Toward a 21st-Century Regulatory System-By BARACK OBAMA

[kpete]

* OPINION
* JANUARY 18, 2011

Toward a 21st-Century Regulatory System
If the FDA deems saccharin safe enough for coffee, then the EPA should not treat it as hazardous waste.

By BARACK OBAMA

For two centuries, America's free market has not only been the source of dazzling ideas and path-breaking products, it has also been the greatest force for prosperity the world has ever known. That vibrant entrepreneurialism is the key to our continued global leadership and the success of our people.

But throughout our history, one of the reasons the free market has worked is that we have sought the proper balance. We have preserved freedom of commerce while applying those rules and regulations necessary to protect the public against threats to our health and safety and to safeguard people and businesses from abuse.

From child labor laws to the Clean Air Act to our most recent strictures against hidden fees and penalties by credit card companies, we have, from time to time, embraced common sense rules of the road that strengthen our country without unduly interfering with the pursuit of progress and the growth of our economy.

Sometimes, those rules have gotten out of balance, placing unreasonable burdens on business—burdens that have stifled innovation and have had a chilling effect on growth and jobs. At other times, we have failed to meet our basic responsibility to protect the public interest, leading to disastrous consequences. Such was the case in the run-up to the financial crisis from which we are still recovering. There, a lack of proper oversight and transparency nearly led to the collapse of the financial markets and a full-scale Depression.

the rest:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703396604576088272112103698.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

[Doctor_J]

1. Reads like a Cato dispatch

:shrug:

Edit: Murdock Propaganda Rag is a perfect place for this.

[somone]

2. He forgot to add:

"I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing."

[alarimer]

3. No way am I voting for this clown again.

Way to suck up to the right wing (who won't vote for you anyway). Totally wrong-headed.