The Liberty Papers

Really?!

No issue is too small for your Congress to handle. But seriously, judging from the comments so far on H.R. 6068, the Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008, people think bedbugs are a problem that Congress should address and that the federal government can help solve. Surely it’s specialised, private companies like Olathe pest control who should be called upon to help deal this fairly minor issue?

The bill would create a grant program in the Department of Commerce and authorize $50,000,000 in each of fiscal years 2009 through 2012 for giving these grants to states. It may be that taxpayers should worry more about the bite put on their wallets, but if people want Congress to do something about bedbugs, they want Congress to do something about bedbugs. Whilst they are certainly an issue as seen on many a pest guide, this may be a step too far for many.

Any time a bill is co-sponsored by Don “Bridge to Nowhere” Young and William “Cold Cash” Jefferson, it should raise your suspicion. The bill gives funding to states which already have or implement bedbug inspection programs. Anyone want to bet that Alaska (Young) and Louisiana (Jefferson) have these programs or soon will?

Thankfully, this bill appears to have been sent to committee, and I’m going to hope it dies a quiet death in there rather than come back out for a vote.

From everything I’ve [now] read on the subject, bedbugs are a particularly nasty organism to come and visit. This is why you’d call pest control, like Terminix missouri, out if you have an infestation of bedbugs. But I hardly expect that the feds are going to be able to do a damn thing to put an end to them (as if they were Constitutionally authorized to do so anyway). This is an issue that I definitely may need to now worry about, as well, as I travel often for business and stay in lots of hotels. But I still don’t see why this requires federal tax dollars, when we’ve already got big enough deficits. It seems like a giveaway to states to employ more “inspectors” and regulators; which is much more likely to be the true intent of this legislation.