I would like to congratulate David Reingold ("No regs: It's a wonderful lie," March 25) for doing what statists do so well, using specific examples of private actions that have harmed consumers and concluding that we need Big Government to come and save the day with regulations to stop those evil, greedy capitalists.
Of course, he would not give you any of the thousands of examples in which government bureaucrats fail in their mandated purpose to "save and protect," while innocent people are harmed or even have their lives ruined.
Anyone remember Bernie Madoff? The man who stole millions of dollars from charities and investors in the largest Ponzi scheme in history?
The Securities and Exchange Commission was warned of Madoff's actions long before the story ever went public but repeatedly refused to investigate them.
The politicians charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac assured us these quasi-government agencies were financially stable just a few months prior to our finding out they were bankrupt and played a large part in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression.
A little girl was reprimanded by police who told her she could not sell lemonade at her stand at the end of her driveway because she did not have the necessary permit.
The HIPAA privacy rules have created difficulty for local organizations to raise money for cancer research, because these organizations can no longer access cancer victims' contact information.
Costs have increased for local community organizations to raise money, because now any food they sell at their events has to be prepared in "state certified kitchens." You can't make pasta at home and bring it in to your fire hall; someone has to be "certified" by the government in a kitchen it has deemed acceptable.
As of last year, you cannot be a local tax collector unless your home is "handicap accessible."
Had the Department of the Interior enforced its own regulations in the Gulf Coast in 2010, the disaster could have been prevented.
The state Legislature has enacted hundreds of laws and regulations, which increase the cost of living to Pennsylvanians and make it difficult or impossible for thousands of them to provide even the most basic necessities for their own families.
Even today with a Republican majority, we can't seem to get these laws changed.
In a free market, especially in today's fast media world, companies would not survive who refuse to do the right thing by the public.
The only thing that stops them is the regulatory burden that prevents competitors from entering the market to compete with a better product or service. Only large companies can afford to pay all the lawyers and accountants needed to comply with the thousands of pages of state, federal, and local regulations.
If you want consumer safety, free market competition and free market oversight is the most efficient way to provide it.
Lois Kaneshiki lives in Duncansville.
