There is something even more destructive then regulations.
Regulations that are not enforced.
If I hire a worker, I have to pay workers’ compensation, social security, Medicare, and state and federal unemployment taxes.
I have to file several reports a year to both State and Federal agencies.
All of this of course adds to my costs.
But if my competitor hires an illegal off the street and pays him cash…. there is no enforcement.
Another example, a client of mine is a Auto Body repair shop who paints cars. To prevent pollution, the local government required that all paint shops use a spray booth. One day I was visiting with the Body shop owner when the local environmental officer showed up. Nice young guy who waved a box over the spray booth to see what was coming out of it.
After the inspection, the environmental officer comes into the office and informs the owner that he would have to pay a $1000.00 fine since his spray booth was using a $100.00 filter a week past it’s replacement date. As a result, some parts per million where getting into the environment.
The owner of the body shop thought about this, he then admitted that to save some money, he was using the filters for a time after they were supposed to be replaced. The Body shop owner took the ticket from the officer and said, “follow me”. Going to the front of the shop, the owner pushes open the shades and says “stop that guy”. That guy was a man painting a car with a paint gun, in a vacant lot across the street. This guy was polluting more in an hour that the body shop owner will pollute in his lifetime.
