Quote :

"“I was having a discussion with someone, and we were at a Starbucks in my district, and we were talking about certain regulations where I felt like ‘maybe you should allow businesses to opt out,'" the senator said. Tillis said his interlocutor was in disbelief, and asked whether he thought businesses should be allowed to "opt out" of requiring employees to wash their hands after using the restroom. The senator said he'd be fine with it, so long as businesses made this clear in "advertising" and "employment literature." “I said: ‘I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says “We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom,” Tillis said. “The market will take care of that," he added, to laughter from the audience."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/thom-tillis-washing-hands-toilet

If you don't like TPM as a source (fair enough), here's a video of him saying it: http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4526152/tillis

I don't think Tillis's position has a lot of merit because I have the capacity to take ideas to their logical conclusion, but I'm interesting in hearing what other people have to say about it.

2/3/2015 2:43:00 PM

Isn't this just exchanging one regulation for another? "Employees must wash hands" to "Employees must wash hands unless a 8x10 sign is displayed in X font on Y number of places blah blah blah"?

2/3/2015 3:03:35 PM

yes

2/3/2015 4:30:32 PM

What a fucking idiot.

2/3/2015 4:55:55 PM

Thom "doodoo hands" Tillis

2/3/2015 6:47:24 PM

Quote :

"Isn't this just exchanging one regulation for another? "Employees must wash hands" to "Employees must wash hands unless a 8x10 sign is displayed in X font on Y number of places blah blah blah"? "

exactly. and it would cost more to regulate and deal with the bullshit of placing the employees don't wash hands sign. dumbfuckery at its best

2/3/2015 8:18:25 PM

what the fuck...I mean, yeah, the free market would probably drive under such restaurants, and having it be a regulation doesn't mean that people actually always wash, and you should be free to eat a feces sandwich if you want, I suppose...

but what exactly in the fuck is the problem that Mr. Tillis is trying to solve?

2/3/2015 11:19:11 PM

Quote :

"but what exactly in the fuck is the problem that Mr. Tillis is trying to solve?"

Oppressive government regulation, obviously.

FREE MARKETS >> REGULATIONS, IN ALL CASES.

2/3/2015 11:31:17 PM

Quote :

"exactly. and it would cost more to regulate and deal with the bullshit of placing the employees don't wash hands sign. dumbfuckery at its best "

Not that this is a good idea, but it would probably break even. The "must wash hands" signs are already required (http://ehs.ncpublichealth.com/faf/docs/foodprot/NC-FoodCodeManual-2009-FINAL.pdf, 6-301.14) so basically all we'd be doing is trading one regulated sign for another.

2/3/2015 11:56:42 PM

Quote :

"but what exactly in the fuck is the problem that Mr. Tillis is trying to solve?"

As I understand it he was giving a speech, and cited the handwashing thing as an (extreme) example of his "bias against regulation." He wasn't actually going out and proposing that we submit legislation or anything.

I think Tillis is a dipshit and North Carolinians should hang their heads in shame for having elected him, but this particular issue seems to be getting a lot more attention than it merits.

Come to that, I'm not exactly pro-hand-washing sign anyway. The signs we currently have just fade into the background, they're so common and bland. Getting people to wash their hands is absurdly difficult. Doctors in hospitals presumably know the risks of unwashed hands and have a lot more at stake than a burger flipper, but:

Quote :

"In 2834 observed opportunities for handwashing, average compliance was 48%. In multivariate analysis, noncompliance was higher among physicians"

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=712481

Some hospitals have managed to improve these numbers a lot, but only through really aggressive campaigns. Putting up another beige sign in McDonald's don't cut it.

Of course, the government can't really be in the business of aggressively pursuing handwashing in every eatery in the US, and I wouldn't trust companies to undertake these efforts on their own, so I'm not really proposing an alternate solution. Just saying I don't think the signs do much.

2/4/2015 5:17:46 AM

It's not about the sign GrumpyGOP; it's about the hand-washing regulation behind the sign.

2/4/2015 9:29:22 AM

This guy is a moran.

2/4/2015 9:51:28 AM

im especially fond of the sinking feeling inside when i see how dirty the sign is

2/4/2015 10:29:04 AM

The government doesn't need to inspect meat, just post a copy of The Jungle at the front of the store

2/4/2015 11:16:15 AM

the free market will take care of this. sure, a few people may need to die of ecoli or other such preventable deaths, but eventually people will stop shopping at restaurants that murder people

it's just a proxy for him saying he's and anti-vaxer without getting the label

2/4/2015 11:18:57 AM

if measles issues a press-release that it's dangerous, i see no reason for regulations about vaccination

2/4/2015 11:43:26 AM