Earlier today I posted about the “NOSHA Act” bill where a congressman proposed the abolishment of OSHA for at least the 3rd time.
A reader wrote in with a polite and carefully crafted letter that stated they weren’t a fan.
I figured I owed it to readers explain how I decide which news stories to cover.
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This morning, there were 3 “NOSHA Act” related Reddit threads in my news feed, one from the r/construction forum, one from r/electricians, and one from r/union.
I did a quick search, and there were more news articles, social media posts, and sensationalist commentary.
I spent a few minutes looking into the bill, and not a single article, discussion, or post made mention about where this bill came from, or that this is the 3rd time it’s been introduced.
You’re going to see more stories about the NOSHA Act bill, and I felt compelled to ensure readers received an unadulterated briefing.
Too much news these days is devoid of context, and it often leads to the propagation of misinformation.
Facts surrounding the bill are buried. Even if you look at the press release surrounding the bill, the sponsor is now attempting to tie it to a “DOGE” bandwagon.
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People are already conflating the “NOSHA Act” bill with the current administration, which seems objectively inappropriate.
I read another article where the story spiraled into talk about conflicts of interest due to the number of OSHA violations and fines at Tesla plants.
But if you dig deep, it did NOT originate with the current administration. The bill sponsor gave its reintroduction a new spin, but its first iteration was introduced 4 years ago. I haven’t seen anyone else even mention this.
This bill is both news and not news.
As for tariffs, they have the potential to tend to change the tool industry.
Back in 2018, new tariffs on steel tool boxes brought permanent changes to the consumer steel tool storage industry. See What Will Happen to Pricing of Tool Chests, Cabinets, Combos, and Mobile Workbenches?
The last time broad tariffs were announced, machinery companies sent out notices of price increases. See Little Machine Shop: Trade War Tariffs to Raise Prices, Starting in November 2020.
Before that, there were new tariffs on German hand tools. See Brace for Possible Price Hikes – New Tariffs Imposed on German Hand Tools.
Sometimes things become clearer over time.
For example, there’s a growing list of Sears suppliers that have gone out of business. See:
- What Happened to SPG International, Tool Box Maker for Craftsman, Husky, and Other Brands?
- Apex Tool Group Cuts Armstrong and Allen Tool Brands??
- Western Forge, USA Hand Tool Brand and Former Sears Craftsman Supplier, is Closing
- What’s Happening to Pratt-Read, another USA Tool Brand?
- Vaughan is Reportedly Closing their USA Tool Factory – they were eventually bought out
1, 2, 5, 10 years from now, it will be important to look back at today’s current events and see how things played out.
A lot of bills are political posturing, but every bill has the potential to become law.
We cannot panic and conclude OSHA is about to be abolished, but we also cannot ignore there is a non-zero chance of this happening. Other changes have been proposed.
A lot of readers are going to see more conversations about it, and maybe more opinion-driven “news.” Knowing the facts reduces the chances that you’ll be misled.
Politics generally aren’t allowed in the comments section because it is extremely difficult to have civil or productive discussion. Most people cannot civilly discuss politics with loved ones, let alone strangers on the internet, and things devolve into name-calling and personal attacks – or worse.
There are topics where we could pool together all of the facts and sources and then discuss with civility – which is exactly what I sought to do in the recent tariff and “NOSHA” posts – and others where this is unlikely to be possible.
Sometimes misinformation is spread unintentionally, but there are also those who do it on purpose.
The only way to combat misinformation is with objective facts. Know the facts and then form your opinions.
Sometimes I try to counter misinformation after it spreads – see Milwaukee Tool & Forced Prison Labor Allegations – Everything We Know. This time it seemed like a good idea to get ahead of it.
It might be fair to say that I like to counter misinformation. See Does Harbor Freight Own Snap-on Tools? and Dewalt and Milwaukee Tool are NOT Owned by the Same Company. This isn’t much different.
In this case, it seemed beneficial to ensure readers were well-informed about the facts behind the “they want to abolish OSHA” posts I had started seeing.
And with respect to tariffs, I included notes and links about both administration’s recent activities and announcements. News is about seeking ALL of the relevant facts with no agenda.
As for the “no politics” in comment rule, this exists because of what such discussions often lead to. Conversations about politics tend to lead to arguments over beliefs, and arguments over beliefs get messy.
News is about who, what, where, when, why, how. I decided to write a post about the OSHA bill because tool user-adjacent communities and news articles were muddling the facts.
It seemed like something I could have posted about, and the misinformation that some quick research dispelled led me to think it was something I should post about. Should I have avoided it and let my quick research and fact-checking go to waste? Maybe, but it’s often easier to just proceed with such a post than to deliberate about it.
I think that sticking to the 5 basic “W” questions is a good practice. To me, that’s the separation between “news” and “politics.” Timing also matters.
If you don’t like it, let me know. If you think the approach could be better, let me know. The new rule for such posts has been “relevant news, not opinions.”
Generally, I feel that the answer to “will this direct impact tool users and buyers” is a reasonably good test for finding the line between the news we do and don’t report on. The abundance of “NOSHA” conversations in pro tool community spaces online pushed it into direct relevance.
That said, I don’t intend to make this a habit. I tend to cover tool-relevant current events when there’s a perceived need or potential reader benefit. If you don’t feel there’s a strong need, I can try to avoid news a little better. Let me know.
Michael G
Please keep it up. Your readers keep coming back because we appreciate your honesty and diligence in researching these topics.
The incentives for social media are misaligned with the reporting of truth. If there is a cost to acquire information, no cost to disseminate it, no way to gauge the reputation of individual reporters, and revenue is based on clicks, we have a world where the truth is not an optimal strategy. Despite this, most people get their news from it.
Readers like me keep coming here because we appreciate, trust, and value your content. Too many people hide behind the word “politics” to justify being angry or hyperbolic behavior.
Alex
Agreed. I say keep it coming. I wouldn’t have known about the NOSHA bill without your article.
Stuart
I think what I’m asking is whether reader want to be informed about things like that with minimal discussion, or if the news category should be more restricted to topics of the highest importance and relevance.
Jim Felt
I did know about this absurd “bill”.
But we here need to be aware of these ofttimes underreported tool centric cause and effect attempts to roll back safety regulations. The NYT, NPR et al have been sideswiped in popular culture by streamers of all stripes. Facts are “negotiable “ in this environment and gullibility/outrage/gross exaggeration seem to be the new standard of such online commerce. Phew…
Patrick T
Well said.
I’ve appreciated both recent posts and have also enjoyed the comments. Your readers have a ton of experience and I’ve learned a lot just reading the comments. Someone made a comment in the most recent post on tariffs that finally made me understand how tariffs of goods coming in impacts prices of goods already here. It was a true “lightbulb” moment for me that I don’t think I would have had anywhere else.
A W
Agreed. I try to minimize the time I spend on social media, but I appreciate Stuart’s fact based approach to the news, and the long term viability of OSHA certainly has the ability to affect tool users long term. Knowing more of the back story is helpful.
Scott K
I agree. I appreciate context and I think the ability to make connections between world events and the tool industry is valuable. I typically read every post, but every once in a while there’s something that just doesn’t apply to me and so I don’t click on it. I think social media has conditioned some people to only expect information they want and agree with.
Mike
If I could click “like” on this comment, I would.
John Blair
Regardless of your political viewpoint what I find interesting is the math of tariffs. One of the vehicles known for being Made in America is the Telsa Model Y. I’ve seen that parts from Mexico or Canada represent about 25% of the parts in this car. If those numbers are true it increases the cost of the car about 6.25% (25% * 25%).
At around $50K before tariffs, you can look at the extra $3125 as a big number or a small number. You can look at it as making Tesla less likely to open the plant they were planning in Mexico or you can look at it as an inflationary force likely to rise the cost of everything we buy from 6% to 25% in an already costly world. Confirmation bias doesn’t change the math, it taints how we interpret the math.
I don’t come her for political commentary, I come to see what cool new things are coming out, what is on an amazing sale and to read the opinions of people who actually use the tools. Having said that, I trust you not to push a hidden political agenda and to instead tell us of things that might impact us in the future.
Jim Felt
Yes! Well stated.
Farmerguy
It’s inclusion is a vital part of the SWOT analysis of the industry you are covering. Governmental actions and the politicking around those move markets financially and physically affecting users. Your clearly written titles allow readers to avoid it if they don’t want to involve themselves in it
Mopar
Tariffs certainly play a role in all the various tool using industries and hobbies, and it’s certainly useful to track the ones that may impact us. Tariffs are also political, so it’s going to be hard to keep politics out of it, but at least keep partisanship out of it, because ALL political parties in ALL countries do it. There is so much talk today of tariffs on steel, lumber, and components from countries like Mexico, Canada, and China, with very little context into similar tariffs involving those same countries/products that were already imposed within the last year. We can certainly debate the effects tariffs have, but it’s hard to have a discussion with someone telling me that a 25% tariff today is outrageous and harmful, when 6 months ago that same person argued that a 100% tariff was completely justified and necessary.
S
I also don’t agree with talking about tariffs in one-time increments.
For instance, I know the most recent increase was 10% on many materials from china, but no sources are discussing what that 10% added onto, or if it only served to increase current tariff categories, or is now taxing a different category at a different rate. Or the taxation of categories were changed, and that averages overall to a 10% increase.
Stuart
I updated the post several times, and expect to update it again when there are major developments. https://14cyiuhvcgv.com/tariffs-updates-2025/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
In that post I also linked to a government document that lists out the “what,” “how much,” and “when” concerning the previous administration’s tariffs https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/09/18/2024-21217/notice-of-modification-chinas-acts-policies-and-practices-related-to-technology-transfer .
I haven’t seen any sources that list out the total tariffs that go back at least to Trump’s first term.
As mentioned in the other post, I understand the new 10% tariff on goods imported from China to be on top of existing tariffs imposed at least during Biden’s administration and Trump’s first term.
Breaking down the tariffs on something very specific, such as a metal lathe wholly manufactured in China, requires more expertise in navigating tariffs than I possess. The tariffs are additive, and I’m sure they’re listed out somewhere, I just haven’t found it yet. I’m not even sure I know where to look.
WB
If you really want some exciting, before bedtime reading, boy have I got some good material for you!
Here are the relevant sites that describe how tariffs are determined. It’s fairly dense stuff. Basically there are 6 HS codes and every product falls in to one of them. Your lathe for example is in the Nuclear Reactor, etc… category. Shrugs.
Harmonized Tariff Schedule: https://hts.usitc.gov/
Census Bureau Schedule B: https://uscensus.prod.3ceonline.com/
International Trade Admin Gen. Info: https://www.trade.gov/fta-tariff-tool-user-guide
MB
If you’re familiar with the term “Mission Creep” pretty much every organization has it occur to various degrees; it doesn’t matter if it’s government or private sector as it occurs in both places. Unfortunately the nature of government in general is never to audit oneself and assess efficacy or efficiency – it’s more to add more to the plate and throw more money at the problem. This leads to bloat, duplication of effort, and inefficiencies/waste. Unfortunately this in inexorably tied to politics, there’s really no separating it. It’s not “X party did this. Y party did that.” They all do it – it’s a dirty game and us as the citizens/consumers aren’t even on the board playing it but the outcome directly impacts us.
Do I think OSHA has become “overbearing” in some ways – abosfreakinglutely. Do I think the original intent of the organization and it’s purpose was good – yes. Do I feel it needs to be a federal agency – I’m not sure. I can go down the list of probably every single government org and agency and say they’ve become bloated, inefficient, or have drifted well outside of their original purpose and intent. In business this is where cut backs and realignments occur because profitability ultimately drives the business. In government, all around the world mind you, we rarely ever see it due to modern monetary policy not incentivizing nor requiring it. Having worked for the gov as either a employee or a contractor for almost my entire working life – the cuts and fat trimming is LOOOOOONG overdue.
The long and the short of it is I like what you’re doing, keep doing it. These topics are deep, confusing, and honestly you’ll probably loose a lot of people because their confirmation/group bias will kick in the minute they hit whatever magical “trigger word” sends them down a cognitive dissonance spiral. I see this happen all to often anytime politics is involved.
MM
Agreed all around.
Mike
“the nature of government in general is never to audit oneself and assess efficacy or efficiency – it’s more to add more to the plate and throw more money at the problem”
As someone that worked in state government, there are checks on that kind of creep. The legislature that creates those offices and funds those offices also can define the guardrails under which that office has to work. If they think it’s out of line, they can change it. Likewise, there are auditors in government whose job it is to see if organizations are performing properly or spending wildly. In my state, that job was ably done by the legislative auditors, who had free rein to audit any state agency. Unfortunately, the recent (GOP supermajority) legislature just castrated the auditors, and now they can’t audit anything unless the legislature TELLS them to.
In any case, there are ways to tell OSHA (or any other regulator) that it’s overstepping: contact your elected officials. They work for you.
Daniel
The post about the tariffs was non-political and spoke directly to the costs of tools.
The post about NOSHA, was political and seemed to violate your own rules regarding such.
There are enough politics everywhere on the web and if you go to good sources, you will find very good and honest analysis of political things.
I come here for the tool discussions. Hard pass on politics!!!!
CLH
Keep up the coverage! It’s important to know about events and laws that will (or might) affect the tools that we use daily. ToolGuyd provides the best and most immediate coverage that I’ve found so far in that area.
Av
I didn’t read any previous posts as being biased. Keep it up.
Jim Felt
Agreed.
rocky
I check your website once a day for news, deals, and info. I have done this for many years and read your articles about advertising, influencer deals, and just generally being open about your blogging business, I trust your decisions on what to post.
On a side note, I would like to see a post and photos of your workspace and the process of how you write your post.
Peter
Same here, I normally do not read posts like that because there is just so much bias but here it is refreshing to read about in a facts oriented manner.
Thanks Stuart.
avi
And this is why I read toolguyd semi-religiously, even though I’ve already blown through my yearly tool budget.
Robert
Generally for politics I go to sites that specialize in politics. And here for tool info. Having said that, you can’t escape politics or at least the impact of politics. So I’m perfectly fine with this site touching upon politics when it impacts tools. The heaviest tool users are going to be impacted by OSHA, so I see that article by Stuart as totally relevant. Same with tariffs and table saw flesh contact safety regulations.
CA in NJ
Industries don’t exist in a vacuum and this is especially true of the tool and machine industry. Politics has a great effect on the price, quality and availability of tools. Sticking your fingers in your ears and pretending politics doesn’t exist is a childish approach if you want to learn about and understand the tool industry as a whole. That is one of the major reasons I visit Toolguyd regularly – in addition to the regular reviews and deals posts, it presents a macro view of the tool industry as a whole and pulls no punches. If I want just the latest opinion of the new saw, I can go over to youtube or whatever.
Keep up with the lastest news posts, including ones that include how political decisions will affect the tool industry. People who are mad that you talked bad about the real-world decisions of their favorite flavor of political reader can and will go elsewhere.
Jason T.
There is A LOT going on in this country right now. I have lots of questions… my biggest one with all these changes is “What is the end game?” I want what’s best for the country. Do I know what all of that is? Certainly not. But I do know there were things in this country that were good, but they no longer exist. There was a time when everything was made here. I certainly would like to see that again. Will it happen? Can it happen? I don’t know. Will all of these changes push the country in that direction? Maybe. I can’t say if OSHA going away will help that or hurt that. There are a lot of ideas in this country. Most of them are bad ideas. But there are a lot of good ideas that just never come to fruition. Why is that?
I do know this, before I jump up and down complaining, I’m willing to wait and see how this all shakes out. I have concerns about a lot of the changes. But I also had concerns about a lot of other changes over the past few decades. Maybe some day we will make most things here in the USA again and they will be quality and affordable. In the meantime, I’ll keep coming to ToolGuyd to read more about the latest news on tools including how changes in this country are affecting the tool industry.
Dave
I found both of the politics-adjacent posts both informative and necessary, particularly the added context of the NOSHA bill having been repeatedly introduced and scrapped with different wrapping paper on it each time.
The comment sections were also much more insightful and civil than expected. I don’t know if that’s saying something impressive about the restraint of the ToolGuyd commentariat or about Stuart’s moderation efforts, but I appreciate insight like this and hope it keeps coming.
James
Commentariat. Whoa… I do thank thee.
Love the civil discourse and insights here. Impressed by the thoughtfulness and restraint. How rare!
Alex
I think these posts are necessary, things don’t happen in a vacuum and people need to be aware of what is happening and why. People want to complain about you reporting about tariffs and say you’re a tool deal website, what the hell is talking about tariffs on tools if not talking about their price. Nonsensical. Keep it up.
AF
As a safety professional I have had an interest and fascination with tools for many, many years. When I happened upon this site I found that a lot of comments would be helpful when I hold my safety meetings and training sessions. So thanks to all of you who take the time to comment about the safety factor when posting your thoughts. Having said that, it is just way too easy to “devolve” into politics since since people can get too subjective when expressing their “opinions”. I suggest we do our best to come as close to Stuart’s vision of ToolGuyd as we can. I see balance and common sense (which we need more of) and a concern to get the best information about tools and tool-related subjects to as broad an interested audience as possible. It’s difficult doing what he does on a daily basis especially when people like us look for something interesting and appealing. I suggest we minimize the “strong” opinions and share objective views that will benefit everyone. And if that’s too hard, start your own site!
Thanks Stuart, you’re doing a GREAT job!
Stuart
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Jbongo
I agree with most of the comments here. You’re doing a great job and thank you for taking a balanced approach.
Scott F
Also wouldn’t have known about the NOSHA bill without this site. Same page as most everyone else – your objectivity is necessary and appreciated on these “sensitive” topics. I definitely don’t think it’s too much, and am curious the sort of posts you filter out. I personally would not mind more of them. I feel smarter having read things here, which I don’t feel about any other places I visit.
Stuart
There are a lot of industry-related topics that are too close to politics and are likely to incite arguments between commentors.
I had to delete comments today, in the update post about Home Depot and Lowe’s anti-shoplifting tech, because commentors started arguing over urban vs rural GDP, and a regular challenged an argument they didn’t like by accusing the commentor of drug use.
Not every topic, regardless of how objective I try to be, is fitting for ToolGuyd to tackle.
Joel
+1 for keep it up. Keep using your judgement on topics to post about vs. stay away from, and err on the side of posting when you’re unsure. Thanks!