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February 3, 2015 3:00 pm - NewsBehavingBadly.com

[su_right_ad]Is it too much government to regulate that workers in restaurants should wash their hands after bathroom breaks? Senator Tom Tillis says the market should take care of this issue.

Tillis made the declaration at to the Bipartisan Policy Center, at the end of a question and answer with the audience. He was relaying a 2010 anecdote about his “bias when it comes to regulatory reform.”

“I was having a discussion with someone, and we were at a Starbucks in my district, and we were talking about certain regulations where I felt like ‘maybe you should allow businesses to opt out,’” he said, “as long as they indicate through proper disclosure, through advertising, through employment literature, or whatever else.”

Tillis was, at the time, the minority whip of the North Carolina House of Representatives.

“She said, ‘I can’t believe that,’” he continued in retelling the story. “And at that time we were sitting back at a table that was near the restrooms and one of the employees just came out. She said: ‘For example, don’t you believe that this regulation that requires this gentleman to wash his hands before he serves your food is important and should be on the books?’”

“I said: ‘As a matter of fact, I think it’s one that I can [use to] illustrate the point,’” he remarked. “I said: ‘I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says “We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom,”’” he recalled, as the audience chuckled. “The market will take care of that.’”

“That’s the sort of mentality that we need to have to reduce the regulatory burden on this country,” he added. “We’re one of the most regulated nations in the history of the planet.”

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D.B. Hirsch
D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

21 responses to NC State Senator Says Restaurant Workers Shouldn’t Have To Wash Hands

  1. Pilotshark February 3rd, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    So you think Starbucks would voluntary place a sign saying that? LMAO no way they would if they didn’t have to, cause it would a take a idiot to eat or drink there knowing your server just used the bathroom and maybe wiped clean.

  2. cogitoergodavesum February 3rd, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    So he favors regulations on signs?

    • tiredoftea February 3rd, 2015 at 3:29 pm

      Apparently.

  3. arc99 February 3rd, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    What if the business does not require their employees to wash their hands, nor do they post that information publicly? Do you pass a law mandating the signs? That would be exactly the kind of regulation this guy apparently wants to avoid. Then what about a patron who ignores the warnings, eats at the Dirty Hands Diner and gets sick. The person is transported to the county emergency room and spends a week in intensive care to the tune of $250,000.

    Better hope that patron obtained insurance as required by the ACA. Otherwise NC taxpayers are on the hook for the medical bills. Then the patron sues the restaurant tying up time and resources in local courts.

    Wouldn’t it be cheaper and more efficient to require employees to wash their hands? Just askin…

    • tiredoftea February 3rd, 2015 at 3:49 pm

      Stop making sense.

      • arc99 February 3rd, 2015 at 3:58 pm

        One of the best full length concert movies ever

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKNYJx9Ekpw

        • tiredoftea February 3rd, 2015 at 4:28 pm

          Yes.I still enjoy it!

          • alpacadaddy February 4th, 2015 at 1:11 pm

            Absolutely! …and this is an awesome version of Burnin’ Down the House… such energy! (almost makes me feel young again!)
            http://youtu.be/g42Xg-mAkGg

    • DublinIreland February 4th, 2015 at 2:19 pm

      The Senator was being ironic..don’t you people get anything?

  4. Pilotshark February 3rd, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    YO Tom Typhoid Tills you bring a whole new meaning to a sh!t sandwich.

  5. Guy Lauten February 3rd, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    more Dumb-as-a-Rock. Yoicks.

  6. Snick1946 February 3rd, 2015 at 4:09 pm

    Tell you what, Thom. In my next life if I am a food worker, I’ll be sure to pee on my hands before serving you. Why not- the market will take care of things won’t it? Won’t it??

  7. William February 3rd, 2015 at 4:38 pm

    It is after all North Carolina.

  8. CCreadme February 3rd, 2015 at 6:46 pm

    Irony Alert. The sign he says must be posted is also a regulation…

  9. Mich Buck February 3rd, 2015 at 11:13 pm

    Well guess whose house I will never eat at? Obviously, the senator (small case type) is too young to remember how polio was handled prior to the vaccine. http://www.cdc.gov/non-polio-enterovirus/about/prevention-treatment.html

  10. DublinIreland February 4th, 2015 at 2:17 pm

    That is NOT what the man said. If only people could read, and were able to grasp the meaning of words and complex sentences, they might not make stupid comments after articles like this. The “headlines” are twisted just to gain a look see….wise up. Read, all the way down to the very bottom of this article, if you can make it that far and you will see the actual words spoken.

    • mea_mark February 4th, 2015 at 2:47 pm

      Well, I read the entirety of your comment and it is nothing but trolling gibberish. Try harder next time.

      • DublinIreland February 4th, 2015 at 4:17 pm

        My comment was deleted? Liberal land isn’t so liberal is it? I pointed out in my comment that people should read the ARTICLE in its entirety, not my comment in its entirety. You just proved my point mea_mark, you liberals are really not too bright. Try again. A troll? Hah You are a silly person. Oops…here comes that blue button again.

  11. Ryan February 4th, 2015 at 3:17 pm

    Unfortunately Tillis is not a State Senator. He’s a US Senator.

  12. Melinda Buttler February 4th, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    It’s just replacing one law with another. One that says you have to wash hands the other that mandates signage to be in place that says you don’t wash hands. This is the wrong issue for the “too much government” stand.

    • DublinIreland February 4th, 2015 at 4:15 pm

      You liberals really are dumb aren’t you? Understand English much?