What If...

[henry quirk]

"But most of those rules and regulations stem from some person or company abusing the public."

Sure, but do we need thousands of pages of regs, just on the federal level, to address that?

No, we don't.

#

"There were many people through larceny or ineptitude wiping out the nest egg of people getting ready to or already were retired. Bernie Madoff brought it to the front page by ripping powerful people. The result was a slew of new rules. The rules came late and for the wrong reason but they are still good rules. People will still get screwed but the perps won't walk away clean anymore."

How many rules were created, Bruce? List them, please. If you do, and we go through them, one by one, I guarantee we'll find nine tenths (or more) of them are unnecessary.

#

"Of course some of the rules are written to help the wife's cousin's coal mine keep a stranglehold on their market. That's why the rule makers have to be babysat by the voters."

Yes, most of the regs are meant to serve or benefit a minority. Sensible, minimal regulation serves the majority (a majority which is expected to be self-regulating and -responsible), so -- by definition -- such regs must be sensible, minimal.

And, yes: 'we' should keep our feet on the necks of our employees. 'We' should never think of them as 'rulemakers'. They're servants, proxies, employees. They should be second-class citizens, not you or me.