Union Bosses Dupe "Unlicensed" Blogger

In his blog today, John Micek makes a couple of jokes about "Joe the Plumber" - probably to avoid being called "Rat Rat Rat" by union bosses (who promise not to intimidate workers if card check passes), as Joe the Plumber was, a at rally against card check in Harrisburg.

His jokes only illustrate the myths that union bosses continue to perpetuate:

[Joe the Plumber] who, you'd think, would be a big fan of unions, being a plumber and all.

Why would I think that? Only 30% of pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamlayers are union members - more than 2 out of 3 choose not to join or form a union. And opposing card-check has nothing to do with being anti-union, but opposing legislation that would take away workers' rights. In fact 74% of union households oppose card check.

Oh ... wait ... he's not really a plumber.

Micek is fooled into thinking that the definition of a plumber is someone who got a plumber's license from government, rather than noting that occupational licensing in merely another tool unions and special interest groups use to intimidate their competitors.

For instance, as a case in point, does anyone really believe Micek's reporting would improve if he obtained a Reporter's License from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania? Or better yet, his Blogger's License?

Union Intimidation in Action

Unions claim they won't use intimidation as one of their tactics if the Employee Free Choice Act, a.k.a. "Card Check" is passed, eliminating the secret ballot in union elections. But their behavior at a rally held by those opposed to card check, as described by the Post-Gazette, illustrate exactly what workers should fear when these organizers show up at their homes.

As Mr. Wurzelbacher ["Joe the Plumber"] characterized the labor measure as a threat to democracy, many members of the crowd of more than 100 cheered enthusiastically. But their approbation competed with calls of "liar," "pay your taxes," and a few more colorful words from the sizable union contingent that had migrated from a demonstration outside to infiltrate the audience in the Green Tree Radisson.

The saga of Joe the Plumber is one of constant intimidation by unions and their political allies. Officials with the state of Ohio illegally released private information about Wurzelbacher after he asked Obama a tough question, revealing he owed back taxes - putting him in a category with about two-thirds of Obama's cabinet appointees.

The unions then went after the fact the Joe "the Plumber" didn't have a plumber's license from the local government. But professional licensing is just another tool used by unions, business cartels, and special interest groups to undermine their competition. Innocuous professions like plumber, eBay sellers, drivers for the Amish, hair braiders, tour guides, and the like are subject to harassment under the guise of occupational licensing - frequently having their right to earn a living in their chosen profession revoked.

The long history of union intimidation is just one reason why the secret ballot must be preserved.

Rocky Balboa and the trouble with occupational licensing

The Moving Pictures Institute has put together the clip from Rocky Balboa in which Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) fights the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission for his right to box.



"It's your right to listen to your gut, it ain't nobody's right to say no after you earned the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do!" says Rocky Balboa, whom I have referenced previously in discussions of Occupational Licensing.

A couple of other links from the blogosphere on this topic:

• Out of Control looks at occupational licensing in the saga of Joe the Plumber (we addressed that topic as well):

As numerous economic studies have shown, government licensing standards do not improve consumer health and safety. In fact, oftentimes, licensing causes product or service quality and consumer safety to decrease. This is because licensing requirements are often arbitrary and not necessarily related to practical job skills or knowledge, and the false sense of security that a license provides causes people to be less discriminating about who they do business with. In addition, licensing raises the costs of doing business, thereby reducing competition and allowing the licensees to charge more than they could in a free market. These artificially high prices have consequences, causing people to do more dangerous do-it-yourself work, reduce their medical visits, or resort to black markets. Studies have shown, for example, that electrocution rates are higher in places where there are stricter electrician licensing laws and states with stricter dental licensing laws had the highest incidence of poor dental hygiene.

• The SPN Blog notes that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford is actually fighting back against occupational licensing, particularly in the cases of shampooers and fortune tellers.  That's right, in SC you have to get approval from the government to put shampoo in someone else's hair or predict the future.
  

The Fight for Free Speech in Philadelphia

This week Americans exercised their right to vote, but three tour guides in Philadelphia are fighting to keep their right to free speech. In July three tour guides sued the city of Philadelphia with the help of the Institute for Justice in response to a new law requiring those who give tours for compensation to take and pass a government-approved test in order to obtain a license or be subject to a $300 fine.

After a federal court hearing on October 6th the city agreed to prohibit the enforcement of the law for six months (the law was set to take effect on October 13th). IJ attorney Bob McNamara explains,

"The main point we were making to the judge is that the Constitution protects people's right to speak for a living, whether they're tour guides, whether they're stand-up comedians, or whether they're journalists. Fundamentally in this country, we rely on people to decide on who they want to listen to. We do not rely on the government to decide who gets to talk."

An attack on free speech in the city where these rights were born is not only ironic, but part of a growing trend to regulate through the guise of occupational licensing. In the past year alone the Pennsylvania Legislature has passed licensure requirements for massage therapists and ebay sellers; all together Pennsylvania requires licenses for 62 professions. For more information read IJ’s primer on occupational licensing, Reason’s Policy Study and Steve Albert’s discussion of occupational licensing in Pennsylvania.

Which is more destructive - high taxes or occupational licensing

"Joe the Plumber" has made lots of headlines - since he put the screws to Barack Obama about how Obama's tax increases might affect him - but this one really bothers me. The AP is reporting that "Joe" may not be a real plumber, because he isn't licensed by the state of Ohio (though his employer is).

Thus, the media shows the mentality that has led to over-regulation of our economy. Should he really need a license to practice plumbing? Does the state government really have a means to evaluate his plumbing qualifications?

Professional licensing - of plumbers, hair braiders, eBay sellers, massage therapists, tour guides, boxers, and the rest - are just tools of the special interests to create their own cartels, harming both would-be professionals and consumers. As Reason's report on occupational licensing in states notes,

In areas with licensing restrictions on plumbers, for example, retail sales of plumbing equipment
are higher because people resort to doing their own plumbing work.

While Ohio's 88 licensed occupations outnumbers Pennsylvania's 62, it hardly makes Pennsylvania a friendly state to do business. As Stephen Albert writes:

While the state requires 1,250 hours of classroom training to become a cosmetologist or a barber, it only requires 750 hours to become a police officer, 125.5 hours to become an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and a mere 40 hours for a privately employed security officer to carry a lethal weapon.

Expensive and repressive, these requirements prohibit individuals from entering into their desired professions. Those without sufficient means to obtain the educational requirements are most affected by these regulations. While passed under the guise of protecting the consumer from bad businesses or providing for the “public safety,” these mandates serve only to protect existing businesses from new competition and contribute to Pennsylvania’s poor rankings as places to do business.

Unfortunately, Joe the Plumber's complaint about high taxes has led the advocates of big government to crack down on him. If Joe was found to be violating Ohio's law, by plumbing without a license - even though no one has complained and he may have done fantastic work - he could be fined and barred from practicing his chosen profession. The power of the state in occupational licensing is every bit as repressive as high taxes, destructive to our economy, and potentially shattering Joe's dreams.

Don't know much about history?

In another example of professional licensing run amok, the city of Philadelphia is cracking down on tour guides, requiring history training and a license fee to be able to charge money for tours. (HT: Grassroots PA)

The city claims it doesn't wan't incorrect information spread - like that the statue to the right is Ben Franklin, when it is really William Penn.

Recently the state has gone after massage therapists, people giving rides to the Amish, eBay sellers, and sixty-two year old fictional boxers - all in the name of "public safety." But this time, the tour guides are striking back and suing for their freedom of speech and right to make a living without government intervention.

State to save us from danger of unauthorized massages

The PA House voted 193-5 to create a new board to license massage therapists (HT GrassrootsPA). The board will collect licensing fees fees, certify educational requirements, test would-be masseurs, and punish those who massage illegally.

The five legislators who think that state government preventing people from earning a living by touching your back isn't such an amazing idea are Ellis, Hutchinson, Metcalfe, Moul, and Perry (all Republicans). The lead sponsor of this bill, Keith McCall uses the old justification "well lots of other states are doing it" (in my head, this line is voiced by Bullwinkle Moose, rather than McCall).

For more on what other states are doing, and why it doesn't benefit the public, here is a Reason study (which was discussed on The BOX). You should also read Steve Albert's commentary on more inane regulation in Pennsylvania, and the Institute for Justice report detailing how professional licensing is used to create and protect industry cartels.

Big Business loves Big Government

Michael G. Franc in NRO Online analyzes a seemingly suprising fundraising advantage by Democratic candidates among corporate CEOs - surprising given that Democrats continue to call for higher taxes, more government spending, and increased regulation, while corporate "fat cats" are usually portrayed as free-market advocates.

But this is hardly the case. Big business loves big government.

I recently hearing PA Auditor General Jack Wagner pander to a business group by lauding a corporate welfare program which his audit found to be flawed, unaccountable, and wasteful. Apparently many of the business leaders, while calling for lower business taxes, also have their hand in the taxpayer cookie jar and have received handouts. This made me realize that it is big business associations, not labor unions, radical environmentalists, or Karl Marx, that are to blame for big government.

In Federalist Number 10, Madison writes of the need for a large republic to protection against faction with republican institutions and a diversity of interests due to size. The factions he names are not rich vs. poor, property owners vs. the property-less, or labor vs. management, but business interests like manufacturing, mercantilists, farmers, and “monied interests” (i.e. investors). Madison hoped these special interests would never be able to form a majority to use the power of government for their own advantage.

Unfortunately, as public choice theory teaches, special interests have banded together to abuse the powers of government. Government is now so pervasive that if effects virtually every type of business. Today’s government has grown so as to have a pot of money large enough to hand out to numerous factions/special interests. Regulation is more often used to protect existing business than to help citizens (see, for instance, professional licensure).

Unfortunately, too many business groups want to have their cake and eat it too. They might want lower taxes, but they also want big government to provide them with corporate welfare handouts and use its regulatory powers to crush their competitors.

PUC goes after Amish transport

The Pennsylvania Utility Commission is cracking down on individuals giving rides to the Amish, read the Lancaster Online story and the WGAL story.

The Post-Gazette also covered this issue noting "Officers have been staking out and confronting drivers who are believed to accept money for transporting Amish people"

For more on this issue, read my commentary that discusses deregulating transportation providers. For more on professional regulation, read Steve Albert's commentary and check out the Reason report on occupation licensing in the states. Rocky Balboa also has a lot to say about this.

Professional licensing and the Italian Stallion

In light of recent news about state licensing boards going after eBay sellers and our discussion of professional licensing boards in Government on a Diet, here are some thoughts on occupational freedom by the eminent economic philosopher ... Rocky Balboa.

While Rocky is not as articulate as Milton Friedman on this issue (and the "Boxing Commissioner"/Stallone confuse the Bill of Rights with the Declaration of Independence), the naive dialog between Rocky and the fictionalized version of the State Athletic Commission gets the point across:

Rocky Balboa: Yo, don't I got some rights?

Boxing Commissioner: What rights do you think you're referring to?

Rocky Balboa: Rights, like in that official piece of paper they wrote down the street there?

Boxing Commissioner: That's the Bill of Rights.

Rocky Balboa: Yeah, yeah. Bill of Rights. Don't it say something about going after what makes you happy?

Boxing Commissioner: No, that's the pursuit of happiness. But what's your point

Rocky Balboa: My point is I'm pursuing something and nobody looks too happy about it.

Boxing Commissioner: But... we're just looking out for your interests.

Rocky Balboa: I appreciate that, but maybe you're looking out for your interests just a little bit more. I mean you shouldn't be asking people to come down here and pay the freight on something they paid, it still ain't good enough, I mean you think that's right? I mean maybe you're doing your job but why you gotta stop me from doing mine? Cause if you're willing to go through all the battling you got to go through to get where you want to get, who's got the right to stop you? I mean maybe some of you guys got something you never finished, something you really want to do, something you never said to someone, something... and you're told no, even after you paid your dues? Who's got the right to tell you that, who? Nobody! It's your right to listen to your gut, it ain't nobody's right to say no after you earned the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do!... You know, the older I get the more things I gotta leave behind, that's life. The only thing I'm asking you guys to leave on the table... is what's right.

Pennsylvania takes on online auctions

Philadelphia Inquirer story on the state's pursuit of eBay sellers with no auctioneer's license.

As we pointed out on this issue before, eBay's seller rating do a better job of protecting the public than state bureaucracy does. Consider the seller in the story here:

D&J Virtual Consignment had 11,000 feedback comments on eBay and 14 were negative, Pletz said, giving her a 99.9 percent satisfaction rating.

EBay sellers pushed to get auctioneer licenses

In an absurd extension of state power, the Board of Auctioneer Examiners in the State Department is trying to shut down EBay sellers (those selling on behalf on others). See Patriot-News story. One case in point:

Pletz said her daughter, Julia, was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor when she was 6 months old. Pletz, a dental hygienist, quit her job to care for Julia. For at-home work, Pletz started selling other people’s furniture, clothing and antiques on eBay.

By last Christmas, she had sold 10,000 items. A few days after the holiday, she said, a representative from the Department of State came to her house and told her she was breaking the law.

Pletz has shut down her business and faces action by the auctioneer examiners board. She said she and her attorney have been unable to determine whether her potential fine is a flat $1,000, or $1,000 for each item she sold — meaning a fine of $10 million.

Related news story here.

For anyone who believes this is about protecting consumers from fraudulent auctioneers (even though none of the EBays sellers they are pursuing is accused of fraud) rather than simple rent-seeking, ask yourself this - what do you put more stock in, an "auctioneer's license" or a high EBay rating.

For more on professional licensure, read Reason Foundation report on occupational licensing and Stephen Albert's commentary on the burden of regulation.

Occupational Licensing in the States

Reason Foundation report on occupational icensing in the 50 states and how these requirements prevent many individuals from entering into their chosen profession.

While Pennsylvania ranks somewhat low among the states - and has yet to require licenses for such occupations as Manure Spreaders and Junkyard Operators - we still require 150 hours of training at "accredited programs" for hair braiding and 200 hours of training for nail painting licenses, but only 40 hours for security guards to carry guns. Read Stephen Albert's commentary on the burden of regulation here.

Hair Braiding Drama

Patriot News article on the fear of unlicensed hair-braiders vs. the danger in regulatory professions (though they emphasize the former). Read Stephen Albert's commentary on the burdens of state licensing, which notes that you could be trained to become and EMT in one-third the time it takes become a licensed hair-braider and it takes one-seventh the training requirements to carry a gun as a security guard.

FYI, the rate for death by handguns slightly outpaces that for death by badly braided hair.

Fines for Sex without a License

Legislation proposed by State Rep. Keith McCall would require prospective massage therapists to take 600 hours of classroom training, have instruction in CPR and HIV, pass an exam, and pass a background and drug test to receive a license. The goal of this legislation - to protect the public from prostitution rings. How exactly would requiring training for all massage therapist eliminate the underground prostitution business? If we want to shut down "brothels fronting as massage parlors," then perhaps we should arrest them for prostitution, not fine them for unlicensed backrubs.

Check out Stephen Albert's commentary on the burdens of professional licensing

Pa. bureaucracy pursues a love of licensing

Read Commonwealth Foundation intern Stephen Albert's commentary on the regulation of economic freedom in today's York Dispatch.