To Regulate or Not

Economist Peter Ferrara preaches Reaganomics – cut taxes, cut regulations. (I have to point out that it was during the Reagan administration that major deregulation of business occurred and began the situation we have today.) The current Republicans say cut taxes and regulations and let the private sector lead. This would be good if the private sector focused on employment and fair play instead of greed. If businesses gave employees a wage equivalent to the cost of living for the area they live in then the government would not have had to implement a minimum wage. The companies have had their turn in running this country and it’s gotten us – poor schools, poor medical treatment, high unemployment, and poorer people. They’ve driven up the so called benefits (welfare) because they have not treated people fairly; the rich got richer while the poor got poorer. I’d like to hear a good argument for allowing this to go on.

The President in his September 8, 2011 Jobs Act speech said he agrees that we need to cut government waste and has ordered a review of regulations; they identified over 500 reforms that should save billions of dollars over the next few years. He went on to say that - what we cannot do is to allow this economic crisis to be used as an excuse to wipe out the basic protections that the American people have counted on for decades. (I can’t believe that New Zealand has stricter regulations regarding beef production than the US.) With the regulations we now have in place we still have food contamination, polluted air and waterways, drug – toy - vehicle recalls, and more.

ABC News reported that the recent Listeria outbreak occurred via waste contaminated soil or water, workers or tools during harvest, packing equipment, refrigeration during storage and the cutting of the rind spreading the bacteria to the flesh of the fruit via your kitchen knife. They let us know that although cantaloupes aren’t easy to clean because of the nooks and crannies, like all fresh fruit, cantaloupes should be washed. Once cut they should be eaten right away because Listeria can grow in the refrigerator and nearly 25% of all cases lead to death; per the CDC it can take up to 2 months before the symptoms show.

I want the American people to think of a world without regulations; more health problems due to salmonella, pesticides, smog and more. We would have more safety violations risking the lives of miners, production and office workers, patients and others. And there would be more faulty or hazardous products that harm not only your children but you. I don’t understand the Republican’s ignorance in knowing that without the regulations they too will get hurt or sick if products go unregulated. It’s because of our freedom of speech and regulations that unions and people like Dr. Oz are able to question issues.

I agree with the President that we do not want to wipe out the basic protections. I think people want the government to attempt to insure that products are non- hazardous. With the protections we already have in place, and the fact that the government cannot watch every company all of the time, companies take short cuts or fail to self test to ensure that the products they produce are safe for the people; the numerous lawsuits prove this.

If companies want regulations to be eliminated then they also need to be fair and responsible to their employees without government or union intervention. In my opinion, they haven’t proven very trustworthy. I do wonder if we deregulate if we would also throw out product liability lawsuits.