Originally Posted by
planters
It is a government pandering to lobbyists and noisy minority interests with bureaucrats operating in the shadows unanswerable to the public. When caught and this is rare they take the fifth.
Yes. This is largely what happened with Enron. Ken Lay had some thick political ties and was able to operate with impunity while screwing stockholders and residents of California. When caught, all of those guys, save for Jeff Skilling, took the fifth.
Similarly, as far as lobbyists, this was a point I was making in an earlier post:
Smoking:
More than 440,000 deaths annually (including deaths from secondhand smoke)
No Seatbelts:
1984, the year before seat-belt laws began to pass, there were 44,257 fatalities.
It has nothing to do with saving lives, that is incidental. Seatbelts laws generate income for the state from traffic citations. Cigarettes are taxed. The one that is legal is the most dangerous of the two but also generates the most money, not to mention any kickbacks big tobacco may be giving through donations and other monetary offerings. Do I think smoking should be illegal? No. Same with helmets, seatbelts and a ton of other laws to protect our own lives from ourselves. I have a problem with any law that tells me how I cannot live my life under the guise that they are protecting me even if it affects no one else. Eric's assessment is spot-on here.
Last edited by absolom7691; 08-13-2013 at 14:09.
If you're the smartest person in the room, then you're in the wrong room.