Stossels Good Idea

John Stossel, best known for producing conservative leaning specials for ABC news (I'm still not sure how he is able to get these on the air), has a really good op-ed piece here at Real Clear Politics wherein he suggests something I have said, throw off the usual Federal bureaucracy in the hurricane ravaged areas of the gulf coast.

"...President Bush wants to create a "Gulf Opportunity Zone" with reduced federal taxes across parts of three states. Now, if the president really wanted to get Washington out of the way, he might ask Congress to abolish personal and corporate income taxes there...Other proposals and administration decisions include waiving all Environmental Protection Agency regulations for the rebuilding, dropping affirmative-action rules for government contractors, setting aside restrictions on truck drivers' hours, and letting government money follow children displaced by the storm to any school they choose. What a radical idea! Government might actually let free people make their own choices..."

Yes, by all means let's conduct an experiment in letting freedom, and free market forces prevail unfettered, undistorted and see what happens. Newt Gingrich and the other Republicans who gained control of the Congress in 1994 talked about conducting such an experiment in Washington DC proper as the city falls under congressional responsibility. Nothing ever really came of it, perhaps because the bureaucracy is so entrenched there.

In the wake of this terrible tragedy let's rebuild the area in the way that made this country great. We built a great country long before the eruption of the nanny-state, I say we give it a try. -SpinDaddy