Kadoka High School
Teacher: Teresa Shuck
Government As Regulator
11th grade
Government regulation is needed because there are too many people that think they can do whatever they want as long as it pleases them, and it helps them for the better. Without government regulation, the world would be a mad house. There would be more terrorist acts and world violence than there is now. More planes would be hijacked and more buildings would be bombed. If it weren’t for government regulation, factories and businesses and just ordinary people would be dumping their garbage wherever they wanted and the pollution would be worse than it is now. Sewage and chemicals would also be dumped in places that would be very harmful to the environment.
Three examples of legitimate regulation are the measures that are taken to enforce security on airplanes; waste disposal and the way funds are furnished and distributed. Three examples of unnecessary regulation are a required license for small businesses, outlawing activities such as roller blading and all of the taxes that are placed on goods.
Costs that are attached to government regulations other than dollars budgeted for administration and enforcement, are $35.3 billion for highway improvements, $12.9 billion for airport improvements, and traffic congestion that cost the nation $78 billion in 1999. Other costs are the 4.5 billion hours and 6.8 billion gallons of fuel sitting in traffic, and caused an average delay of 36 hours per person per year. One of the Tauzin-Dingell bills would create a $3 billion loan program to help independent telecommunications companies deploy broadband services to underserved area.
The President of the United States and the governor of each state should decide what constitutes over-regulation, and also the people that make up each state because it is these people that must live with the laws and regulations. The decision should be made according to the people that live in the U.S. because they should have the right to decide on what is over-regulation and what is under-regulation according to the way their lifestyles are.
There is just the right amount of government regulation today because if we didn’t have the regulation that we have today, there would be more terrorism and crimes than there is today. But on the other hand, if there were any more regulation than there is today, then it would feel like we were under complete control and like we are living in a controlling country. The government is doing a good job at regulating the way it does. It should continue on with the regulation that it has and follow up with the laws and regulations it has. Just think, if there were no government regulation then the pollution problem would be out of control because everyone would be dumping their garbage and sewage in rivers and streams and the world pollution problem would be much worse than it is now. If there were no security on airplanes and people could just step on the airplanes without being searched we would have many more terrorist acts. Another example of regulation being just right is protecting the environment by letting people hunt only certain amounts at certain times of the year. The government also protects the trees and wildlife in the forests. They do not allow people to cut down too many trees in one area and people can not just go cut down trees to use for themselves. Driving through the forests would disturb the vegetation and wildlife that live there, so prohibiting driving in the forests is a good idea.
When people start their own business, they have to have a license. This may hurt some people because they have learned their trade through people they know or home training. These people may be better at their job than people with a license, but without a license, they can’t legally have a business. But this is a good idea because some people start their own business without knowing hardly anything about what their trade is. This is not fair to the people who go to do business with an unlicensed person because the customer isn’t getting the service that he or she is paying for.
The funds that are divided among different companies and foundations are necessary for the businesses that they offer, so the funds that are distributed are another example of the necessary government regulation.
Emmylu’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.
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 are that its members need regulatory relief to compete with cable television companies and other high-speed Internet providers. The arguments given by their opponents against this legislation are long-distance carriers such as AT&T Corp., competitive local exchange phone carriers, Internet service providers and consumer groups.
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 this bill would protect businesses that discard less than 110 gallons of liquid waste or less than 200 pounds of solid, non-hazardous waste at a superfund site. It would also apply to small businesses that dump ordinary garbage I a landfill that later is designated a superfund site. Yes, I think the legislation is a good idea because it has been the nation’s main tool for cleaning up toxic waste sites since 1980.
Q4: Give
an argument in favor of government regulating activities such as roller blading
and bungee jumping.
Governing, March 1993 p 23
Answer: Roller blading and bungee jumping are dangerous sports or activities. By regulating these activities, the government is just doing its job and 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 supposed to measure 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: Connecticut Senator, Joseph Lieberman was 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 because he was one of three panel Democrats who voted against the nomination of Harvard University profession John D. Graham to be administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Lieberman cited Graham’s past criticisms of clean-air and clean-water statutes and questioned whether he would weaken federal health, environmental and safety standards. Nevertheless, the committee voted 9-3 on May 23 to recommend Graham’s confirmation.
Q6a: Graham is a proponent of “risk analysis.” How is risk analysis defined on page 992 of the May 5, 2001 issue of Congressional Quarterly Weekly?
Answer: Risk analysis is defined on page 992 of the May 5, 2001 issue of Congressional Quarterly Weekly as a tool researchers use to evaluate the relative harm that can come from various threats to human health and the environment.
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: The first president to order federal agencies to weigh potential costs and benefits when writing a rule was Jimmy Carter.
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: According to an estimate by business groups as reported in the 2000 CQ Almanac, compliance with OSHA’s regulations to limit injuries or disabilities from performing repetitive tasks would cost $14 billion to $80 billion a year. OSHA and Labor Department officials, meanwhile, say the rule is intended to be flexible and would not require most companies to act. While costing emoployers$4.2 billion annually, they say the rule would also save then $9 billion a year in lost productivity. This is the argument embraced by labor as well.
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 among Democratic committee chairmen, agency officials and interest groups that worked in concert to achieve common goals, whether it was funding for special projects or protecting specific constituencies. Environmentalists and consumer activists say they fear the formation of a new triad-composed of industry officials, the White House and GOP committee chairmen that leave them out of the equation. Many regulatory experts predict that the new dynamic will control the rule making process in more than 50 federal agencies. But there’s a new level of belief that the agency regulations are likely to be more helpful than harmful.
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 the signing of legislation (PL 107-5) to kill a Clinton ergonomics rule opposed by many major business groups, who argued that it would cost too much to implement; intentions to reverse or revise Clinton’s regulations, including one to toughen cleanup standards for hard rock mining operations; reneging on a campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide and by rejecting the Kyoto Protocol on global warming ; reversing a Clinton rule to reduce the levels of arsenic in drinking water, and the upholding of Clinton regulations involving complex medical privacy rules and tougher emission standards for diesel engines.
Q9: What
did the executive order issued by Ronald Reagan in 1981 and still in effect
today, require 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 a regulation’s benefits would “outweigh” its costs. Later, Reagan banned agencies from issuing any regulatory policies that were not approved by OMB at the start of each year. Democratic chairmen in the House were outraged by Reagan’s actions. In 1986, the Democratic-controlled House forced a showdown by deleting funds for OMB’s regulatory division from the fiscal 1987 budget. Lawmakers restored the money after OMB director Miller and Wendy Lee Gramm, head of the regulatory affairs office, agree to make the 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: Having committed billions of dollars to fund new highway and airport projects across the country, members of Congress are now looking for ways to expedite their construction. According to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young, R-Alaska, the average time for a highway construction is 12 years. He also said that the average time for an airport construction is 15 years, and that’s just unacceptable he thought.
Q11.
Discuss the pros and cons of licensing requirements.
Wall Street Journal June 18, 1993
Answer: Many people are in favor of certain licensing requirements, but on the other side people are against certain licensing requirements. The people in favor think that it is right to license young businesses to keep them from unreasonable barriers and from starting. This would let the small businesses know what it’s like to be licensed for starting a business. It is only keeping it from starting and developing. This license will eliminate all the small businesses and allow the big businesses to take over all the business. This will keep less confusion and business simpler with only having to work with a few businesses.
Q12. Discuss the pros and cons of master plans and
planning departments.
Taking A Stand On Regulation pp 80-82
Answer: There are many pros and cons of master plans and planning departments. The people for it say that it allows for the development of newer and better facilities. It upgrades our buildings to cope with the everyday world around us instead of an old and outdated building that isn’t good enough for people to be successful with. Making plans and planning departments can make money and we can get better facilities out of the deal. They think it’s a win-win situation. The people against the master plans and planning departments say that it makes a mess with old buildings and the construction of a the new buildings. This is an inconvenience for all the people around the area. Building new things pollutes the area around it and the people living near this area have to cope with all the noise and inconvenience. These people don’t like the tearing up of the ground just to replace a building with a newer one.