You miss the point entirely. Simple, cheap, entirely reasonable and necessary safety devices that do not prevent a job from being done are rejected out of hand by GREED.

"Yes, some government regulations are necessary, but many are not and kill businesses because of it."

I do not know of any businesses that have been killed by regulation, but I would like to. By looking at those situations and learning from them we should be able to decide on a reasonable and necessary amount of regulation.

How about telling us who should decide what is necessary regulation?

I gave you an example of what I was talking about...sorry if it wasn't good enough for you.

"Wanting to ignore a safety precaution in order to make your product is not an acceptable practice IMHO."

My example was NOT a case of wanting to ignore a safety precaution...it was a case of being physically unable to make a product due to the size of the required finger guard. RIF.

For you to say no businesses have ever gone under because they didn't want to spend time trying to comply with government regulations is ludicrous. How do you know?

How many companies have moved their operations overseas because of government regulations?

"Patrick, your wild accusations have gone too far. If you just want to show my ignorance or insanity this badly, just call me names and be done with it."

How was I trying to show your ignorance or insanity? And BTW, I've NEVER called anyone here names...ever. Nor will I.

I'll leave that up to you.

In Virginia, VOSH and insurance carriers have stricter rules than OSHA. Allen hit the nail on the head in paragraph two of his post #22.

I am not sure how your service or that of your family makes you especially more knowledgeable about telling me "...first hand how bad the government can do a job". My nephew left the Marines just last year, I am not as stupid as you want to think. I have not disputed that the government has, can and will do things wrong, any bureaucracy will. I do however opine that the military and veterans would not be better off if the VA was run by the private sector. I have the same opinion of the USPS, Social Security and Medicare. The private sector generally has ONLY the profit margin in mind and frankly there are some things too important for that mentality.

This great expanse of government that is being bemoaned is not a bigger danger to me than the unbridled worship of greed, the celebration of massive wealth and the ability of many to completely ignore or purposely forget the parts of our society who are not so blessed and the parts of our society working harder and harder for less and less. The disparity was not sustainable and not enough has trickled down. This is an overwhelming time and the Conservative mantra of the individual sounds good but since it also led us here, I flinch at those reaching for more.

I believe that much of this new government "intervention" will not remain. I believe that the Obama administration is trying to rebuild the economy without the massive pain that came with the last huge crash and "The Great Depression". Do I believe every attempt was the best decision, of course not, but I respect the intent and pray that some of the solutions work for the betterment of our society. This economic crisis is also a crisis of values. A crisis of what this country IS and what this country is meant to be. An Oligarchy? NO. A Dictatorship? NO. I know many preach that God wants us all to be rich and successful and many have done well, but too many are left behind. We need, and need desperately, a true Democratic Republic. A true representative government. I am sorry if you think the country has just this year, left the rails. For many of us this train crashed long ago. We have felt disconnected from the people who are supposed to be representing us for many years. We have long questioned the decisions and the attitude of the leaders who are making decisions for us. In my opinion, if we are going down (which I do not fear but realize it is possible) we will go down fighting FOR each other and I can handle that failure. I may not end up on the "winning" side, but I feel I am on the correct side. In no event will I be more afraid of the gangsters on my street than the gangsters on Wall Street; more afraid of armed criminals than powerful zealots; more afraid of a government appointed czar than a CEO.

While many companies do try to bypass safety and need OSHA to step in, many companies step back, look at safety, and take it upon themselves to beat OSHA to the punch.

You are missing my point. Sandi said that in her opinion that government regulations do not hinder business, and that any business that fails due to regulations is due to incompetence. That's incorrect and I pointed it out to her...before she went nuts.

Yes, some government regulations are necessary, but many are not and kill businesses because of it.

Just one problem. Why did most companies not go to these devices voluntarily? There is no question about it, they save lives and limbs. Why did the big bully, OSHA, have to step in and force companies to install these devices? Could it be that companies and a lot of people think a few dollars are more important than a few people?

As a Veteran of our fine US Military and a husband to a disabled vet, son to a disabled vet (not to mention numerous other family members) I can tell you first hand how bad the government can do a job.

As a tax payer I can also tell you how bad they do at social security, medicare and everything else they seem to touch. No matter which party touches it.

Our government is too big in my opion. I know your opion is not mine and that is fine. However, when will too big be for you? How much of a nanny state do you want?