Biden Echoes Libertarians' Call on Occupational Licensing | RealClearPolitics - Philip Wegman:
May 9 2019 - "Speaking before the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers before declaring his third bid for the presidency, Biden settled on one example in particular: occupational licensing reform. 'You know if you are a hair braider, you braid people’s hair, you have to get a license to do something like 400 hours of training,' he said before ... concluding that licensing requirements were part of a greater unseen effort 'not to help the worker.'
"The union crowd in Washington, D.C., gave the gaffe-prone politician a laugh, and three weeks later at his presidential campaign kickoff, Biden recycled the talking point. 'Why should someone who braids hair have to get 600 hours of training? It makes no sense,' he told another labor crowd, this one packed into a union hall in Pittsburgh. 'They’re making it harder and harder in a whole range of professions, all to keep competition down.'
"The union members in the crowd and the workers standing behind the candidate applauded again -- reliably Democratic voters all cheering the kind of government deregulation that has been the pet project of libertarian billionaires like Charles and David Koch for half a decade....
"Well known to limited-government types, occupational licensing reform is the sort of thing discussed by wonks at libertarian think tanks. Until now, the issue hasn’t been fodder for presidential politics. This could change, thanks to Biden, and it could begin a larger national discussion about state and local licensing rules that govern everything from hair braiding to pet walking.
"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly half of U.S. workers hold an occupational license, a dramatic increase since 1950 when just 5% of the workforce held such permits. Attorneys, construction contractors, and surgeons are all expected to obtain legal certification to ensure quality and public safety. But critics complain that licensing requirements have gone too far when hairdressers and interior decorators have to obtain permission from the government to do their jobs....
"Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ... Democrat and close Biden ally ... eliminated licensing requirements for more than a dozen jobs.... Pennsylvania barbers were required to train for 1,250 hours, pass written exams, and spend thousands of dollars just to legally give a buzz cut. And anyone who want[ed] to auction off antiques, manage a campground, or even sell cemetery plots in his state had to obtain legal certification to do so. Critics like Wolf argue that those hoops do more to harm workers looking for opportunity than they do to protect consumers.
"Biden agrees and the longtime liberal is getting rare accolades from an unusual source for making the argument: the conservative Koch network.... Erica Jedynak, director of employment initiatives at the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, told RealClearPolitics that Biden’s comments show the 'issue is now coming to the forefront'....
"Clark Neily, a vice president at the libertarian CATO Institute, is normally no fan of the former vice president ... Neily told RCP, but Biden is a persuasive politician who has grasped onto 'something that is fundamentally true, namely that occupational licensing is destroying the engine of American prosperity.... If he is prepared to translate that into terms his constituency can understand and respond to, it’s going to be a winning message,' Neily said. If Biden [also] backed the libertarian case for further criminal justice reform, the CATO scholar added, 'heck, I might even vote for him.'”
Read more: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2019/05/09/biden_echoes_libertarians_call_on_occupational_licensing_140280.html
'via Blog this'
May 9 2019 - "Speaking before the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers before declaring his third bid for the presidency, Biden settled on one example in particular: occupational licensing reform. 'You know if you are a hair braider, you braid people’s hair, you have to get a license to do something like 400 hours of training,' he said before ... concluding that licensing requirements were part of a greater unseen effort 'not to help the worker.'
"The union crowd in Washington, D.C., gave the gaffe-prone politician a laugh, and three weeks later at his presidential campaign kickoff, Biden recycled the talking point. 'Why should someone who braids hair have to get 600 hours of training? It makes no sense,' he told another labor crowd, this one packed into a union hall in Pittsburgh. 'They’re making it harder and harder in a whole range of professions, all to keep competition down.'
"The union members in the crowd and the workers standing behind the candidate applauded again -- reliably Democratic voters all cheering the kind of government deregulation that has been the pet project of libertarian billionaires like Charles and David Koch for half a decade....
"Well known to limited-government types, occupational licensing reform is the sort of thing discussed by wonks at libertarian think tanks. Until now, the issue hasn’t been fodder for presidential politics. This could change, thanks to Biden, and it could begin a larger national discussion about state and local licensing rules that govern everything from hair braiding to pet walking.
"According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly half of U.S. workers hold an occupational license, a dramatic increase since 1950 when just 5% of the workforce held such permits. Attorneys, construction contractors, and surgeons are all expected to obtain legal certification to ensure quality and public safety. But critics complain that licensing requirements have gone too far when hairdressers and interior decorators have to obtain permission from the government to do their jobs....
"Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ... Democrat and close Biden ally ... eliminated licensing requirements for more than a dozen jobs.... Pennsylvania barbers were required to train for 1,250 hours, pass written exams, and spend thousands of dollars just to legally give a buzz cut. And anyone who want[ed] to auction off antiques, manage a campground, or even sell cemetery plots in his state had to obtain legal certification to do so. Critics like Wolf argue that those hoops do more to harm workers looking for opportunity than they do to protect consumers.
"Biden agrees and the longtime liberal is getting rare accolades from an unusual source for making the argument: the conservative Koch network.... Erica Jedynak, director of employment initiatives at the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, told RealClearPolitics that Biden’s comments show the 'issue is now coming to the forefront'....
"Clark Neily, a vice president at the libertarian CATO Institute, is normally no fan of the former vice president ... Neily told RCP, but Biden is a persuasive politician who has grasped onto 'something that is fundamentally true, namely that occupational licensing is destroying the engine of American prosperity.... If he is prepared to translate that into terms his constituency can understand and respond to, it’s going to be a winning message,' Neily said. If Biden [also] backed the libertarian case for further criminal justice reform, the CATO scholar added, 'heck, I might even vote for him.'”
'via Blog this'
No comments:
Post a Comment