Matt Davies for October 09, 2012

It has always been a mystery to me why ordinary Republicans oppose all consumer disclosure laws and regulations. -Don’t they buy cars, take out loans, shop for food? Don’t their kids play with toys?-Maybe some of our right wing trolls/Willard supporters/Fox “News” viewers can explain it.

Option A: Don’t use carcinogenic chemicals.(But profits would plummet! We have an obligation to our shareholders.)Option B: Use carcinogenic chemicals, but tell people about them.(But profits would plummet! We have an obligation to our shareholders.)Option C: Use carcinogenic chemicals, don’t tell people about them, and get sued for billions.(But profits would plummet! We have an obligation to our shareholders.)Option D: Use carcinogenic chemicals, don’t tell people about them, lobby Washington to roll back consumer protection laws and limit jury awards.BINGO!

A friend of mine is a regulator, an efficiency expert in civil service. Though disabled and having cost her gov’t paid insurance over 200k in twenty+ years, she has reduced wasteful spending by contractors, improved procedures, and improved rules and regulations to a degree than in her nearly three decades of service, she has saved the US gov’t nearly 200mill. Her office as a whole has done much more.Thoughtful, intelligent, targeted, and ENFORCED regulation will go a LONG way to reducing the financial and human losses devastating wildlands and neighborhoods. Close loopholes, make regs simple and understandable, and if offenders don’t change, auction their company off to someone who will and fine and/or imprison offenders severely.If the fine for throwing plastic bags/litter on the ground was $1k – $5k, or MANY hours of community service, there would be a lot less litter on the ground.C.

Government has obviously overstepped all bounds and cost Americans their freedom!!! Take down all those STOP signs. TAKE OUT those awful traffic lights. REMOVE all those speed limits, especially in school zones, and teach our kids to be more alert!!

Removing the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, NEPA, Wilderness Act, FLPMA, and ALL environmental laws is currently proposed, in HR 1505! Romney and crew are chomping at the bit to remove ALL regulations on corporations, despite what he started saying this week!

If you like smog, filthy water, burning rivers, ruined aquifers, dead kids, deadly drugs on the market (“legal” ones), and increased corporate profits, ignoring all costs, just vote for Mitt!(and the TEAPUBLICANS)

False? Wooden?If there were as many inspectors, efficiency experts, and regulators as there are IRS agents we’d have a real good start. Targeting your personnel is also very important. Some contractors are ‘protected’ by elected officials who resist targeted inspections, especially if they or a family member has interests in that company. Random searches are less effective.NPR had a great report this morning on the Mass. company responsible for the meningitis cases killing some people and making others ill. The EPA used to regulate them, but a SCOTUS ruling and a lack of congressional action to close the gap SCOTUS exposed caused the EPA to walk away from companies like the one in Mass. The state of Mass is responsible for that company and one or two of the company’s executives are actually ON the board that regulates them.(Councilman Fox would like to complain about the cost of security measures around the chicken coop.)And people are dying, people are sick. Medical costs for families and hospitals treating uninsured patients are being added onto the rest of us. The company will just go bankrupt and walk away from the sick and the dead. But it wasn’t personal, it was just business.Sadly,C.