Kadoka High School
Kadoka, South Dakota
Teacher: Teresa Shuck
Government As Regulator
By: Beth Vander May
11th grade
Why do we need government regulation? Government regulation protects businesses and citizens from danger. Government regulation also protects the environment that we live in. Government regulation is needed to keep America under control and running smoothly. It also protects the people from harm. Government regulation should be increased because America needs it to stay organized. Our country will begin to deteriorate if there are no regulations for the citizens to follow. Though Government regulation is needed; sometimes it needs to back down some.
The government takes to much control over something’s, and the rules end up hurting the people instead of helping them. The government should not have come in and taken away the privileges of the fifteen-year-old girl who braided and washed hair for her friends and family. She made a profit of one hundred dollars per month. However, the Kansas Cosmetology Board warned her of her illegal actions, and threatened to put her in jail. Monique later had to shut down her small business that she worked so hard in. Does this mean if friends work on each other’s hair, they are committing a crime? Another reason that the government has got in the way is the rules on Bungee-jumpers, skateboarders, and Whitewater-rafters. Skateboarders are not able to be in public plazas. Bungee-jumpers have gotten their privileges taken away, and whitewater-rafting companies are being examined for a stronger regulation. Roller bladers are being fined for being neither a car nor a pedestrian. People think of roller bladers, skateboarders, and bungee-jumpers a nuisance and harmful, but it is ridiculous that they have to give people fines just because they are having fun. Government regulation keeps the logging industry from doing their job. If trees are dying, loggers should be able to go in and cut them down. The rotting trees are just in the way, and the government should let the loggers do their work by cutting them down. Also, the government shouldn’t force schools to take tests. Many times students feel nervous when they take tests and they don’t do so well. The Government should let the schools pick the tests that are appropriate for the students.
Three examples of legitimate regulation are limiting the amount of pollution that large companies put into the air. It is an environmental hazard. The pollution can also be very harmful for the people living in the city. Another example of legitimate regulation is limiting the experiments that scientists put on animals. Scientists shouldn’t constantly disturb the animals. If this law didn’t exist, scientists would take it way out of hand, and have many animals living in a lab instead of their proper environment. The seatbelt law is a good example of government regulation. It saves many peoples lives. Sometimes it can be a nuisance putting on your seatbelt every time you get in the car, but you will be happy you did when you walk away from a car accident with only a scratch. More people are taking this law into consideration when they hear how seatbelts have saved many lives.
The people of America should be the ones to decide what constitutes over-regulation. America is a democracy and it would be only fair if the citizens decide. If the majority of the citizens decided the same thing, there would be less debate over regulations. The citizens voting should make the decision. If the people come together and vote on reasonable regulation, the people will understand and follow these regulations more closely.
Government regulation can get pretty costly, but money is not the only thing that is spent on government regulation. A lot of time is spent on deciding these regulations.
If we increase our government regulation, small businesses will be happy because they are not overrun by the bigger businesses. The people will feel safer if there are more regulations because they will not have to worry about terrorists taking over their country. Though at first we may think that we don’t need any more regulations, we will be happy in the long run.
Beth’s Questions:
Q1. What is the only way to prevent hijackers from gaining control of an airplane according to the unknown author?
Answer: The only way to prevent hijackers from gaining control of an airplane according to the unknown author is to harden the cockpit. Nobody should be able to go in or out during flight. The cockpit door should remain closed at all times.
Q2. What
are the arguments given by lobbyists for the Bells in favor of HR 1542
(Tauzin-Dingell Bill) and arguments given by their opponents against this
legislation?
CQ May 5 p 1012
Answer: The arguments given by lobbyists for the Bells in favor of HR 1542 (Tauzin-Dingell) and arguments given by their opponents against legislation are: it would speed deployment of broadband services and help jump-start the information technology sector.
Q3. Why
do small-business groups like HR 1831? From the small amount of information
presented in your required reading, do you think the legislation is a good idea?
Why?
CQ May 19 p. 1161
Answer: Small-business groups like HR 1831 because it would protect businesses that discard less than 110 gallons of liquid waste or less than 200 pounds of solid, non-hazardous wastes. It would also apply if they dump ordinary garbage in a landfill that later is designated a superfund site.
Q4. Give
an argument in favor of government regulating activities such as roller blading
and bungee jumping.
Governing, March 1993 p 23
Answer: An argument in favor of government regulating activities such as roller blading and bungee-jumping is that some insist that government is just doing its job, protecting people from public nuisances and unscrupulous thrill-providers who don’t take proper safety precautions.
Q5.
Define a “burden hour.”
CQ ‘April 28 p. 896
Answer: A burden hour is the time it takes to collect data and fill out federal forms, surveys and reports.
Q6. Why
was Connecticut Senator, Joseph Lieberman, concerned enough to vote against the
nomination of Professor John Graham as administrator of the office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs in the current Bush administration?
CQ May 26 p 1229
Answer: Lieberman voted against Graham because he cited Grahams past criticisms of clean-air and clean-water statues and he questioned whether he would weaken federal health, environmental and safety standards.
Q6a. Graham is a proponent of “risk analysis.” How is risk analysis defined on page 992 of he May 5, 2001 issue of Congressional Quarterly Weekly?
Answer: A risk analysis calculates the likelihood of a hazard against the cost and benefits of preventing it.
Q6b. Who
was the first president to order federal agencies to weigh potential costs and
benefits when writing a rule?
CQ May5 2001 p 993
Answer: Bush was the first president to order federal agencies to weigh potential costs and benefits when writing a rule.
Q6. How
much would compliance with OSHA’s regulations to limit injuries or disabilities
from performing repetitive tasks cost according to an estimate by business
groups as reported in the 2000 CQ Almanac? What was the response of OSHA and
Labor Department officials?
CQAlmanac p 2-111
Answer: The regulation would require that 1.6 million employers set up programs to limit the repetitive motion injuries of about 27 million workers. Business groups say that pending rules’ breadth and vagueness would
Q7. What
was the makeup of the “iron triangle” during the Reagan years and what do
environmentalists and consumer activists foresee as its composition in the
current Bush administration?
CQ May 5 p 990
Answer: The makeup of the “iron triangle” during the Reagan years was an unbreakable alliance concert to achieve common goals, whether it was funding for special projects or protecting specific constituencies. Environmentalists and consumer activists say they feat the formation of a new triad composed of industry officials.
Q8. Name 5 actions of the Bush administration that have drawn criticism from Environmentalists. CQ May 5, 2001 p. 994 and 995
Answer: Five actions of the Bush administration that have drawn criticism from environmentalists are that Bush signed the regulation to kill the Clinton ergonomics rule opposed by many major business groups, reversed the Clinton rule to reduce levels of arsenic permitted and drinking water.
Q9. What did the executive order issued by Ronald Reagan in 1981 and still in effect today, requires agencies to prove before new regulations were enacted? How did the Democratic House counter in 1986? CQ May 5, 2001 p. 995
Answer: Reagan beefed up the agency’s oversight power by issuing an executive order in 1981 that required agencies to prove that regulations’ benefits would “outweigh” its costs-a standard regulatory policies that were not approved by OMB at the start of each year. In 1986, the Democratic-controlled House forced a showdown by deleting funds for OMB’s director Miller and Wendy Lee Gramm agreed to make the rule-making process more transparent by disclosing White House documents related to regulatory decisions.
Q10. On
the average, how long does it take to build an airport? A highway?
CQ May 19, 2001 p 1163
Answer: The average time for a highway to be built is 12 years and the average time for an airport is 15 years
Q11.
Discuss the pros and cons of licensing requirements.
Wall Street Journal June 18, 1993
Answer: This prohibits young people form earning any kind of profit from a talent or small business that they are capable of starting. Many people just want to better themselves but are shut down by the government for not having the proper license. Also though it keeps grown people from starting an illegal business of some sort suck as performing tasks without being certified.
Q12.
Discuss the pros and cons of master plans and planning departments.
Taking A Stand On Regulation pp 80-82
Answer: Planning departments can be given too much power and rules regulating the protection of the environment must not be subverted into an instrument for the oppression and delay of social, economic, or recreational development advancement. Then with these planning departments on branch may overrule another. Many people believe planning is an improvement over a free market