Regulation

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether 
we provide enough for those who have too little.” - FDR

Dewey, Cheatem & Howe (9/25/2015)

The Republican zeal for deregulation assured that the market would become a wrecking ball, environmental protections became ineffective, loose labor regulation threatened worker safety. The lesson is clear: when mindless deregulation occurs, consumers, workers, and economic stability are at risk.

Still, they have not learned that markets are NOT self regulating, and that it is the job of government to see that fraud and wild speculation are not acceptable, especially since taxpayers ultimately have to take the loss. Banks have consolidated still further, so expect another crisis ...only worse. The Dodd-Frank act is designed to address the "too big to fail" problem that will ultimately be yet another burden for taxpayers, but Republicans want to roll that back also as a favor to their oligarchs.


Republicans have been keen to dismantle the automatic economic stabilizers put in place in the 1930s. They revoked the Glass-Steagle Law that protected taxpayers from speculators, and now taxpayers again are on the hook. Business consolidation, formerly discouraged by ant-trust law, also consolidates wealth for obscenely paid CEOs. The graduated income tax might have been a counterbalance, but it has been all but eliminated. Deadbeat Republicans refuse to pay the bills for the wars and tax cuts that they have put on the tab. Now many of them, the Tea Party fringe at least, are prepared to default on the debt.

Having rolled back the New Deal, Republicans have not been satisfied though. Across the country they are screaming for fiscal austerity. That has meant an inadequate stimulus program at the federal level, job cuts at every level of government, harsh new laws restricting unions from bargaining, unwillingness to participate in infrastructure improvement for highways and railroads. A lot of States like New Jersey have balanced their budgets and even given tax cuts by not paying into pension funds, now they want to cut pensions.

* they fought regulation, so predatory practices and corruption have become routine.

Links

Reckless Corporations Can't Be Trusted to Regulate Themselves.

Reasons to Support #OccupyWallStreet


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