ScaifeNet because we can't let Soros have all the fun...

With the economy mired in a recession, the U.S. House of Representatives are going to spend time not cutting taxes or limiting the growth of government, but instead to honor Confucius. H.Res. 784 - "Honoring the 2560th anniversary of the birth of Confucius and recognizing his invaluable contributions to philosophy and social and political thought." Rep. Al Green (D-TX) is the sponsor. HT: The Republican Study Committee

California regulators are set to pass the nation's first ban on power-hungry TVs.

Over the weekend, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger created a state blueberry commission and new labeling requirements for honey. He's also allowing cows to keep their tails. I'm not making any of this up. It's all true...unfortunately.

From the Daily Mail in London:

Householders could be fined £1,000 if they throw food scraps and potato peelings into the dustbin under a Government 'zero waste' policy.

They will be forced to sift through their rubbish for anything that can be recycled, reused, rotted or burnt for electricity.

[...]The plans are due to be outlined at a 'waste summit' aimed at finding new ways to halve the 62million tons of rubbish sent to landfill each year.

Here's the background from the Wall Street Journal:

In the early 1960s, Europe put high tariffs on imported chicken, taking aim at rising U.S. sales to West Germany. President Johnson retaliated in 1963, in part by targeting German-made Volkswagens with a tax on imports of foreign-made trucks and commercial vans.

The 1960s went the way of love beads and sitar records, but the chicken tax never died. Europe still has a tariff on imports of U.S. chicken, and the U.S. still hits delivery vans imported from overseas with a 25% tariff. American companies have to pay, too, which puts Ford in the weird position of circumventing U.S. trade rules that for years have protected U.S. auto makers' market for trucks.

So how does Ford circumvent these trade rules? They import vans that are designed as passenger vans (which are hit with only a 2.5% tariff), but then retool them (take out back seats and remove rear windows) so they can become commercial vans. In other words, they are forced to spend hundreds of dollars instead of thousands of dollars because of the stupid 25% tariff on commercial vans. More here.

So needless. So dumb.

From the Austin Statesman in Texas:

Joe Grondin has been a barber for more than 30 years. But there are some questions that, until very recently, he had never really pondered.

For example: "At what point on a man's sideburn does hair end and the beard begin?"

Or: "When does a trim become a shave?"

"It's crazy to be thinking about this," he admitted.

It might even be splitting hairs. But to Texas' 13,000 or so barbers, matters of shaving are worth fighting over. While state law permits both cosmetologists and barbers to groom hair, state regulators have consistently ruled that only barbers may scrape a man's cheeks.

Read the whole thing. It gets worse. Mind-numbingly worse.

From the New York Post:

The owner of a Financial District tobacco shop was amazed to learn he was violating the law by offering his customers a free cup of joe while they legally puffed away on his cigars.

Vince Nastri III, the third-generation owner of Barclay Rex -- where bankers, City Hall staffers, lawyers and detectives smoke while sitting in plush leather chairs or browsing in the walk-in humidor -- complained that the city is "trying to take away my livelihood over a cop of coffee."

[...] Nastri first got into hot water on June 10, when Health Department inspectors arrived at his shop, at 75 Broad St., to check out a complaint that cigar odor was wafting to the building's upper floors.

The inspectors decided the complaint was unfounded. But one inspector pointed out the coffee machine, which customers used gratis to make themselves espressos, lattes and cappuccinos.

"That's illegal," the inspector pronounced -- and issued Nastri a citation, which can lead to fines ranging from $200 to $2,000.

Nastri found himself in a classic Catch-22 situation.

To serve coffee -- even free coffee -- he needs a permit to operate a food-service establishment. But smoking is banned in food-service establishments.

If something is annoying, make it illegal! From USA Today:

Tired of overhead bins stuffed to the point of bursting, some frequent fliers say they would welcome a strictly enforced limit on the size of carry-ons that is being proposed in Congress. Legislation proposed by Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., would set a federal standard for the maximum size of bags a passenger can carry on board — a decision currently left to each airline.

"It's clear if anything is going to be done, it's going to take an act of Congress to do it," says Lipinski, whose district includes Chicago's Midway Airport. "The airlines are not enforcing their own restrictions that they have on the books right now … and that causes problems."

UPDATE: Ryan Young at the American Spectator writes me, "Rep. Lipinski’s checked bag bill may be the result of rent-seeking. The main luggage handler union, along with multiple airlines gave money to Rep. Lipinski’s campaign last year. If the bill passes, they should easily recoup their investment. I wrote an article on it last month.

My good friend Kristina Rasmussen from the Illinois Policy Institute points out this dumb law that Gov. Pat Quinn just signed today. It's chock full of protectionism, bad economics, and it hurts those who are less fortunate.

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:

Seattle voters think a couple of bucks a week added to their grocery bill is too much green to spend on a "green" initiative.

Referendum No. 1, the disposable grocery bag tax, was soundly defeated, according to early election returns Tuesday night. The measure, which was failing 58 percent to 42 percent, would've charged shoppers 20-cents per paper and plastic grocery bag.

I'm a BIG FAN of Houston's Restaurant. They have one on the "plaza" in Kansas City that serves the best baby back ribs in the world. They also have one close to DC - in Bethesda under the name "Woodmont Grill" - so I don't have to travel to far to enjoy their amazing food. So I was naturally joyful when I read this article:

California-based restaurant chain Houston’s doesn’t like New York City’s calorie labeling law, and it has refused to submit to it, setting the stage for a battle with city health officials.

[...]The city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene disagrees. Charged with enforcing the calorie rule, the agency fined the two Houston’s for noncompliance in December. The chain has no intention of complying and will defend its position in court before an administrative law judge on Sept. 1.

It is likely the only challenge of its kind to the city’s 14-month-old rule that has resulted in national fast-food companies like McDonald’s and pricey chop houses like Capital Grille posting calorie information on their menus. Moreover, as copycat legislation spreads across the country like wildfire, and a national proposal is mulled in Congress, it is a case that will surely be watched.

Show your support. Eat at Houston's.

Hawaii has a new dumb law. Good luck with compliance. From the Honolulu Advertiser:

A new bill signed into law this month by Gov. Linda Lingle has some frequent Las Vegas visitors and local CPAs scratching their heads.

Under House Bill 1495, no longer will gamblers be able to offset their winnings with their losses for Hawai'i state income tax purposes. Previously gamblers would be taxed only on their net winnings, but now they will be taxed on gross winnings.

A Hawai'i resident who wins $10,000 in a year, for example, and loses $9,000 in the same year used to be taxed only on the $1,000 in net winnings. Under the new law, that resident would be taxed on the full $10,000 in winnings.

Even if you end up a net loser, you will still be taxed on whatever you won along the way.

Dennis Kohara, a certified public accountant in Honolulu, called the law "ridiculous." "You sit down at the blackjack table. You win a hand. You lose the next one. You win another hand. You lose the next one," he said. And, under the new law, you now owe taxes on all the winning hands, which are not offset by any of the losing hands, Kohara said.