Is there no aspect of our lives the government does not now want to regulate? The government is now coming out with more bizarre regulations. The problem is Congress abrogating its duty to legislate, giving this power instead to nameless, faceless bureaucrats.
What is happening now?
It is the Americans with Disabilities Act on steroids.
Now, the Department of Justice has issued new regulations, which now require restaurants and other business to allow people to come in with miniature horses as service animals.
That is right, miniature horses.
This is to accommodate people who believe dogs are unclean. You can read that as Muslims, since Islam is the only religion that considers dogs unclean.
Can you imagine having dinner at a nice restaurant while at the next table there is a miniature horse? Let’s hope the horse does not have an accident. Let’s hope the horse does not kick you.
Horses, even miniature horses are high-strung animals. They do not react well to loud noise or other stressful situations. What is there instinctive reaction? If they cannot run, they kick.
The Department of Justice released a statement claiming that miniature horses can be housebroken.
Really?
In the legal business, that is called assuming facts not in evidence.
If these regulations go into effect, businesses will not be able to deny access to a “service horse.”
We are rapidly becoming the regulation nation. According to Congressman Jason Chaffetz, there are 95 different standards for bathrooms. That does not count the myriad of other regulations for all types of other areas.
The Department of Justice is hell bent on this insane regulation, even though the American Miniature Horse Association says miniature horses are not a good substitute for guide dogs.
The House recently passed something called the REINS act which would require Congress to vote up or down on any regulation that would cost more than $100 million to implement.
That is closing the door after the horse is already out.
The problem is Congress itself.
Congress passes numerous laws every year with enabling language in them. Enabling language is part of the law that authorizes a specific department, like the Department of Justice to issue regulations.
That is why the Code of Federal Regulations has grown to a voluminous size. Regulations are now out of control. Congress is the problem because they abdicate their authority to bureaucrats and then complain about the regulations they enable.
Before someone accuses me of being a heartless conservative who hates the handicapped, let me explain something. Two of the most influential people in my life were in wheelchairs, both put there by polio.
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed. My late mother in law was a state employee for a number of years before the act passed. She was confined to a wheelchair because of the polio she suffered in her youth.
Prior to the ADA, the building she worked in had no handicapped accessible bathrooms. She went to work and could not go to the bathroom all day long. Her workdays frequently exceeded eight hours. When the ADA was passed she finally got a handicap accessible bathroom.
For all of the good the ADA did, it has now become a monstrosity. The Justice Department is now telling miniature golf courses how steep their inclines can be. With thousands of regulations, it is impossible for business to be in compliance and the ADA allows for suits by people who have not even been injured by the non-compliance.
Congressman Chaffetz has introduced a bill to stop the Justice Department’s miniature horse rule. For that he should be commended. However, he is treating the symptoms, not the problem.
Congress must stop passing the buck for these regulations they allow bureaucrats to write without any accountability.
In America, we may have been born free but we are now being regulated to death.
This is Congress’ fault and we need to start calling Members of Congress and United States Senators out on this.
Tags: ADA, bureaucrat, congress, disabilities, enabling, horse, miniature, regulation
Permalink Reply by Ed Stoneham on Regulations are the province of the localities and sometimes the states. They are unconstitutional at the federal level. Why doesn't Congress stop these violations of the Constitution? Because no one has been pressuring the congressmen sufficiently to overcome the perks of crony socialism. That's about to change, if you (yes, YOU) join the COP (www.ConstitutionalOversightPosse.org). It's time to force Congress to enforce the Constitution. It will be like McCarthyism on steroids, except that this time around the evidence is incontrovertible, and we won't let up until the government is squeaky clean.
Permalink Reply by Grace on Hi Judson:
Just thought you might want a little additional information on the miniature horse for vision impairment. The bottom line facts are: 1. Horses have a higher trainability level than dogs; 2. They live longer hence the person doesn't have to adjust develop a bond with a new animal every 7-10 years nor go through the emotional grieving of loss of that companion dog.
3. They have been trained to not kick, hold bodily functions, and less able to be distracted by other public influences than dogs. 4. Horses have a higher vertical/horizontal visual acuity than dogs.
Larger breed horses are also being used for search and rescue in larger open areas that had previously been reserved for dogs. That is because of the higher vertical/horizontal visual acuity they possess for unusual objects in an otherwise normal vision field for them. They can also cover more ground. I've been working with horses for over 30 years and we have found they can provide better visual assistance for those persons visually impaired. I don't know if there was a muslim connection or not when this was first worked on; but it's been in the works for over a decade since I've been in it.
Thanks much.
Permalink Reply by Nancy on If someone needs assistance, whether from a dog or a miniature horse, so be it. However, my concern, regarding either being in a restaurant are bugs (ie ticks/fleas) and passing along viruses to humans (not being sarcastic but sincere). Appreciate your knowledge of our four legged friends!
Permalink Reply by Ronald Sorrells on GOATS ??
Permalink Reply by Thomas Angle on Don't make me got places I do not want to go.
Permalink Reply by Mike Meeks on I am in the mobile home industry. We are hit daily with some new unwritten regulation. The way to stop these title
holders and office managers from making stupid rules is to put a name, ssn and date on their regulation. Let them be the
one that you sue for damages. Make them pay for their own lawyer. See how fast these dumb regulations stop.
We need to scrap everything and start over!!! For sure we need everyone in this administration, almost all in congress and almost all in the senate. This government is way out of control. The president thinks he is above the law. He thinks he is king obama. He must have forgot that he is in the United States. They most of the time leave me infuriated and speechless all at the same time. I know I'm deeply concerned for my loved America.
Permalink Reply by Walter Cleveland Tune on I remember years ago when OSHA had just become law. A family owned custom meat packing company was fined by the Feds because it did not have separate restrooms for male and female employees. There were two employee-owners, a husband and his wife. They had one restroom in their house, but they couldn't legally exist that way in their business.
I thought then that this was a precursor to bad things to come. Now I realize just how optimistic I was. I could never forsee what is happening today. We are not the "Land of the Free," We are the "Land of the Regulated." our Founding Fathers are spinning in their graves like a wood lathe.
Permalink Reply by Jason McRuer on These laws (at least the miniature horse ones) went in to place March 15th, 2011 and were first adopted in 2010. A little slow on the uptake here.
Permalink Reply by Grace on That's correct, Jason. Several horse farms started working on this about 10 years ago.
Permalink Reply by John S Bacsenko IV on We could be here all day....thinking of what goofy laws that the Obama administration will have fabricated next. Why don't they just revive Jim Florio's (D-Gov. NJ 90-94) law against runny eggs being served in restaurants. Maybe a 'department of lawn care' where Obama hires people to walk neighborhoods and measure citizens grass to make sure its not allowed to grow to high? Maybe legislation of waste water and a tax for people who flush their commodes to many times a day. The possibilities are endless......
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