Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., caused many people around the nation to question his sanitary routines: Tillis doesn’t think restaurant employees should be required to wash their hands.
At the end of his appearance at the Bipartisan Policy Center in D.C. last Tuesday, Tillis recounted a story from 2010 to complement his discussion on burdensome regulations placed on businesses. When the conversation turned to restaurant regulations, Tillis shared his previous comment which highlighted his point but also triggered a couple laughs from the audience:
“I don’t have any problem with Starbucks if they choose to opt out of this policy as long as they post a sign that says ‘We don’t require our employees to wash their hands after leaving the restroom.’ The market will take care of that. It’s one example.”
For restaurants that don’t require their employees to wash their hands, he said, the market will take care of itself.
This comment went viral across social media and news outlets. Consequently, it led to several jabs from political commentators and talk show hosts including John Stewart who took it a step further by dubbing Tillis “Sen. Dung-Hands Von Fecal Fingers.”
“That’s not getting rid of regulation,” the late-night host said on-air Wednesday. “That just makes you an inconsistent ideologue with a light fecal dusting in your latte.”
On the other hand, some supporters argue that government regulations are often a burden and overwhelm businesses.
Ryan Shindler, a sophomore political science major, said a fine line exists between liberty and reality.
“Yes, people have the freedom to wash or not wash their hands, but this action taken or not by those who handle food directly affects the people who eat at said restaurants,” he said. “His intention was probably about liberty, but people should care because no one wants to go to Duke Hospital for getting food poisoning from The Root.”
Jason Husser, assistant political science professor and assistant director of the Elon University Poll, said while the comment was not well thought-out, it definitely spoke to his staunch free-market philosophy.
“I see it mainly as an off-the-cuff statement,” he said. “But beneath the surface, you can see it is in some ways consistent with his philosophy that the government does not need to be so intrusive in all domains of life.”
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million cases of food-borne illnesses occur in the country every year, 3,000 of them fatal. They also found that 20 million people fall ill every year because of norovirus, with about 5 million cases associated with food, especially restaurants and catering services.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 48 million cases of food-borne illnesses occur in the country every year, 3,000 of them fatal. They also found that 20 million people fall ill every year because of norovirus, with about 5 million cases associated with food, especially restaurants and catering services.