Quote:
Originally Posted by flacaltenn
OK JonL:
Truce.. I reserve the eco-whack moniker for only the hardest cases. I guess when I weigh all the bad effects of govt/corp collusion against a pretty wimpy MINIMAL description of what turkey is --- I'd rather the govt stick to FOOD SAFETY in general and NOT try to define every item I encounter during the day. I have plenty of choices, plenty of 3rd party knowledge and support and somehow I manage to avoid setting myself on fire every day without reading the Federal Register.
Once you allow the FEDS to get to that level of detail, it's IMPOSSIBLE to not invite corporate meddling.
Take energy for example. A little more complicated than a turkey sandwich. Can you define an energy policy (MerryLander you copy?) without knowing what's in the laboratories of all the GIANT corporations around the world? Not an intelligient one.
So you ask for input, fund some development. But now you're already knee-deep in proprietary non-disclosures and preventing the leakage of corporate secrets you might have been asked to keep. How the heck can you NOT expect collusion?
The Fed can cajole, cheerlead, inform, and regulate. They are NOT good at picking market winners/losers or innovation....
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I am not suggesting picking winners, so what is sensible about the Fed giving big oil tax breaks for expoiting our oil? You and I (well at least I) kow damn well that lobbyist get to write and re-write legislation to suit the interests of the corporations. Why else does the income tax act have more than twice as many words as the Bible?
We all know, or bloody well should knoe, that when the Supremes legalized bribery we started down the road to hell.
All I know is that where I came from there are regulations designed to protect the public. Energy rates are less than half ours. People have universal healthcare, aged people are looked after and taxes are roughly the same as here. So where did we screw up?