Snake salesman pleads case against regulation (GOP Spokesman)

[TomCADem]

Source: USA Today

David Barker, a lean Texan with a gray mustache and a ponytail the length of a garden snake, told Congress on Wednesday that he's one of hundreds of thousands of people whose livelihoods will be harmed by what Republicans call "job-killing regulation" by the Obama administration.

His business: breeding exotic pythons and selling them by mail order. The regulation: a proposed rule under the 111-year-old Lacey Act making it illegal to transport nine species of snakes across state lines except for research.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says the ban is necessary to protect the Everglades, where non-native snakes have established a foothold and are threatening to upend its fragile ecosystem.

* * *
Democrats on the panel say the GOP attack on regulations fails to acknowledge the benefits of health and safety regulations. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the ranking Democrat on the committee, held up several supporting letters from scientists and environmentalists pointing out the cost of rooting out invasive species and the 13 deaths from pet pythons over 20 years, according to the National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-09-15/Snake-breeding-house-hearing-regulation/50408584/1

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You know, when you think of the U.S. Territory of Guam, which had its native bird population wiped out by non-native snakes, you can't really feel sympathy for an exotic animal importer who sales snakes by mail order. You would think that the GOP would come up with a more sympathetic spokesman.

[DCKit]

1. "You would think that the GOP would come up with a more sympathetic spokesman."

I think he's PERFECT for the GOP.

[TomCADem]

5. Touche!

:)

[mopinko]

14. this IS their more sympathetic spokesman.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Am I really supposed to believe that there hundreds of thousands of snake importers?

[LiberalFighter]

4. Most of them are probably violating other laws and regulations.

[LiberalFighter]

3. I have no sympathy for anyone that considers money more important

than the existence of earth and safety of life on earth.

[mulsh]

6. I was wondering what's behind all the agitation over the Lacey

act, you know the raid on Gibson Guitar's factory & seizure of exotic woods, The intense coverage its gotten on right wing sites. The intense posting of right wing links on normally a-political musician and instrument forums. All of which usually ended with an anti-Lacey Act screed. Now I know the answer.

I sure hope the Dems are able to pass stronger legislation.

[FSogol]

7. I thought your subject line implied snake oil salesmen, but was surprised it was snake salesman

Perfect symbol of the GOP.

[bongbong]

8. I'm positive

I'm positive that all these comparisons of snakes to repigs would make the snakes, if they could talk, extremely angry.

OTOH, repigs are very pleased with the analogy.

[groundloop]

9. Seems like snake salesmen are more important than jobs for the middle class

At a time when the entire country is concerned about solid middle class jobs the Publicans choose to have hearings about snakes. Since they've made the decision to spend their time investigating snakes we have no choice to to believe that's what's most important to them, since they could have chosen to have hearings on job creation.

And yes, I find it appalling that the Publicans want to deregulate the sale and transport of dangerous, invasive species.

[Roy Rolling]

10. Hope

The snake salesman is hoping for some "professional courtesy" in kind from the republicans . . .

[Fokker Trip]

11. Snakes are really beautiful creatures.

Selling them by mail? Selling them at all? Seems wrong to me. the last time I was in a chain pet store was 10 years ago and it will be the last time I enter one of those places. The animals are not well treated.

It disgusts me. The introduction of non-native species is a big problem all over. The Great Lakes have huge problems with invasive species dumped from ballast tanks.

[mopinko]

16. and fish tanks.

the flying carp were brought here as pets.

[separationcs]

12. Invasive Species

Those animals will destroy the natural habitat so quickly if the industry is left unregulated. Like all deregulation, destruction follows closely.

[KamaAina]

13. We always knew the repukes were owned by Big Oil

we just didn't know that included snake oil.

[SoapBox]

15. New movie..."Snakes at the GOPBagger / T.HaterBagger Convention"

oh...different kinds of snakes.

[on point]

17. Typical repuke view: Internalize profits, externalize costs and damage

This is the problem with much of the anti regulation repuke view. They want to be free to capture as much profit as possible without being responsible for damages caused to the commons (such as with pollution), or costs pushed onto society or the buyer.

They hate regulations that make the SELLER capture their costs so that the costs are reflected in the market price and buyers can then make a rational market based decision. Takes away their deception advantages and makes for fair competition with ethical sellers based on operational excellence instead of who is the bigger crook.

[Supersedeas]

23. bingo, Repukes monopolize profits and shrug the risk off onto others

[FreeBillClinton]

18. Republicans want the freedom to have taxpayers clean up the messes they make.

[saras]

19. They tried to find a dog-oil salesman, they really did. This was as close as they could get.

http://www.online-literature.com/bierce/2016/">Ambrose Bierce's "Oil of Dog", a sad tale of a poor orphan in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. PS it's only one page, and a lovely description of the ideal Republican economy.

[on point]

20. Regulations chill world take-over by Slytherin House!

How are they supposed to propagate their evil if at every turn they are blocked by rules that keep them from preying on others?

[truth2power]

21. Ecosystem schmecosystem...who cares? Everything is a commodity,

(including snakes, apparently) and is to be exploited to exhaustion or collapse, under the Capitalistic system. Thus sez Chris Hedges.

Turn the Everglades into a parking lot. Why not?




:sarcasm: as if I needed this.

[Tyrs WolfDaemon]

22. The repubs think this regulation would limit their own traveling across state lines.

Especially since they are always selling themselves to the highest bidder.