While I'm a solid supporter of the OSHA vaccine mandate, I've been wondering recently whether there's a less intrusive way that might allow the market to help. What I've been noodling around is the idea that there's some simple certification or other public marker that a company can hang on their shingle that lets customers know whether they're doing business with a fully vaxxed company or not. Similar to the signs I see on buildings that state their LEED environmental rating, but for vaccinated employees.
I don't know to what extent this would be effective in diffusing the stupidest culture war ever, but it might allow us to take things down a few notches, empower customers to incorporate a company's vaccine stance into their purchasing decisions (not unlike requiring flower and cake shops to publicly disclose up-front that they don't serve particular classes of customers before denying a customer service), and give business owners an "out" if they're uncomfortable forcing their employees to be vaccinated.
I appreciate the details. I'm vaccinated but I wonder how long it will be before I have to prove it in order to get my Social Security or pension benefits.
In a world that made sense and we had enough folks vaccinated, you wouldn't need to do that.
In a world where enough folks have weaponized this in a culture war that sufficient number of people remain susceptible to the disease to keep everyone else from getting back to a normal life, probably sooner than either of us would expect.
If 2021 earned a motto, it would be "This is why we can't have nice things."
I’m firmly of the view Curtis, that your SS or pension benefits should NOT be even remotely tied to being vaccinated. Those benefits were promised to you long before the pandemic, and it would be an unjust infringement to have your benefits tied to vaccination status. It would be one thing if a person were to receive government entitlements that they didn’t contribute to in the form of payroll taxes, and especially during a pandemic. But your social security benefits and all applicable pensions should not subject to intrusive measures by the Feds, regardless of how many Americans are vaccinated.
One of the downsides of national emergencies, is the proclivity of the government and elected officials to use it as a backdrop to advance statism.
If the Feds want to encourage vaccinations, they have other means of going about it.
One very unfortunate saga from this pandemic, is the further denigration of the governing principles of Federalism, and the federal government going rogue in exercising powers it never had or should've had in the first place. Especially when some use the backdrop of a pandemic to justify administrative state fiat, or the feds assuming powers that belong to states and municipal governments. When it comes to vaccine mandates by the Feds, it is one thing for them to mandate vax or test to the federal workforce(civil service) and the military. But when it comes to imposing vax or test mandates on the private sector(unless such companies contract with the federal government. Then again, contracting with the Feds is optional), that power belongs to state and local governments, and not the federal government. Secondly, companywide vax/test policies are a contractual matter between the employer and employee, and not a matter of interstate commerce. So even if Congress specifically passed a private sector vax or test mandate as opposed to an OSHA mandate, that would still exceed the federal government's authority. States like Maine have instituted a vaccine mandate on all health care workers statewide, and courts have rightfully sided with the state on this matter. For those who want government imposed private sector mandates, states and local governments are the way to go, not the Feds. If the courts find that OSHA does permit the Executive Branch to unilaterally impose its heavy hand on the private sector in such an egregious manner, then there really is no reason that OSHA shouldn't be abolished and replaced.
Many companies have already issued vaccine mandates to their workforce even before the Feds imposed their bit of heavy handed statism through the OSHA mandate. While the latter certainly has had some effect, most of it was already done through companies doing it on their accord. Despite the culture wars surrounding vaccination, most Americans want a safe, healthy working environment. And the private sector is already delivering on that score, with free market dynamics sorting this stuff out. If there needs to be government intervention, then have states and local governments do it.
The same applies to the eviction moratorium that Congress passed into law and was signed by then President Trump in 2020. Both the Trump and Biden administration's executive actions were unconstitutional, as SCOTUS would rightfully rule. But matters of eviction, rent nonpayment, are an issue between the landlord and the tenant. The federal government is not the ones to exercise that kind of authority to begin with, regardless of whether there is a pandemic or not. As a landlord myself, I fortunately wasn't in the situation where my tenants couldn't afford to make rent payments, so I was lucky in that regard not to deal with payment deferrals. However, I was miffed that the federal government(thank you Dems and GOP!) felt that it could interfere in the landlord-tenant contractual relationship that I had personally. It is State and municipal governments that should be the ones issuing these moratoriums, in a manner consistent with their state Constitutions. And state and local governments are much closer to the people, and they can more easily correct bad policies, as opposed to it happening at the federal level.
It is important to know that states have a general police power to enforce a broad range of measures, including pandemic mitigation. In contrast, the Feds are limited to constitutionally enumerated powers. A national emergency like a pandemic is not a valid excuse to dispense with that formula the Framers crafted into our governing system. If people feel that the Feds need more powers, then pass a law in Congress, or seek to amend the Constitution.
This pandemic has proven to be a sad episode in our history. 3/4ths of a million Americans have lost their lives as a result of it. Much of it due to people getting worked up over trivial matters such as masks, painless jabs such as vaccinations, and reasonable restrictions. Many Americans have chosen to disobey these mitigation measures, and the costs to our society have been enormous. Many Americans just don't care at all, and are unwilling to make small sacrifices on behalf of others. The pandemic has also shown many Americans as well as elected officials, have a cavalier disregard for Federalism and the separation of powers. Congress has been reduced to being a near hapless spectator on the sidelines while the Executive Branch rules by decree. And states have an inordinate reliance on the Feds to do everything for them, regardless of whether the latter actually have the power to do so or not. So part of the problem is with states being too lazy to making the difficult governing decisions, and asking the Feds to bail them out.
So along those lines, SCOTUS ought to scuttle the OSHA mandate, and leave states to make the decision as to whether to enact private sector vax mandates. Maine has done it for all health care workers. Other states can do the same. I don't blame, and completely side with governors whose states who filed lawsuits against it, and are purposefully disregarding that federal mandate. On the flip side, while I think states may have the power to do so, they should not be prohibiting businesses from mandating vaccinations among their workforce.
While I'm a solid supporter of the OSHA vaccine mandate, I've been wondering recently whether there's a less intrusive way that might allow the market to help. What I've been noodling around is the idea that there's some simple certification or other public marker that a company can hang on their shingle that lets customers know whether they're doing business with a fully vaxxed company or not. Similar to the signs I see on buildings that state their LEED environmental rating, but for vaccinated employees.
I don't know to what extent this would be effective in diffusing the stupidest culture war ever, but it might allow us to take things down a few notches, empower customers to incorporate a company's vaccine stance into their purchasing decisions (not unlike requiring flower and cake shops to publicly disclose up-front that they don't serve particular classes of customers before denying a customer service), and give business owners an "out" if they're uncomfortable forcing their employees to be vaccinated.
Thoughts? Dumb idea or not?
Sounds like a good business idea.
I appreciate the details. I'm vaccinated but I wonder how long it will be before I have to prove it in order to get my Social Security or pension benefits.
In a world that made sense and we had enough folks vaccinated, you wouldn't need to do that.
In a world where enough folks have weaponized this in a culture war that sufficient number of people remain susceptible to the disease to keep everyone else from getting back to a normal life, probably sooner than either of us would expect.
If 2021 earned a motto, it would be "This is why we can't have nice things."
I’m firmly of the view Curtis, that your SS or pension benefits should NOT be even remotely tied to being vaccinated. Those benefits were promised to you long before the pandemic, and it would be an unjust infringement to have your benefits tied to vaccination status. It would be one thing if a person were to receive government entitlements that they didn’t contribute to in the form of payroll taxes, and especially during a pandemic. But your social security benefits and all applicable pensions should not subject to intrusive measures by the Feds, regardless of how many Americans are vaccinated.
One of the downsides of national emergencies, is the proclivity of the government and elected officials to use it as a backdrop to advance statism.
If the Feds want to encourage vaccinations, they have other means of going about it.
Yeah, I know. I was just making a smart-ass, facetious remark.
One very unfortunate saga from this pandemic, is the further denigration of the governing principles of Federalism, and the federal government going rogue in exercising powers it never had or should've had in the first place. Especially when some use the backdrop of a pandemic to justify administrative state fiat, or the feds assuming powers that belong to states and municipal governments. When it comes to vaccine mandates by the Feds, it is one thing for them to mandate vax or test to the federal workforce(civil service) and the military. But when it comes to imposing vax or test mandates on the private sector(unless such companies contract with the federal government. Then again, contracting with the Feds is optional), that power belongs to state and local governments, and not the federal government. Secondly, companywide vax/test policies are a contractual matter between the employer and employee, and not a matter of interstate commerce. So even if Congress specifically passed a private sector vax or test mandate as opposed to an OSHA mandate, that would still exceed the federal government's authority. States like Maine have instituted a vaccine mandate on all health care workers statewide, and courts have rightfully sided with the state on this matter. For those who want government imposed private sector mandates, states and local governments are the way to go, not the Feds. If the courts find that OSHA does permit the Executive Branch to unilaterally impose its heavy hand on the private sector in such an egregious manner, then there really is no reason that OSHA shouldn't be abolished and replaced.
Many companies have already issued vaccine mandates to their workforce even before the Feds imposed their bit of heavy handed statism through the OSHA mandate. While the latter certainly has had some effect, most of it was already done through companies doing it on their accord. Despite the culture wars surrounding vaccination, most Americans want a safe, healthy working environment. And the private sector is already delivering on that score, with free market dynamics sorting this stuff out. If there needs to be government intervention, then have states and local governments do it.
The same applies to the eviction moratorium that Congress passed into law and was signed by then President Trump in 2020. Both the Trump and Biden administration's executive actions were unconstitutional, as SCOTUS would rightfully rule. But matters of eviction, rent nonpayment, are an issue between the landlord and the tenant. The federal government is not the ones to exercise that kind of authority to begin with, regardless of whether there is a pandemic or not. As a landlord myself, I fortunately wasn't in the situation where my tenants couldn't afford to make rent payments, so I was lucky in that regard not to deal with payment deferrals. However, I was miffed that the federal government(thank you Dems and GOP!) felt that it could interfere in the landlord-tenant contractual relationship that I had personally. It is State and municipal governments that should be the ones issuing these moratoriums, in a manner consistent with their state Constitutions. And state and local governments are much closer to the people, and they can more easily correct bad policies, as opposed to it happening at the federal level.
It is important to know that states have a general police power to enforce a broad range of measures, including pandemic mitigation. In contrast, the Feds are limited to constitutionally enumerated powers. A national emergency like a pandemic is not a valid excuse to dispense with that formula the Framers crafted into our governing system. If people feel that the Feds need more powers, then pass a law in Congress, or seek to amend the Constitution.
This pandemic has proven to be a sad episode in our history. 3/4ths of a million Americans have lost their lives as a result of it. Much of it due to people getting worked up over trivial matters such as masks, painless jabs such as vaccinations, and reasonable restrictions. Many Americans have chosen to disobey these mitigation measures, and the costs to our society have been enormous. Many Americans just don't care at all, and are unwilling to make small sacrifices on behalf of others. The pandemic has also shown many Americans as well as elected officials, have a cavalier disregard for Federalism and the separation of powers. Congress has been reduced to being a near hapless spectator on the sidelines while the Executive Branch rules by decree. And states have an inordinate reliance on the Feds to do everything for them, regardless of whether the latter actually have the power to do so or not. So part of the problem is with states being too lazy to making the difficult governing decisions, and asking the Feds to bail them out.
So along those lines, SCOTUS ought to scuttle the OSHA mandate, and leave states to make the decision as to whether to enact private sector vax mandates. Maine has done it for all health care workers. Other states can do the same. I don't blame, and completely side with governors whose states who filed lawsuits against it, and are purposefully disregarding that federal mandate. On the flip side, while I think states may have the power to do so, they should not be prohibiting businesses from mandating vaccinations among their workforce.