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Government intrusion

Government Intrusion

  • Too much government

    Votes: 10 90.9%
  • Not enough government

    Votes: 1 9.1%
  • Not enough government

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    11
What's the discussion? In certain areas I think we need more government, and in others I think we need less. It's finding a balance that is key, and each area has a different balance.
 
Waffles and breadcrumbs! Butter and gingersnaps! Maybe corn, but then oatmeal?! Peaches.
 
I'd love to know where people think we don't have ENOUGH government. We have too much government in every area-the issue is which areas have the worst overregulation
 
I'd love to know where people think we don't have ENOUGH government. We have too much government in every area-the issue is which areas have the worst overregulation
Then, Dude, exactly where would you cut a regulation.
But, I do agree that all of us, not only government, overreact.
We need a better people, until that time we will have to sludge ahead; but its a poor idea to fall back.
I'm in the process of trying to buy a house, you would not believe the volume of paperwork created by the lawyers to protect people from asbestos, termites, mercury,lead, and themselves.
 
I'd love to know where people think we don't have ENOUGH government. We have too much government in every area-the issue is which areas have the worst overregulation

Easy. Food. The FDA does not have the authority to force a company to recall tainted food or even publicly announce without the company's permission. The government can force a company to take back a dangerous non-food product and announce that publicly, but a food producer, like the big egg farm that tainted hundreds of millions of eggs with salmonella last month has the right to ignore the FDA and sell potentially lethal food products. The only real thing the FDA can do is pull its inspectors, effectively shutting down a plant. That does not stop the containmented food products that have already been shipped from being sold.

The fact that the government can make a company recall slightly defective cribs that may accidentally kill 1 infant out of 1 million but cannot force a recall of food which can (and has) sickened and killed millions and hundreds is frightening. I want the FDA to have the power to force food producers to recall e-coli laced meat. Especially consider the type of e-coli out there. The kind that produces shiga toxins which literally liquefy your organs.

But maybe you like Americans dying horrific and entirely preventable deaths eh turtle?

Here's for thinking before you post. Try it sometime.

And here's another example of you being as usual, wrong. Regulation prevents certain high tech weapons like the F-22 from being exported. This is a very good thing. It ensures American technological superiority on the battlefield.

Molten is correct. We have too much in some places and too little in others. One example of too little was Gringrich and Clinton's repeal of the GSA which is directly responsible for the current recession.
 
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Is someone going to add a poll?

Not sure why we actually need a poll (Beyond being in the poll section). The reasonable, intelligent answer is "Some good, some bad."

Turtledude's opinion that we have too much everywhere is pretty insane when you look at the sheer lack of power the government has over the food industry's capacity to literally sicken and kill every man, woman and child in this country.

And the idea that we have too little everywhere is insane as well.
 
Well, we are in the poll section so…:mrgreen:
 
Moderator's Warning:
Poll added.
 
The complete and utter failure of the economy in the US was directly attributable to lax or non existent regulations. The real problem in the US is that corperations run your government.
 
Easy. Food. The FDA does not have the authority to force a company to recall tainted food or even publicly announce without the company's permission. The government can force a company to take back a dangerous non-food product and announce that publicly, but a food producer, like the big egg farm that tainted hundreds of millions of eggs with salmonella last month has the right to ignore the FDA and sell potentially lethal food products. The only real thing the FDA can do is pull its inspectors, effectively shutting down a plant. That does not stop the containmented food products that have already been shipped from being sold.

That's not even a good example. Those eggs weren't that bad. Everyone had the information, made a big deal about it, and threw the eggs out. The food was still safe if you just scrambled the eggs! That's really not that much of a problem.

The fact that the government can make a company recall slightly defective cribs that may accidentally kill 1 infant out of 1 million but cannot force a recall of food which can (and has) sickened and killed millions and hundreds is frightening. I want the FDA to have the power to force food producers to recall e-coli laced meat. Especially consider the type of e-coli out there. The kind that produces shiga toxins which literally liquefy your organs.

What kind of producer is going to keep making that and have the ability to stay in business?

And here's another example of you being as usual, wrong. Regulation prevents certain high tech weapons like the F-22 from being exported. This is a very good thing. It ensures American technological superiority on the battlefield.

Isn't that kind of stretching the definition of regulation? I thought that was just part of the deal that the military makes with defense contractors.

Molten is correct. We have too much in some places and too little in others. One example of too little was Gringrich and Clinton's repeal of the GSA which is directly responsible for the current recession.

I foresee a "what started the recession" thread, complete with CRA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Federal Reserve, Bush, etc.
 
The complete and utter failure of the economy in the US was directly attributable to lax or non existent regulations. The real problem in the US is that corperations run your government.

You can't allow corporations to have free reign, but you can't squeeze them either. The solution is to random check on them enough times to keep them guessing.

ricksfolly
 
That's not even a good example. Those eggs weren't that bad. Everyone had the information, made a big deal about it, and threw the eggs out. The food was still safe if you just scrambled the eggs! That's really not that much of a problem.

What makes you think that allowing that to even occur is justifiable? So it didn't turn out as bad as it could have. That doesn't mean we do nothing or even reduce oversight a Turtledude argues.

What kind of producer is going to keep making that and have the ability to stay in business?

Every large meat producer. And they've been doing it for at least two decades this way. You should read Fast Food Nation. Jack in the Box almost went under for using that meat. And their supplier still exists.

Isn't that kind of stretching the definition of regulation? I thought that was just part of the deal that the military makes with defense contractors.

Not at all. An agreement which explicitly forbids you from selling certain products to certain people is regulation. It being part of the contract deal is a sign it is a form of regulation. In fact, that is a poster child of regulation. Government telling you what you can't sell and who you can't sell it to.

I foresee a "what started the recession" thread, complete with CRA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Federal Reserve, Bush, etc.

And like most, it will go badly because most people have no understanding of what occurred other then what pundits tell them. Still, fundamentally the problem was over use of leverage across the system. There's no way that could have continued indefinitely.
 
It's interesting to note that the majority of American citizens would actually respond that there is too much government in our daily lives, but when pressed on certain issues, the majority refuse to disenfranchise the various levels of government control. Hence, the unaltering status-quo.
 
That's because, fundamentally, the people do not want less government. They want less government in their lives and more in their neighbors'.
 
That's because, fundamentally, the people do not want less government. They want less government in their lives and more in their neighbors'.

I agree. And you? What does a fascist want? Do you want your political minions to control my thoughts and my own personal behavior?
 
I agree. And you? What does a fascist want? Do you want your political minions to control my thoughts and my own personal behavior?

You should be free to make your own choices as long as you choose to do what I think is best.

And yes, that is precisely what I want the State to do. In the absence of firm moral leadership, society regresses toward an ever-degenerating least common denominator, a trend which is easily observed in our decadent society and its mass media. Liberal political philosophies seek to undermine the moral authority of government, reducing it to little more than a harried traffic cop without the resources to achieve the meager goals with which it has been tasked. All forms of liberalism and libertarianism are fundamentally immoral and anti-human, and it is these influences within society that the Fascist rightfully struggles against.
 
What makes you think that allowing that to even occur is justifiable? So it didn't turn out as bad as it could have. That doesn't mean we do nothing or even reduce oversight a Turtledude argues.

And it will never occur with the FDA?

Every large meat producer. And they've been doing it for at least two decades this way. You should read Fast Food Nation. Jack in the Box almost went under for using that meat. And their supplier still exists.

I've never gotten sick from Jack in the Box food, and nobody has for a while now.

Not at all. An agreement which explicitly forbids you from selling certain products to certain people is regulation. It being part of the contract deal is a sign it is a form of regulation. In fact, that is a poster child of regulation. Government telling you what you can't sell and who you can't sell it to.

Then I can regulate by writing a contract that forces someone to keep my secret? It's kind of a broad definition of regulation and typically not the thing that free market economists complain about.

And like most, it will go badly because most people have no understanding of what occurred other then what pundits tell them. Still, fundamentally the problem was over use of leverage across the system. There's no way that could have continued indefinitely.

It was inevitable, for quite a few reasons.
 
And it will never occur with the FDA?

Of course it will. But the FDA has no right to force a recall. That's totally screwed up. They can force a recall of dangerous paints that over time may cause cancer but they cannot force a recall of tainted ecoli ground beef which has proven to be a known killer. That makes no sense.

I've never gotten sick from Jack in the Box food, and nobody has for a while now.

That you know of. Kind of a big assumption that you not hearing anything = nothing happened. Especially considering the level of food poisoning that occurs yearly in this country. But fast food has done a good job of fixing its supply chain. Grocery stores are another matter entirely. And the FDA and other regulatory agencies cannot force them to recall potentially lethal food items.

Then I can regulate by writing a contract that forces someone to keep my secret? It's kind of a broad definition of regulation and typically not the thing that free market economists complain about.

That does nothing to argue it's not regulation. And since Turtledude made the truly asinine argument (one of his many asinine arguments) that there is too much everywhere, he has argued there's too much in export restrictions of military hardware. Is he wrong? Of course. But that's hardly news.

The government has the right to force Ford to recall dangerous vehicles that in the right condition may cause minor injury. But it cannot force a meat producer to recall tainted meat harboring shiga toxin producing ecoli. That makes absolutely no sense. Chance of slight injury is more important then having your organs liquefied. :roll:
 
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