Your Government at Work

Were you aware that there is an entire web site dedicated to documenting the daily encroachment of our Federal government on our daily lives? It's even done by the USG itself: Regulations.gov!

Here's a great one that really shows our government focusing in like a laser beam on what is important to our daily lives and livelihoods: "Energy Conservation Program: Test Procedures for Residential Clothes Washers".

The available SNOPR document (that's a "Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" for the uninitiated) shows how busy and productive the bureaucrats at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy have been in consuming your tax dollars. This supplemental notice is 36 pages long and contains things like the approved procedure of the United States Government for setting a washing machine dial (page 12):

The current test procedure specifies the wash time setting to be used in the energy test cycle....[F]or certain clothes washers equipped with an electromechanical dial to control wash time, the dial may yield different results for the same setting depending on the direction in which the dial is turned to reach the desired setting. DOE believes that consistency in setting the wash time in such cases may be achieved by resetting the dial to the minimum wash time and then turning it in the direction of increasing wash time to reach the desired setting. If the desired setting is passed, the dial should not be turned in the direction of decreasing wash time to reach the setting. Instead, the dial should be returned to the minimum wash time and then turned in the direction of increasing wash time until the desired setting is reached. DOE, therefore, proposes to add these clarifications to the wash time setting provisions in both appendix J1 and appendix J2.

Thirty-six pages detailing proposed changes to rules and regulations that cite other rules and regulations issued by a laundry list (pun intended) of other agencies and offices throughout the USG - not to mention the pages that list how this SNOPR complies with laws, rules, and regulations itself.. DOE helpfully estimates on page 17 that the current energy consumption testing costs for a washing machine manufacturer is only $2,300 per particular model and that the new rules will only increase that by $75. I seriously doubt the costs of actually complying with all the regulations is factored in.

We can, however, be assured and thankful that this particular DOE SNOPR does not endanger the family (page 18):

Section 654 of the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act, 1999 (Pub. L. 105-277) requires Federal agencies to issue a Family Policymaking Assessment for any rule that may affect family well-being. This rule would not have any impact on the autonomy or integrity of the family as an institution. Accordingly, DOE has concluded that it is not necessary to prepare a Family Policymaking Assessment.

Yeah, we can all breathe easier now...