Kadoka High School

Kadoka, South Dakota

Teacher:  Teresa Shuck

Government As Regulator

By:  Shawn Fox

11^th grade

Government regulation:  two words that businessmen and businesswomen are familiar with.  Without it disease would multiply and prices of materials would go sky high.  Some would argue that there is not enough regulation, while others would say that there is too much.  Many people would also say that there is just the right amount of regulation.  I would have to say that government regulation is too great in the United States of America. 

I see that some organizations have too much power and are able to gain control of property with the lamest excuses, and there is nothing that the owner of the property can do.  The government of the United States of America has been able to gain more and more control.  I strongly urge you to put a stop to all this control so that we as Americans can do what we want with our own land like our forefathers did 200 years ago.  Were there ever any cases of land being taken away from a landowner in the early colonial days by a government agency?  Also I heard that a group kids in Indiana were kick out of school, because their local mayor did not like the sport of basketball.

I also would like to bring up the issue about the legal drinking age of Americans.  Young Americans can go and fight a war at age 18, yet they can’t set foot in their local bar or pub without being 21 years of age or older.  Which is more dangerous for our young Americans going to fight a war or going to the local bar and drinking a few beers?  How long does it take for a solider to die in action and how long does it take for someone to drink himself or herself to death?  I would have to say that a 20-year drunk has a better chance of staying alive than a solider in a war. 

The next issue that should be brought to attention is the law that we Americans must wear seatbelts.  The government doesn’t decide whether we live or die at a certain time.  So we Americans should be able to decide whether we want to wear seatbelts or just take our chances.  I also would have to say that seatbelts may cause just as much damage as they do good, for example, you driving down the road with your windows down and you catch some loose gravel, loose control and slide into a river.  The car is filling up fast with water, soon the car is totally submerged and you are franticly trying to unhook your seatbelt, but it is stuck you soon run out of air and die.  If that person didn’t have their seatbelt on they would have been able to swim out of the window and surface to get a breath of air then swim to the shore to wait for help to arrive.

The Environmental Protection Agency is another government agency that has more power than it should.  There is a need for them, but they have way too much power.  They also come up with ideas that are actually destroying nature.  The prairie dog being on the endangered species list is one thing that should not be done, and if the federal government decides to put them on the endangered species list along with the help of the EPA it will destroy more land for local ranchers and farmers and most of all it will destroy the ecosystem for local wildlife and send wildlife to a decline in numbers.  The prairie dog is nowhere in danger of becoming extinct in the United States.  The reason why the prairie dog numbers seem so slim is because only half the population has been counted.  If the prairie dog is put onto the endangered species list then they will have to be regulated.  If ranchers or farmers do one thing wrong they could be fined, and have their own land that they bought with their own hard earned money taken away from them just because of one little thing he did to a rodent.  Like I said before the prairie dog destroys the land by eating the grass down to the ground so that the land can no longer support any of the other wildlife in the area.  Something has got to be done about government regulation, and that something to be done should be to have less government regulation and also to give the EPA less power.  People that own the land know more on how to manage the land other than some government agency. 

There is too much regulation in the United States today and that is a problem for us as citizens.  With an ever-growing chance that our own rightful property might be taken away and we as Americans will not be able to do anything about it is a problem.  As I leave you with this, I strongly urge you to consider and to take action with me that there is an unacceptable amount of government regulation. 

Shawn’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 in section one is to make the cockpit harder and more indestructible.

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 and the arguments given by their opponents against the legislation are:  The lobbyists in favor of the of the HR 1542 argue that the members need regulatory relief to compete with cable television companies and any other high speed Internet providers.

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 waste at 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:  I think that there should be more and tougher regulations on bungee jumping and roller-blading.   Many people die or are severely injured.  There should be more regulations on these sports.  And also there should be higher prices on these accessories.  This way not as many casualties will happen and also, as many people will not die if they are deferred from buying these pieces of equipment

Q5       Define a “burden hour.”
CQ ‘April 28 p. 896

Answer:  To measure 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:  He was concerned because he did not want that person to be nominated for President.

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:  The calculation of the likelihood of a hazard against the costs 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:  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? 
CQ Almanac p 2-111

Answer:  To limit injuries or disabilities from performing repetitive tasks.

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 Iron Triangle was an alliance between Democratic Chairmen and other groups of interest.

Q8       Name 5 actions of the Bush administration that have drawn criticism from Environmentalists.
CQ May 5, 2001 p. 994 and 995

Answer:  a.) Bush stop one of Clinton’s bills

b.) Reverse Clinton’s rules and revise them

c.) Regulate carbon dioxide

d.) Rejected the Kyoto Protocol on global warming

e.) Reduced levels of arsenic in public 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 in 1981 requires agencies to prove that a regulation’s benefits would “outweigh” its costs, before new regulations were enacted.

Q10     On the average, how long does it take to build an airport?  A highway?
CQ May 19, 2001 p 1163

Answer:  Requires 15 years to build an airport and 12 years to build a highway.

Q11     Discuss the pros and cons of licensing requirements.
Wall Street Journal June 18, 1993

Answer:  Advantages of licensing requirements are that the government can standardize rules that apply to everyone, rules that can help keep people safe.

Q12     Discuss the pros and cons of master plans and planning departments.
Taking A Stand On Regulation pp 80-82

Answer:  Some advantages of master plans and planning departments are that many communities have greatly benefited from successful growth management, simply by looking ahead and trying to prevent damage.  

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