Regulations Makes Sense
Posted: Tuesday, February 24, 2009
by Tex Norman
When I was a kid, one of my chores, and one of my ways of earning extra money, was to mow grass. I grew up in Texas where it sometimes gets to be 113 degrees in the shade, but we didn't stay in the shade all the time. I remember days when I was dangerously hot and thirsty. Sometimes the inside of my mouth was as dry as a camel's bunion.
Because I was just a kid, and I was hot, sweaty, and grass and dirt was coating my body like I was a chicken thigh fresh from a bag of shake n' bake, the homeowners rarely invited me in, or brought out a glass of ice water. Usually they pointed to their garden hose and said I could get a drink there.
Regulations are like putting that purposeful kink in the water hose. Put too much pressure on the regulation kink and you cut off the flow totally. Put too little pressure and you lose control over what is going on and the losses can be great.
Let's admit it: Republicans have a recent and too long allegiance to deregulation. Consider the following quote yesterday's news reporting:
"We'll have to review each program, each new dollar to make sure that we understand what are the conditions, what are the strings. . ."
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, a potential 2012 GOP presidential candidate.
Obviously those who love deregulation have huge objections to the Democrat's call for greater oversight, more regulations, strings, and conditions. What we must avoid is a knee jerk traditional Republican reaction that avoids all regulation.
Actually, it would seem logical, to me, for Republicans to be regulation zealots. When the government spends money on ANYTHING it is spending tax money, money that comes from taxing the people and businesses here in the United States . Why wouldn't Republicans WANT regulations. If you are in a political party that advocates low taxes then what taxes are spent ought to be regulated. Wouldn't you WANT tax money spent on what it was authorized for, and not wasted by those receiving it? How do you keep the receivers of tax money from wasting it? You regulate them. You set up monitors, that check on how the money is being spent. To be sure tax money is going for what it was intended to go for you put strings on that money. Why wouldn't Republicans be in favor of that? Can anyone explain why some Republican Governors would consider turning down money that would benefit their citizens simply because they object to the strings or they just plain oppose regulations?
It looks like Republicans advocate for deregulation at every turn because they are in the pockets, not of rich people, not exactly, but because they are kowtowing to Corporate Industry.
The deregulation steamroller crushed everything in its path, including senior citizens, low-income people, as well as conservation and consumer groups.
Ken Toole
We need regulations. I know of nothing that can be set once and remain perfectly adjusted from that point on, ad infinitum. To keep things running right requires constant tweaking, continuous readjusting. You don't point your car toward City Hall and get there without continuously turning the wheel slightly to keep your car between the lines as you head to town.
Consider this quote from the author and father of the Prairie Home Companion:
The government is there to do battle with those who would sell you cars that are firebombs or TV sets that cause cancer in small children or vitamins that make hair sprout on your palms or hamburgers made from deceased Springer spaniels. Every year the bank examiners come around to look at the books and make sure the president of First Texas Trust isn't siphoning your money to his account in Geneva how did the Republicans manage to make this an issue? You can't suddenly change the rules to suit yourself. You can't stop the train and kick off the people you don't like. You can't tower over people and roar and screech and spray saliva on them. You can't prey on the preoccupied and slip in a 2% surcharge on the electric bill and thereby filch a billion dollars a few cents at a time. You can't sell bad meat or water down the beer or charge 25% interest. You can't put a quarter in the collection plate and take a dollar out.
Garrison Keillor
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Another interesting article, Tex. I believe that free market is an incredible force, one that has made our country great. I also believe that a free market includes such practices as monopolies, bribery, extortion, ponzi schemes, price fixing and price gouging. I can't understand why anyone would advocate a free market economy without government regulation. There's got to be a balance, and we haven't seen a good balance in a long time. Just like your drink from a hose: too much of a good thing is not a good thing.Keep up the great writing, Tex!
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