Comments on: “Regulation is always bad for business”

By: wmd1961

wmd1961 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:10:12 +0000

I’ve heard of it, haven’t read it. Sludge per se isn’t bad, problem was that the sanitary sewers had been used to dump waste other than just human excrement. Properly digested human waste can be used safely, human waste with added PCBs (concentrations of some “garden” sites were over 500 ppm PCBs) isn’t safe though.

There’s some real irony in Bloomington politics - Tomilea Allison is now re-inventing herself as an anti-corporate activist. A few weeks back at farmers market I got this news and was just amazed that someone that willingly stooges for Monsanto and Westinghouse/ABB would really change that much. I guess time will tell.

By: fatjim

fatjim — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:13:09 +0000

The privillege of incorporation used to contain a “what’s in it for the rest of us” clause. Personal financial immunity and the other special rights bestowed by incorporation were conditional on the promise of giving something back. This aspect of the process is no longer there or no longer enforced. Corporations can kill you with capitalism and the only thing stopping them from doing that more often is Regulation. We as humans would all agree that EXXON should not be allowed to drill into all of our livers even if that’s a known source of much needed oil. We all agree that some regulation is necessary. The question is where do we stop? When 5% of us are happy and safe? How many “deaths by capitalism” are acceptible? Once we start down the civilizing road of Regulation why stop before it works for ,at the very least, most of us?

By: AngryB

AngryB — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:34:39 +0000

I think it is interesting how almost all people (yes that is liberals and conservatives) refer to corporations as a “person”. It seems to be forgotten that a corporation is NOT a person, but rather nothing more than a piece of paper. So when we talk of a corporation, why don’t we name the corporation’s CEO or CFO or whatever it is we are addressing in regard to the corporation.

So if we are talking about Microsoft, we don’t say Microsoft, but rather Bill Gates. Apply this to any conversation concerning corporations and maybe the public will be better able to focus their ire, rather than feeling they are helpless against the “corporation”. Remember, any business entity is run by a person, so lets make that person responsible.

Food for thought.

By: MoeSzyslak

MoeSzyslak — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:50:11 +0000

First!

No, wait. I meant to say: Much of the business resistance to carbon taxes, etc, is that they fear they won’t be universally applied. And that’s a legitimate fear– regulation to address climate change is moving piecemeal at the state and provincial level, because there’s no national, or better yet, international regulation.

By: perris

perris — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:40:07 +0000

and in fact all companies love regulations, they couldn’t possibly make a profit without them

the only regulations they don’t like are the ones that force them to pay their own bills, the ones that keep them from taking my property or use my assets.

By: perris

perris — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:37:38 +0000

There are also companies who *want* regulation

in fact, ALL companies want regulation, those that “claim” they don’t want regulation really mean “they don’t want the regulations that force them to pay their own bills, they are fine and dandy with the regulations that allow them to make their profit”

money is a regulation, the very concept of property is a regulation, patents are regulations and the court system to enforce their contrats are regulations

they are fine with those, they simply don’t want the regulations that prevent them from ouring their cancer in my kids air

By: RevDeb

RevDeb — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:35:06 +0000

showing a message from a “progressive” Barak now.

Progressive my ass.

Next year in Pittsburgh!

By: virgotex

virgotex — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:33:15 +0000

That Moyers show was great.

That was William Greider at the end, calling for return of laws against usury as just one step in the right direction.

Great post Spocko

By: RevDeb

RevDeb — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:29:17 +0000

There were a number of smaller cattle ranchers who wanted to be able to test every steer so that they could export beef to Japan but the feds wouldn’t let them. They were willing to do it at their own expense too.

Donna Edwards now almost ready to start—1/2 hour late. I guess that’s “blogger time.”

By: Peterr

Peterr — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:18:14 +0000

There are also companies who *want* regulation, to reel in their competitors who have no compunctions about raping the environment, sticking it to their workers, and so on. I’m drawing a blank on the specific example, but I vaguely recall a situation involving tech companies in the Bay Area where the CEOs were privately begging for regulation (and doing so anonymously via the media), so that they didn’t compete each other to death. “I’d like to do ABC, but unless there’s a regulation requiring all of us to do ABC, I’d go bankrupt.”