clue what's going within, much less with another agency.

My take is that it is not so much the kind or number of regulations, but the hassle in discovering and interpreting them, that is the problem.

A farmer might have been in business (for generations) as regulations mounted, making all government intrusion seem to be (or, actually be) an erosion of rights or market freedoms. But in the case of new businesses, or ones that evolve in their location and line of business, management ought not to complain about the existing regulatory environment, if it is understandable; after all, they are choosing to go into a line of business, and without some sort of government-provided structure, business would be reduced to thuggery.

When regulations are dense and difficult to resolve, that is a big issue. Even in the very leftist west coast, I have heard very leftists complain about that. It's the equivalent of being put on indefinite phone hold.

Years ago, when I started my own small business, I had a choice of locations. It wasn't retail, so street traffic was not an issue. Among several nearby towns (all leftist), I chose one that was known for its "one stop" policy at city hall. Want permits and licenses? You go in, and talk to one person. That one person contacts other insiders on your behalf. You'll only need to go bak in person if the law requires it, and in most cases it doesn't. Your single contact reviews your paperwork on the spot, and will tell you right there if something doesn't look like it will pass the officials, and why.

In the nearby communities, first you had to go to Department X, then wait, then go to Department Y, then wait...

I recall an incident from maybe 10 years ago. It was in California, but not the worst part. Someone living in the hills wanted a burning permit to dispose of trash wood and brush. So he went to the county environmental authority, and was told to wait for a certain kind of day, since the permit was weather-dependent. No problem. When the weather came, he was issued the permit, and commenced the burn. But this attracted the intervention of the local fire marshal. Why? You see, the environmental agency only issued burning permits when the wind was blowing, to reduce pollution. But the fire marshal only issued permits when the wind was NOT blowing, to reduce the risk of forest fire.

My take is that it is not so much the kind or number of regulations, but the hassle in discovering and interpreting them.

This makes no sense.

Exactly.