Reining In Regulation Rush
As the markets melted down in the last couple of weeks, the voices started low but quickly grew into a loud chorus with an old tune: These problems are the fault of deregulation.
At least the tenor of much of the press coverage and many of the yakking heads recently was that our financial systems wouldn’t have sunk into this mire if only the government had been more involved.
Well, those of us who have a teensy bit more faith in the markets and who tend to be more skeptical of government’s abilities have a well-worn refrain of our own: Oh, puh-leeze.
To be sure, there’s plenty of blame to go around. Probably some wild parts of the financial system could be reined in by reasonable regulations. But to reflexively blame it all on deregulation and lack of government oversight is empty-minded, tiresome and simply wrong. The fact is the overseers in the government played a big part in the embarrassing undressing of America’s financial system.
The Swiss Initiative Monk
Fox and Hounds contributor Joe Mathews is currently attending a conference in Switzerland on direct democracy, and is sending special reports on his experiences in Europe and how they contrast with California.
I spent Tuesday morning at the Kafigturm, the former women’s prison in Bern that has been converted into the leading spot for holding political forums, press conferences and meetings. (It’s a short walk from the headquarters of the government and the Parliament). My reporter friends and I visited with Hans-Urs Wili, a Swiss institution who has been spent the last third of a century (today was the day when he reached exactly one-third, and this man knows how to count) as the Swiss referee in matters of direct democracy. His title is head of the department of political rights at the federal chancellery. As such, he advises lawmakers and citizens alike in matters of referenda and initiatives.
His is the office to which you turn in signatures. Just as Liz Hill, the legislature’s non-partisan analyst in California, was long known as the budget nun, Wili is the Swiss initiative monk.
4 reasons to support Prop 4
Proposition 4 is a proposed amendment to the California constitution
that would prohibit abortions for an unemancipated minor until 48
hours after the physician notifies the parents or legal guardian. It
is a direct response to the fact that California law currently allows
doctors to perform chemical and surgical abortions on girls of any
age without a parent even being notified. No issue in this country –
not Iraq, President Bush, capital punishment or even race – is more
divisive or generates more anger and passion than abortion. We now
add families and children to the equation.
In broad strokes, the pro-Prop 4 argument is simple. Having an
abortion is an incredibly important and difficult decision, one most
teenaged girls are not capable of making, so parents should not be
excluded from the process. Below are four reasons to vote “Yes” on
Prop 4.