Kadoka High School
Kadoka, South Dakota
Teacher: Teresa Shuck
Government As Regulator
By: Jami Livermont
11th grade
Government regulation is needed because there are too many people who run scams and illegal operations all around the world and that are getting innocent people involved in their tricks, and they get suckered out of thousands of dollars that are personally spent by other people. Some are even getting government money to do these things. They probably say that they are going to use it to start some kind of business, but really go out and start a computer scan, an illegal raffle, or some kind of charity event just to get more money for them. I know people in my own town that do just the exact same thing. So the government needs to regulate where and whom money goes to and to monitor exactly what they do with it. But money isn’t the only thing; there are crimes, violence in places where there isn’t any kind of safety that the government provides for the people living there. So I think it wouldn’t hurt to have it around.
Three examples of legitimate regulation would be, having more safety and security in airports and on aircrafts. Reasonable and, or harsher punishments for crimes that are committed. For example, a lesser punishment for people who have a smaller offense. And a large one for the people who commit larger crimes. In addition, to cut down on government spending. I think that the government spends too much of our hard earned tax dollars. The government purchases unnecessary things. There probably isn’t too much need for some of the things that they have.
Some unnecessary regulation would be the EPA. I think that if the government isn’t happy with the way that people control their own land, and then they should handle it in a rational way. But sometimes the EPA goes too far in taking action. Another would be, animal’s rights activists. I think if they don’t approve of the testing on animals, then they should allow only a certain amount of animals that can be tested. Last would be, the SAT tests. The government doesn’t think about the learning abilities of some students, or the fact that some students forget the information that they have learned.
Other costs that are attached to government regulations would have to be keeping the regulations enforced for the allowed time. It would cost money to keep the regulations going if it worked out. Depending on the type of regulation, it is and the equipment or any other needs that it may have, to help make the certain regulation. Some other costs that are attached to government regulations would be the payment of the employees that help to organize and run the regulation.
The person who should be in charge of over-regulation would have to be the head person in charge of that regulation. I think that he or she should be able to make his or her own judgments on if it is an over-regulation or not. They should have a group of people that determine if the regulation is going over-board; which the head person can decide to rearrange as needed. This decision should also be made by trial and error. The organization can try out the new regulation and see if it works out. If it doesn’t then they can rearrange it.
There is too much government regulation. I think it wouldn’t be so bad if there were necessary regulations that would apply to certain situations. There are some regulations that are not applicable to society today. I think some of them are so bizarre that it wouldn’t do any good to put in the time and money to enforce, and operate them. If the number of government regulations would be reduced the only the necessities of what we need in the world today. Then I think the government would actually have a surplus of money that comes from the money that goes into some of these regulations. I would think there would be millions of dollars that goes into these bizarre regulations. Therefore, if they eliminate maybe half of what there are now, then they would have more money that would actually benefit the necessary regulations. That is the way I would look at it. And I hope that someday, this would really happen.
Jami’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 argues that its members need regulatory relief to compete with 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 services 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 it would allow them to dump ordinary garbage in a landfill that later is designated a superfund site. Yes I think the legislation is a good idea, because it designs a place to dump hazardous materials and garbage at the same time.
Q4:
Give an argument in favor of government regulating activities such as roller
blading and bungee jumping.
Governing, March 1993 p 23
Answer: My argument is that I think that this is a good idea to regulate roller blading and bungee jumping. Because so many people are killed by these recreational activities. People complain that the drivers are the ones to blame for killing children while roller blading. But it’s really the children that are careless.
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 form, 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: Because he cited that Graham’s past criticisms of clean-air and clean-water statutes and 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 the May 5, 2001 issue of Congressional Quarterly Weekly?
Answer: Risk analysis is defined as a valuable tool in setting budget and policy priorities, and that it makes sense to use systematic methods to figure out whether a perceived threat or hazard is real.
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 President 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: The OSHA has been at work on regulations to limit injuries or disabilities from performing repetitive tasks. Business groups say the pending rules breadth and vagueness would drive up their cost of compliance.
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 the Democratic committee chairmen, agency officials and interest for special projects or protecting specific constituencies. Environmentalists and industry officials, the White House and GOP committee chairmen that leaves them out of the equation.
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 is signing the legislation PL 107-5 to kill a Clinton ergonomics rule opposed by many major business groups, who say it would cost too much. Then, one to toughen cleanup standards for hard rock mining. The next action was a campaign pledge to regulate carbon dioxide and by rejecting to Kyoto Protocol on global warming. The fourth was reversing a Clinton rule to reduce the levels of arsenic in drinking water. The last one was to 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: The executive order issued by Ronald Regan in 1981 is still in order today because it required agencies to prove that a regulation’s benefit would “outweigh” its costs. Then Regan banned agencies form issuing any regulatory policies that were not approved by OMB at the start of each year.
Q10: On
the average, how long does it take to build an airport? A highway?
CQ May 19, 2001 p 1163
Answer: According to the House of Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Don Young, Representative of Alaska, the average time for highway construction 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: The pros and cons of licensing requirements are that the people in favor think that it is right to license young businesses to keep them form unreasonable barriers and fro starting. This would let the small business know what it’s like to be licensed to start a business. Then they would know what it’s like to have a real license and to let them know that it’s a hard thing, to run a small business.
Q12:
Discuss the pros and cons of master plans and planning departments.
Taking A Stand On Regulation pp 80-82
Answer: The pros and cons of master plans and planning departments the pros are that the common goals that are judged to be good for today’s society and the future. And that it would benefit the economy. The cons would be that it would be and entire waste of time because there would be time invested in this plan but then would be wasted if it didn’t work.