I recently overheard a comment that spurred me into a little research project. The comment (slightly paraphrased): "If I was a Democrat or Union Member, I would have been happy that I had to stand around and do nothing while somebody else worked." So right away, you've got a whole loaded gun full of the standard Right rhetoric regarding Democrats and Unions. Without knowing any specifics on the subject in question, one can assume that this non-work situation is the result of either A) some bogus work protection policy put in place by a Democrat controlled governing body and/or B) Union protectionism of superfluous jobs and/or procedures. Either way, it's clear that there's no way this is the result of a Republican initiative, or at least the speaker assumed so and would pass on the usual Right rhetoric bashing the Left for this transgression.
Before I move on the the actual meat of the project, I want to say that had he speaker uttered something along the lines of, "You know I was standing around because some Republican figured out this was a good way to funnel more money to his business cronies." I would have been just as suspicious and incensed. I hate partisan rhetoric, from either side, that is spewed with no basis or backup. If you know, and I mean know, that some problem is a direct result of the actions of one party or the other, then by all means call a spade a spade. And, hopefully, do so with logical arguments and documentation, not here-say and conjecture. Parroting the b.s. of the talking heads of television and radio, following your parents, brother, etc. party lines, and echoing misinformation from emails, blogs, and editorials just further divides this country and throws more green wood on and already blinding political fire.
So here's the object example of knowing your real enemy. The quote above was due to the result of a new certification requirement in Virginia for pyrotechnicians. This requirement unfortunately means that uncertified individuals must be "supervised" by someone certified. That makes a lot of sense on paper, but almost none practically since certifications from other states are not valid. What it means is that someone with an abundance of certifications and experience from another state will still have to have a VA state pyrotechnician present, for no other purpose than to just be there to fulfill the requirement. This is over and above all other state and federal laws regarding pyrotechnic safety and setup. There's the effect, now to the cause (remember the blame is laid at the feet of the Left):
Starting with the actual certification requirement:
http://www.vafire.com/state_fire_marshal/PDFs/PyroCertProcess02092011_rev02172011.pdf
Which was voted in by this board:
http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/AboutDHCD/BoardofHousingandCommunityDevelopment.htm
during this meeting:
http://www.dhcd.virginia.gov/AboutDHCD/Board_minutes/minutes%20Jan.24.11.pdf
Tracking down the full makeup of the board would be time consuming, and even then would obviously not give insight to the process and politics involved. But on the surface, this occurred during a Republican governor's tenure:
http://www.governor.virginia.gov/
and went through at least a few of his appointees:
http://projectvirginia.com/mcdonnell-appointments-include-tito-munoz-to-virginia-housing-board/
http://www.publicsafety.virginia.gov/News/viewRelease.cfm?id=282
The power to the board was granted and direction given by the General Assembly per:
http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+27-97
The sponsor to "amend and reenact" that statute (Senate Bill 8):
https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+cab+SC10212SB0008+RCSB1
was Republican: http://sov.state.va.us/SenatorDB.nsf/27b5042a70f517f585256c05005bd42f/797ab9ce5739fbd885256ae00070224e?OpenDocument
The full history of the bill is here:
https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+sum+SB8
The Senate, at the time, was controlled by Democrats 22/18, but the House was controlled by Republicans ~60/40. The House overwhelmingly passed the bill:
https://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?101+vot+HV1641+SB0008
And finally, the Republican governor approved on 4/11/10 (see the history link).
So, if "I were a Democrat or Union Member", I would actually blame Republicans for the fact that I had to stand around and babysit somebody.
