Florida Governor considers ending modern civilization

[benji]

http://www.forbes.com/2011/04/04/florid ... ellor.html

If Americans want to see how to create jobs, they should stop looking to Washington, D.C. for answers and turn their attention southward to Florida. There, as a means of reducing the state's higher-than-national-average unemployment rate, Gov. Rick Scott has proposed eliminating job-killing licensing requirements in 20 occupations, ranging from auto repair shops to ballroom dance studios and hair braiders.

But businesses that have long benefited from government-enforced cartels in these occupations aren't giving up without a fight. The most vocal of those seeking to maintain their protected status are interior designers. Florida is one of only three states that regulates the practice of interior design; the other two are Louisiana and Nevada. Even though no less than the Florida Attorney General's office has admitted there is no evidence that interior design licensing has benefited the public in any way, the designers' cartel has hired a high-powered lobbyist to wage an aggressive PR campaign to remove interior design from the should-be deregulated industries.

Among other efforts, the cartel bused in interior design students to Tallahassee from across the state to tell legislators that their degrees would become "worthless" if other people could freely practice interior design in Florida the way they can in 47 other states. One designer claimed that allowing just anyone to practice interior design would contribute to 88,000 deaths annually because of poor fabric selection. Another offered bizarre assertions about how color schemes affect salivation and autonomic nervous systems.

Hell on Earth. Literally.

[x-uNdErRaTeD-z]

Damn and I live in Florida. FML. I'm currently working up to my bachelors and then I'm planning to go to an engineering school, hope this shite don't mess me up.

[koberulz]

Damn and I live in Florida. FML. I'm currently working up to my bachelors and then I'm planning to go to an engineering school, hope this shite don't mess me up.

If benji ever says anything you agree with, chances are he's being sarcastic.

About damn time someone did something like this.

[shadowgrin]

People don't trust benji?

[Andrew]

Unqualified mechanics? That could be a problem. 88,000 deaths due to poor fabric or colour choices, the result of interior designers without a degree? Possibly an exaggeration. Possibly.

[benji]

Unqualified mechanics? That could be a problem.

They wouldn't be unqualified. They'd merely no longer be required to be licensed by the state and thus unable to cartelize their industry through the force of the state.

There already exists plenty of independent certification methods provided entirely by market forces for example: http://www.ase.com/

Indeed, the two largest counties in Florida, at the very least, require ASE Certification as a requirement before licenses are granted. The extra layer is merely protection money paid to the state and its officials so they limit the supply of your field and increase costs for customers.

[Andrew]

My mistake, I was thinking of certification when they're actually talking about licensing. In any case, I still suspect the interior designers are overreacting just a smidge.

[benji]

I've added your name to the list of deniers once the fabric-related Holocaust comes.

[Andrew]

I'm not denying it completely, I'm just suggesting they'll fudge the numbers as part of an interior designer conspiracy.

[Laxation]

if they came up with a number like 10, it might be worth saying... but 88000? what the fuck? im so confused... is this an Onion article or something?

[Andrew]

It's from Forbes so I'm guessing it's legit. It's kind of a weird number for the interior designers who have spoken out on this to have come up with.

[benji]

I was busy so I couldn't update, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 15376.html

Among the scenarios they've conjured: flammable carpets sparking infernos; porous countertops spreading bacteria; jail furnishings being turned into weapons.

The thought of "someone in my position that thinks they know what they're doing because they watched HGTV for two weeks scares me," licensed interior designer Terra Sherlock said at a hearing in March.

Another licensed designer, Michelle Earley, argued that use of the wrong fabrics in hospitals could spread infection. By deregulating, she told lawmakers, "what you're basically doing is contributing to 88,000 deaths every year," citing a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on deaths from hospital-acquired infections.

Though the CDC study doesn't mention interior design as a cause of infections, Ms. Earley says that bacteria can spread if moisture-resistant fabrics aren't used on things like chairs and mattresses. That, in turn, can lead to urinary tract infections, staph and other life-threatening conditions, she says.

Interior design "sounds like this simple hanging curtains on a wall," said Ms. Earley in an interview. But "it only takes a couple things to go wrong for people to lose their lives."

[shadowgrin]

A bill making its way through the state legislature, however, would deregulate the occupation, along with more than a dozen others, including yacht brokers and hair braiders.

phpBB [video]

[Andrew]

Well, I'm convinced.

[benji]

Finally, you no longer accept our infected children being stabbed in prison while on fire.