Obama’s Regulations Are Excellent for the Tea Party

Breakfast yesterday with the Republicans — who consider Obama to be a socialist — revealed them deploring the White House for not allowing Detroit and automobile makers to file for bankruptcy. Even if their hatred is in reality directed toward the powerful automobile unions who are supporters of the Democrats, behind their hatred is a very American idea that any government is a potential tyrant. Thomas Jefferson once said, “Between a government without a state, and a state without a government, I choose the latter.”*

The New York Times recently published an article that could carry coals to Newcastle of those who deplore the government’s expansion. The average New Yorker notes that under the Obama administration, state regulation has grown considerably. This ranges from Wall Street reform, to the protection of polar bears and the safety rules on construction cranes or toys made in China. The White House has strengthened the government agencies responsible for enforcing these regulations through the hiring of new inspectors. It is the reversal of a trend towards deregulation that began with Ronald Reagan 30 years ago. The Times notes that this important movement went almost unnoticed, overshadowed by the debate on health care reform, the woes of the economy and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Bush administration relied on self-regulation in every industry. The Obama administration says smart, formulated regulation can be positive. “Smart regulation can make people’s lives better off,” said Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency has toughened the rules on toxic waste emissions from power plants and other highly polluting industries. In this case, the regulations put in place are a way to work around Congress, which is dragging its feet to vote on legislation addressing global warming.

Similarly, the Food and Drug Administration — which has control over the pharmaceutical and food industry — has also seen an increase in power. This newfound authority, after years of lack of influence, comes in part from consumers who are tired of outbreaks of salmonella or E-coli, which have caused a number of casualties over the past decade.

While Republican administrations emptied agencies responsible for enforcing regulation by appointing at their head former lobbyists of the industries that these agencies were supposed to supervise, or by appointing CEOs of companies hostile to these rules, the Obama administration in contrast hires lawyers who advocate for consumers and scholars qualified to enforce the laws.

Some new rules are widely accepted, such as a fine of $27,500 for airlines per passenger that has to wait more than three hours in an airplane on the tarmac at an airport.

*Editor’s note: The following quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.