General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTaking ‘E. coli conservatism’ to a whole new level
Posted with permission.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/taking-e-coli-conservatism-whole-new-level?cid=sm_fb_maddow
Taking E. coli conservatism to a whole new level
02/04/15 08:45 AM
By Steve Benen
Several years ago, towards the end of the Bush/Cheney era, historian Rick Perlstein coined a powerful phrase: E. coli conservatism. The slogan coincided with a rash of food-safety controversies tomatoes with salmonella, spinach with E. coli resulting from lax governmental regulations.
Perlsteins refrain, of course, was intended to convey a larger policy point: when government pulls back on safeguards intended to protect the public, there are often hazardous consequences. (Rachel had a great segment on this several years ago, highlighting congressional Republican efforts to eliminate funding entirely on an E. coli screening program.)
All of which leads us to Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who argued this week that under his vision of regulatory reform, hed allow coffee shops, for example, to scrap requirements that employees must wash their hands after going to the bathroom.
Andrew Rosenthal noted, It is often hard to tell whether Republican legislators are joking, because so many of the things they say are unintentionally funny. So I dont know whether Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina, was trying to be a latter day Jonathan Swift or was perfectly serious when he said restaurants are over-regulated and should not be required to tell employees to wash their hands after using the toilet.
The good news is, Tillis suggested yesterday he was kidding. The bad news is, the far-right senator then repeated his entire argument to an AP reporter in such a way as to make clear he wasnt kidding.
Sometimes there are regulations that maybe we want to set a direction, but then let those who are regulated decide whether or not it makes sense, he said. They might pay a huge price, he said, but they get to make that decision versus government.
Welcome back, E. coli conservatism. Its as if you never really went away at all.
Its important to emphasize that, under the Republican senators vision, public-sector regulations would not require a restaurant to mandate post-bathroom hand-washing, but public-sector regulations would require establishments to post a sign letting consumers know about the restaurants hygiene policy.
In other words, Tillis is on board with trading one regulation for another.
The point here isnt to ridicule a U.S. senators strange ideology, but rather, whats important is understanding the larger policy debate. Thom Tillis wasnt just making an odd observation about personal cleanness; he was describing a commitment to regulatory reform.
For many Americans, I imagine the phrase federal regulations sound onerous and ominous an inflexible bureaucracy imposes impractical rules that get in everyones way. Republicans decry regulations on a daily basis, without getting too specific, in the hopes of persuading Americans that they should vote for the GOP in order to eliminate these burdensome guidelines and omnipresent instructions.
But in practice, what Republicans are often referring to are safeguards put in place to ensure the food you and your family are eating is safe. Tillis remarks, to this extent, were incredibly helpful in crystallizing exactly what this debate is all about.