Turning Citizens into Lawbreakers

Once upon a time doing business was pretty simple in America. Success was based on giving the customer what they wanted. It worked pretty well too, and the US became the most powerful economy on earth. Then the government got involved and every product you buy includes a hidden “cost of government” that makes it tougher to be competitive. It also turns many into lawbreakers.

About the only thing they have not regulated yet is how much air you breathe or flatulence you produce. Some have joked that they too may one day be regulated, or at least taxed. But based on the track record of ever increasing government regulations, even that may pass one day from the ridiculous to the possible.

One area already regulated is how much water flow you can "experience." The Federal Energy Act of 1992 passed a law that "all faucet fixtures manufactured in the US restrict water flow at or below 2.5 gal per minute at a water pressure of 80 psi. Works fine right? Well not for those of us who don't get that sort of pressure. So we, like many people in the US remove our flow restriction devices and become lawbreakers. Will one day agents from the "Proletariat of Water Use (POW-U)" show up and drag lawbreakers away? It all depends on when some governmental entity decides they want to compel compliance and need a few examples to put fear into the hearts of the lawless.

The Bureaucrat in Your Shower describes how nutty it has all become. One company beat the feds at their own game after noting that the restriction is based on "per shower head." So it sells multiple shower head units to give the customers what they want. But don't tell the Fed's - they may pass a law soon that tells you how long a shower you can take and turn even more in the nation into lawbreakers.

What's next toilets? Washing machines? Nope ... they already passed laws that cover how much water they use too. Next time you stay in some swanky new hotel and have to flush repeatedly, don’t blame the management. Blame the central planners of the Federal Government.

The humor in all this is that it doesn't have to be like this. There is already a much more efficient way of regulating water use. It is an old fashioned idea - called price.