OPINION: Regulating Shepherds

The U.S. Department of Labor thinks sheep- and goat-herding is so important that it’s issued a whole new set of regulations that illustrate just how big and bossy our government has become.

Despite millions of unemployed, most shepherds are immigrant workers, who the feds decided they need special protections. So the federal government says the employer must:

—Provide them with cell phones, provide all their transportation and all of their meals

—Give them a place to live with government-approved comfy beds, lighting, laundry, bathrooms, cooking and refrigeration, kitchen walls with non-absorbent surfaces that are also fire-resistant.

Our tax dollars are paying bureaucrats to spell out what makes a bed comfortable and the design of kitchens on a ranch. It’s another sign that we’ve got too much red tape, and too little common-sense. And of course, too many bureaucrats.

From the Heritage Foundation, I’m Ernest Istook.

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