Government Targets the Farmer

This is what is both sickening and concerning to the average American. We want common sense laws and most importantly we want the the state to stay OUT of the affairs of the family and personal life, allowing each one to govern themselves within the confines of respect for community, others, and oneself. We desire freedom, the freedom to live simply by ourselves and bear the fruit of our own labor.

Here below is a summary of the proposed law, but the essence is this:

The department of Transportation is proposing that EVERY tractor and farm vehicle be registered with the state and those who drive it be required to obtain a license to operate it.

Excuse me---since when did allowing a 12 year old boy drive the family tractor over to the neighbors along a dusty country road constitute a risk to society? This is insane. This is not common sense.

Have you heard of a multi-tractor pile up? Do we have major traffic accidents every year involving tractors? The farmer doesn't need this. This isn't about special privilege, it's about common sense government being replaced by the police state, Orwellian style where the individual can no longer be trusted to rule themselves. There must be a law for everything; every move must be regulated.

What do we need next?, laws regulating the use of grocery carts in supermarkets? Should we have a license to mow our own lawn?

DOT targets farm tractors

One of the rites of passage in rural life comes when parents decide a child is old enough to help out by driving the tractor. If the Obama administration has its way that will be a thing of the past. The Federal government now proposes to require that motorized farm equipment carry DOT id numbers and that all users have a commercial drivers license. Most of these vehicle never travel on public roads unless it is a short trip to another field or a neighbor's farm.

The proposed rule change would mean that anyone who drives a tractor or operates any piece of motorized farming equipment would be required to pass the same tests and complete the same detailed forms and logs required of semi-tractor trailer drivers.

Drivers would keep logs of information including hours worked and miles traveled. Vehicles would be required to display DOT numbers. A CDL in Virginia costs $64 for eight years, or $8 per year, not including the cost of an instructional class and the written test.

If the DOT reclassifies farm vehicles and implements as commercial vehicles, the federal government will have regulatory control over the nation's farm workers, estimated at over 800,000, by requiring them to have commercial drivers licenses.

What's next from the Obama administration? Will HHS require all parents to have a nursing license before they can dispense an orange flavored low dose aspirin tablet to their child?