Reregulation?

"Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market."

This was a quotation from the State of the Obama speech that experts say sheds no new light on what the president's plans are. An Associated Press analysis once again savages the accuracy of Obama's statements. You almost wonder if they forgot Bush wasn't the president anymore!

Regulation has become the name of the game. Obama blasts nameless predecessors for deregulating the housing market (when in fact, President Bush's calls for regulatory restraint of the mortgage industry were actually ignored.) We can expect proposals for regulations across the board from new environmental standards to just about everything else. Although sometimes necessary, sweeping implementation of regulation will stifle economic growth and restrict competition.

The intent is to roll back the Reagan Revolution in smaller government and make the federal government more intrusive in just about every field. Gary Howell in an earlier piece explained how proposed railroad regulations will hurt the industry and the economy.

Wait a second, how did deregulation get exclusively associated with Republicans?

Actually a Democrat helped to get the deregulation ball rolling in 1980. At that point railroads were so tightly regulated that profits were impossible and an entire industry hovered on the point of collapse. Congressman Harley Staggers Sr. (D) West Virginia crafted and got passed a the Staggers Rail Act of 1980 that significantly reduced federal burdens and allowed a small revival of the railroads. This did not come in time to save the local rail facilities, but it did prevent the passing of unprofitable lines into the hands of the federal government where they would simply waste taxpayer money instead of private capital.

Congressman Staggers was no conservative and his family are staunch and proud Democrats. However his deregulation act showed that lightening the load of government can help business survive and even thrive. This generation of Democrats could learn a lot from this predecessor.