The truth is we need regulation and conservatives need to get with the program and stop lumping all regulations together in a big basket of bad things that conservatives hate. The Skeptic is conservative, anyone who has read anything here knows that but he's not an idiot, Rush, Sean and the rest of the talk radio crowd aren't doing anyone any favors when they rail against regulation without being more specific, gawd, you'd think that just saying some things might need to be regulated was a sin against conservatism if you listen to some people. Trust the Skeptic when he tells you that you wouldn't want to live in a world where banks and brokerages weren't regulated, it is necessary and it probably needs to be stepped up, at the very least the regulations in place now need to be enforced. Where we don't need regulation is when it destroys businesses, in particular, small businesses, and an individual's ability to make a decent living.
The really sad thing about this is that the Skeptic believes Republicans and Democrats both know this but they refuse to back away from their respective positions which means that neither party really gives a crap about the country. Republicans know damn well that you cannot let financial institutions run wild, if you do they take huge risks with other people's money and if it doesn't work out they run to the taxpayers for a bailout. How do we know this? Because they just did it...and then...to make things worse once they got their bailout they used some of it to hand out huge bonuses to their employees...for what...for doing a terrific job? And Democrats? Well they understand that regulating every aspect of our lives doesn't work but they do it anyway. Well, the Skeptic assumes they know it, no one could be so stupid as to not see that, could they? They love the EPA despite the fact that it invents such ridiculously strict regulations on things like what defines a wetland, or how pure our water has to be. They love regulations that make it difficult to get a gun permit, which shouldn't be required in the first place, but they love it anyway because it sounds like they are trying to make life safer. This list could go on forever but the Skeptic is sure you get the point. Do we need regulations governing some of these things like water purity? Of course, but there is a limit, the EPA is continually tightening regulations on how many parts per million of certain things are allowed in drinking water, fine, but that costs money, lots of money and it's seriously debatable as to how much it helps but there is no debate what it does to the tax rates in small cities and towns that have to build or rebuild their water treatment plants. It's this sort of thing that just seems to keep building up over the years and the costs to taxpayers keeps getting higher and higher but Democrats just keep pushing for more and more, never mind that it doesn't do any good, it keeps building the federal bureaucracy and that means more power, this whole business is a vicious cycle and the only way it's ever going to stop is if voters finally start demanding that politicians put an end to it...on both sides because Republicans are far from blameless when it comes to mindless rules and regulations. Start here
We do need compromise, that's something the Skeptic points out quite often, but it has to be real compromise from both sides or it's just going to make things worse. If a Republican gives in on financial regulation but Democrats refuse to budge on loosening other regulations it's never going to work, the Republican will lose his next election and the next guy will be even more ideological and then try and get any compromise. Same thing would happen on the other side except the result would be a more liberal candidate would be elected. And what would be the result, well, maybe the country would become more and more divided and, hey wait a minute...does anyone think that maybe that's exactly what's been going on for the last twenty or thirty years? Is it possible that
The really sad thing about this is that the Skeptic believes Republicans and Democrats both know this but they refuse to back away from their respective positions which means that neither party really gives a crap about the country. Republicans know damn well that you cannot let financial institutions run wild, if you do they take huge risks with other people's money and if it doesn't work out they run to the taxpayers for a bailout. How do we know this? Because they just did it...and then...to make things worse once they got their bailout they used some of it to hand out huge bonuses to their employees...for what...for doing a terrific job? And Democrats? Well they understand that regulating every aspect of our lives doesn't work but they do it anyway. Well, the Skeptic assumes they know it, no one could be so stupid as to not see that, could they? They love the EPA despite the fact that it invents such ridiculously strict regulations on things like what defines a wetland, or how pure our water has to be. They love regulations that make it difficult to get a gun permit, which shouldn't be required in the first place, but they love it anyway because it sounds like they are trying to make life safer. This list could go on forever but the Skeptic is sure you get the point. Do we need regulations governing some of these things like water purity? Of course, but there is a limit, the EPA is continually tightening regulations on how many parts per million of certain things are allowed in drinking water, fine, but that costs money, lots of money and it's seriously debatable as to how much it helps but there is no debate what it does to the tax rates in small cities and towns that have to build or rebuild their water treatment plants. It's this sort of thing that just seems to keep building up over the years and the costs to taxpayers keeps getting higher and higher but Democrats just keep pushing for more and more, never mind that it doesn't do any good, it keeps building the federal bureaucracy and that means more power, this whole business is a vicious cycle and the only way it's ever going to stop is if voters finally start demanding that politicians put an end to it...on both sides because Republicans are far from blameless when it comes to mindless rules and regulations. Start here
We do need compromise, that's something the Skeptic points out quite often, but it has to be real compromise from both sides or it's just going to make things worse. If a Republican gives in on financial regulation but Democrats refuse to budge on loosening other regulations it's never going to work, the Republican will lose his next election and the next guy will be even more ideological and then try and get any compromise. Same thing would happen on the other side except the result would be a more liberal candidate would be elected. And what would be the result, well, maybe the country would become more and more divided and, hey wait a minute...does anyone think that maybe that's exactly what's been going on for the last twenty or thirty years? Is it possible that