Despite what Gov. Rick Snyder said, you can leave your outhouse seat up

Gov. Rick Snyder got lots of yuks when he said during his State of the State speech that Michigan needs to do away with silly regulations, such as one requiring that outhouse users keep the seats down.

Snyder said people don't need to be told by the government how to regulate their outhouse seats.

"I don't know about you, but I have a higher authority at home," he said, referring to his wife, Sue, who could be seen laughing while seated on the House floor.

Citing outdated or silly regulations is an oft-used rhetorical tool employed by elected officials in speeches.

But, as the Detroit Free Press discovered, there is no such outhouse regulation.



Michigan does require that outhouse openings be closed when not in use. The Free Press quoted an outhouse expert about why this is important from a public health standpoint. (Warning: You might not want to read that part of the story while you're eating if you have an uncovered outhouse opening.)

Snyder spokeswoman Sara Wurfel told the Free Press that it was OK for the governor to cite a regulation that didn't exist. The larger issue, she said, is the threat to doing our business in private:

"Whether it's a seat or lid, mandating that it be kept down perfectly illustrates the types of regulations that are outdated and need review," she said. "Do the taxpayers of Michigan really want a regulation on the books that could mean inspections of seat/lid placement would take place?"

So state government might send out the potty police to make sure your outhouse is in compliance with state regulations? That's the day we should really worry about big government.

I think this episode shows that elected officials should stop talking about burdensome regulations in public. It's just too rhetorically risky.

A week after Snyder's outhouse flub, President Barack Obama also made a joke about a regulation he regarded as unnecessary. Obama's quip was true, but not very funny.


Obama said his administration eliminated a 40-year-old regulation relating to milk spills on farms.

“We got rid of one rule from 40 years ago that could have forced some dairy farmers to spend $10,000 per year proving that they could contain a spill — because milk was somehow classified as oil,” he said. “With a rule like that, I guess it was worth crying over spilled milk.”

About the only one who thought that joke was clever was Obama.