I voted for the guy what wears the cowboy hat!



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02...50207.html

Quote:WASHINGTON -- In a speech expounding on the rift between rural America and Washington D.C., Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) vowed Thursday to use his funding powers to stop the Obama administration from implementing new child-labor rules pertaining to agricultural work, accusing the "urban" Labor Department of meddling in a "rural" industry it doesn't understand.

"This is one of those situations where I think the Department of Labor is overstepping its boundaries, its knowledge base, and frankly I think you're sitting around watching reruns of "Blazing Saddles" and that's your interpretation of what goes on in the West," Rehberg, who holds the Labor Department's purse strings for the House of Representatives, said as he lectured a labor official during a hearing Thursday. "And it's not anymore."

Last year, the Labor Department proposed new rules governing what kinds of potentially dangerous tasks minors can and cannot perform on farms and in grain facilities. Although child and worker advocates said the new rules were long overdue, the proposals created an uproar among farmers and agricultural trade groups, who argued that the rules could hurt family-farming traditions.

Although the original proposals largely exempted family farms, the Labor Department bowed yesterday to the farming industry, further widening the exemptions it had already put forward. But that didn't stop Rehberg and GOP members of the House agriculture subcommittee from piling on the department Thursday, using the hearing as an opportunity to put forth their rural bona fides.

Rehberg, a six-term congressman who's running to unseat Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), said he's a fifth-generation Montana rancher whose great grandfather, born in 1873, started breaking horses at age 11. Rehberg said he has "taken all the glamour" out of his ranching operation. "I don't rope and I don't tie and I don't brand with a hot iron," he went on, adding that he uses modern equipment that he said is virtually incapable of hurting children.

"You can't get hurt," Rehberg fumed. "It's impossible. You could have a five-year-old out there running it."

Rehberg added that he's previously employed a 10-year-old neighbor to herd cashmere goats with what he described as a Kawasaki youth motorcycle. "Now would that be exempt under this rule?" Rehberg demanded of Nancy J. Leppink, a deputy administrator in the Labor Department.

But neither Leppink nor Rehberg seemed entirely sure where motorcycle goat-herding would fall under the new rules.

"I've come to the conclusion in my 11 years in Congress that it isn't necessarily a difference in philosophy between Republicans and Democrats -- there's a difference in philosophy between urban and rural," Rehberg said. "I can assure you, as chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on labor, that you haven't seen the last of this. I will have a rider on my appropriations bill that I write for the House of Representatives that will keep you from implementing this rule."

This isn't the first time Rehberg has used his chairman's perch to take aim at workplace regulations. The budget Rehberg proposed in September would have scuttled several safety protections put forth by the Labor Department, including a rule designed to prevent construction workers from falling from rooftops and another rule meant to reduce repetitive-motion injuries.

Congressman Rehberg: Fighting for 10 year olds' freedom to lose their legs in grain augurs since 2000!

Because it's impossible, except when it isn't....

Quote:A group of more than 25 public health officials and advocates signed a letter last week to OMB official and regulatory czar Cass Sunstein, who oversees rule review at the agency, urging him to move the child labor rule along. The officials said the new rule may have prevented an accident in Oklahoma earlier this month in which two 17-year-old boys had their legs crushed when they were pulled into a grain augur.

"We hope this terrible event and the hundreds of other incidents that injure and kill young workers every year will compel you to release this draft proposal immediately," they wrote.

Max Power Wrote:A group of more than 25 public health officials and advocates signed a letter last week to OMB official and regulatory czar Cass Sunstein, who oversees rule review at the agency, urging him to move the child labor rule along. The officials said the new rule may have prevented an accident in Oklahoma earlier this month in which two 17-year-old boys had their legs crushed when they were pulled into a grain augur.

"We hope this terrible event and the hundreds of other incidents that injure and kill young workers every year will compel you to release this draft proposal immediately," they wrote.

Pretty sloppy. In this context, 17 year olds are not "boys." Nor are they in any way too young to work.

I worked detasselling when I was 13. Isn't that child labor?

(02-03-2012 12:32 PM)GeorgeBorkFan Wrote:  

Max Power Wrote:A group of more than 25 public health officials and advocates signed a letter last week to OMB official and regulatory czar Cass Sunstein, who oversees rule review at the agency, urging him to move the child labor rule along. The officials said the new rule may have prevented an accident in Oklahoma earlier this month in which two 17-year-old boys had their legs crushed when they were pulled into a grain augur.

"We hope this terrible event and the hundreds of other incidents that injure and kill young workers every year will compel you to release this draft proposal immediately," they wrote.

Pretty sloppy. In this context, 17 year olds are not "boys." Nor are they in any way too young to work.

It's also a different machine than mentioned in the first quote.

More trolling by max. Although one wonders if he realizes his food comes from farms and ranches.

I don't know if detasselling is that dangerous or would be covered by the new regulations. I think it has more to do with machinery, but I'm not too clear on it. Anyway, there are plenty of victims younger than 17.


Edit: Apparently it can be dangerous and might be.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/15...27551.html

Quote:The incident in Oklahoma comes just weeks after two 14-year-old girls were electrocuted and killed when they came into contact with an irrigator on a farm in Illinois, while another two were seriously injured in the incident. The workers were detasseling corn for agriculture giant Monsanto. The father of one of the girls who was killed has already filed suit against the company.

There are generally two sets of work safety rules for minors: Those related to agriculture and those related to all other industries. Justin Feldman, worker health and safety advocate for watchdog group Public Citizen, said he thought the agriculture-related rules are behind the times.

“It’s currently legal for children as young as 12 to have their lives put in danger by working in agriculture,” said Feldman. “The rules on the books now are antiquated and grossly inadequate.”

(02-03-2012 12:21 PM)Max Power Wrote:  Oh stop being such a drama queen..

"Rehberg added that he's previously employed a 10-year-old neighbor to herd cashmere goats with what he described as a Kawasaki youth motorcycle."

So a 10 year old who likely weight between 75-100 pounds was herding a bunch of goats that are 20 pounds (and a lot of that is hair) but he might have been riding this:



A bike which is about 3 feet tell, weighs less than 60 pounds, and has a top speed of *GASP* 15 MPH on a flat track, which translates to about 8mph on a grassy bumpy field.

Heck Kids beg their parents for these, and get them, as recreational tools. If those same parents, the ones who would buy their kid an ATV, would sign off on them riding around on this glorified scooter then why should the government have an issue?

This is not a 12 hour day in a coal mine with the kid missing school.

Quote:The officials said the new rule may have prevented an accident in Oklahoma earlier this month in which two 17-year-old boys had their legs crushed when they were pulled into a grain augur.

You do know 17 year olds can enlist in the military and work with really heavy equipment right?

A 17 YO is *not* a child and if this rule would have cut off a 17 year old (who can be out of high school) from holding a decent job then it was a bad rule.

(02-03-2012 12:42 PM)Max Power Wrote:  I don't know if detasselling is that dangerous or would be covered by the new regulations. I think it has more to do with machinery, but I'm not too clear on it. Anyway, there are plenty of victims younger than 17:


Edit: Apparently it is dangerous and would be.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/15...27551.html

Quote:The incident in Oklahoma comes just weeks after two 14-year-old girls were electrocuted and killed when they came into contact with an irrigator on a farm in Illinois, while another two were seriously injured in the incident. The workers were detasseling corn for agriculture giant Monsanto. The father of one of the girls who was killed has already filed suit against the company.

There are generally two sets of work safety rules for minors: Those related to agriculture and those related to all other industries. Justin Feldman, worker health and safety advocate for watchdog group Public Citizen, said he thought the agriculture-related rules are behind the times.

“It’s currently legal for children as young as 12 to have their lives put in danger by working in agriculture,” said Feldman. “The rules on the books now are antiquated and grossly inadequate.”

First of all, I would think libs could learn to spell "auger." It isn't "augur."

The girls killed detasselling were by Streator, I believe. They were in a field not owned by Monsanto. The irrigation equipment was hit by lighting previously and apparently zapped the electrical equipment. Current was bleeding through. The owner, an indpendent farmer, hadn't gotten it fixed.

They were killed by a pretty freak accident. The point being is that no matter what one's age was, a person in that position would have likely died. So, using it to argue for child labor laws is hollow.

I ask again, is 13 too young? If so, many, many jobs in your former college town will have to change.

(02-03-2012 12:32 PM)GeorgeBorkFan Wrote:  

Max Power Wrote:A group of more than 25 public health officials and advocates signed a letter last week to OMB official and regulatory czar Cass Sunstein, who oversees rule review at the agency, urging him to move the child labor rule along. The officials said the new rule may have prevented an accident in Oklahoma earlier this month in which two 17-year-old boys had their legs crushed when they were pulled into a grain augur.

"We hope this terrible event and the hundreds of other incidents that injure and kill young workers every year will compel you to release this draft proposal immediately," they wrote.

Pretty sloppy. In this context, 17 year olds are not "boys." Nor are they in any way too young to work.

I worked detasselling when I was 13. Isn't that child labor?

Hell I started working by selling balloons and toys at parades during the summer when I was 10. 10 years old 75 pounds and walking around in 90 degree heat with about 40 pounds of crap strapped to me for hours at a time. The boss was really good about keeping people hydrated and fed but long hours.

Best life lesson I could have had back then. I earned good money but had to work hard for it.

Is working as a lifeguard at a country club work? Cause that's about all I did from 15-18.

Luckily for me, I am not dead.

I counted plants, collected pollen, bagged silk, cross pollinated rows, and detassled corn from June til Aug for Pioneer Seeds. Where did you detassle corn George?

I supervised the brown people on my plantation...it was exhausting.

(02-03-2012 12:42 PM)Max Power Wrote:  I don't know if detasselling is that dangerous or would be covered by the new regulations. I think it has more to do with machinery, but I'm not too clear on it. Anyway, there are plenty of victims younger than 17.

The incident in Oklahoma comes just weeks after two 14-year-old girls were electrocuted and killed when they came into contact with an irrigator on a farm in Illinois, while another two were seriously injured in the incident. The workers were detasseling corn for agriculture giant Monsanto. The father of one of the girls who was killed has already filed suit against the company.

http://edition.channel5belize.com/archives/26129

Obviously we need laws preventing kids from being at home with just on parent, or laws preventing a perent from being in the bathroom while a child is home, or laws banning extension cords..

Quote:The fatal incident occurred at about four p.m. when the child was at home with his step-father and his mother, a traffic warden, was at work. News Five understands that the step-father was inside the bathroom when Jay-Jay tripped over the cord of a fan that was joined in several places

Accidents, awful accidents, happen at home, work, school, and play.

(02-03-2012 12:54 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  I counted plants, collected pollen, bagged silk, cross pollinated rows, and detassled corn from June til Aug for Pioneer Seeds. Where did you detassle corn George?

I worked for the good guys, Dekalb, at that point, now owned by Monsanto. I detassled for one year, and the next three I worked on a research farm doing yield counts and then pollinating later in the season. Over spring break, I worked in the office, setting up the planting for the next season.

(02-03-2012 12:53 PM)Lord Stanley Wrote:  Is working as a lifeguard at a country club work? Cause that's about all I did from 15-18.

Luckily for me, I am not dead.

That's cutting it pretty close. CPS should be all over those people.

(02-03-2012 12:48 PM)GeorgeBorkFan Wrote:  So, using it to argue for child labor laws is hollow.

You just summed up all of max's contributions.

Why is anyone surprised that more Republicans are pushing for more child labor? It is good for corps because it decreases the wage it has pay. We aren't talking about family members working of family farms here. THis is about looking out for big business.

We used to plant the BEST swet corn and harvest it throughout the summer. It had a purple husk. It was called Candy Corn. The best sweet corn EVAHHHH. Haven't seen it in twenty years.

(02-03-2012 01:10 PM)Machiavelli Wrote:  We used to plant the BEST swet corn and harvest it throughout the summer. It had a purple husk. It was called Candy Corn. The best sweet corn EVAHHHH. Haven't seen it in twenty years.

My father plants it every year in his garden.

Robert,

What this is is a classic example of big city vs. small town America. Big City thinks sweat shops. Small town America sees bailing hay and that's good work for a young teen. I bucked many a bail in my day too. You always wanted to be on the wagon not in the barn.

IMATY,


Purple Husk????? I don't even think there is a Pioneer seed anymore. Where does he get the seed?