In article , lcb11211
@swbelldotnet says...

On 10/8/2011 7:02 PM, Han wrote:
wrote in
:

For the cost of the monies lost to Solyndra,

That thing stinks to high heaven, and I hope we'll get to the bottom of
the episode's wrongdoings. It reminds me of the stuff the farmeres
spayed over their fields at summer's end, near where I grew up (Usually
about 100-200 yards from home). The "stuff" was what was left in the
pits below the cows, filled with excrement etc. That smell was
something!!

and literally thousands of
other examples of frivolous, 'bridges to nowhere' spending of taxpayers
money, the government, instead of a mandate, would do well to make Gass
an offer he couldn't refuse and put the patent in the public domain.

I wish that could work, but I think it'll take a Warren Buffett to do
that. At least, I haven't heard of the goverment doing anything like
that.

The resultant technological _innovation_ coming from just that one
action would go a long way to really making table saw usage much safer
for everyone at a reasonable price.

Gass did us all a favor by inventing something useful. In true
capitalist fashion, he thought he should instantaneously become a
millionaire. Of course, OTOH, the manufacturers of tablesaws didn't want
to be bothered with something like this. Now, it appears, and this is
IMPORTANT, that only hobbyists who aren't subject to OSHA regulations are
stupid enough (like me) to not follow safety rules and regulations and
get injured. Read the CPSC report, it is quite instructive!

Those who espouse "social cost" as a justification, over individual
responsibility, should have no problem with that.

I'm fora certain amount of forcing people to be responsible for their own
safety/good. Seatbelts are a good example of how things should be done.
Now the problem is how to give Gass his due rewards for his invention
without all consumers being extorted like he is now trying to do.

Apparently Gass is doing quite well and his product is very appealing to
those that realize the idea that their safety is indeed worth a little
more. His products are top notch and IMHO well with in reason price
wise. I don't think all consumers are being extorted. Had a great
number of consumers not thought the product was worth while or worth the
price he his business would not be introducing as many new models as it is.

You're missing the point. If the market perceives his product as such
incredible value, why is he not content to just let the free market
provide him dominance? The problem is that he wants the government to
force his competition to buy his product.