Antoine de Saint Exupéry (1900-1944), author of the book The Little Prince, is quoted as saying “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” I believe he was right and I try (and often fail) to demonstrate this in my writing.
So when Trump and the GOP say they want to look at regulation and get rid of the excesses, on the surface, it sounds like a damn good idea. Many of us, myself included, have been stifled or otherwise affected by bad rules or laws that need to reviewed and changed or eliminated… but then you think for a minute…generally, people don’t make up rules just for the sake of rules. Most rules, laws and regulations were created in response to bad acts by people that needed to be stopped. Some are outdated, some are too broad, but many, if not most, are designed to protect us all from bad actors.
The foundation of a society is a set of rules – written and unwritten – that we all live by to make for a better place for us all. Those who act carelessly against the good of the many are punished.
I don’t know about you, but when I heard “eliminate bad regulations” what did NOT come to mind was allowing mining waste to be dumped in rivers, allowing cars and energy plants to pollute MORE and allowing the Minnesota Boundary Waters and several national parks to be destroyed by mining operations. What would our “Great Faces” be if a mining operation started up under Washington’s nose? Not a great place, I assure you.
The concept of eliminating excess has a long history. Francois-Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), who carved the famous statue, “The Thinker” among others, was once asked how he did it. His response? “I choose a block of marble and chop off whatever I don’t need.” In other words, careful elimination of that which is not needed can yield a fine piece of work. Slashing and burning recklessly yields a wasteland.
If regulations need to be created, recreated, or reevaluated let’s remember the words of Saint Exupéry and Rodin and eliminate that which is not needed to create the best masterpiece of a solution.
—Peter Klebanoff, to Dakota Free Press, 2018.09.10
Slashing and burning yields a wasteland—Klebanoff captures Trumpistan in a nutshell.
Then the video quickly cuts to President Trump boasting of bringing back over 400,000 manufacturing jobs and creating a total of 4 million jobs since the election. “Wages are growing at the fastest pace in nearly a decade,” Trump says, reading from a report at a rally. “More Americans are employed than ever before in the recorded history of our country.”
Two other glowing economic reports on Fox News and CNBC are also featured in the video. “The economic boom continues; it’s the biggest story of 2018,” says White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow. “New policies are working.”
The Trump economy is indeed booming. As The Daily Wire reported on Thursday, U.S. Labor Department numbers indicated a near 50-year low in workers’ unemployment benefit filings. The administration has also ushered in a strong 4.2% GDP (gross domestic product) for the April-June quarter, the fastest rate since 2014’s third quarter, according to Reuters.
Minority groups have seen significant gains in the record-breaking economic boosts, too. “The national unemployment rate has dropped to just 3.9%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In July, unemployment for Hispanics hit a new record low at 4.5% and Black unemployment hit 5.9% in May, the lowest it’s been since 1972,” noted The Daily Wire.
The Daily Wire is an invalid, extreme right wing source. Trump is a liar. Wages have grown faster other times. More Americans have been employed, before. New policies aren’t working. Jason is a liar … proven many times. He believes anything an invalid source prints, as long as he agrees with it. FOOL!!
There are also more Americans than ever before. To say that Donald Trump is responsible for that is illogical. The job stats do not refute what Klebanoff is saying about the harms to the environment of reckless deregulation.
Cost-benefit: what good is GDP if we consume all of the resources and ruin the environment that the next generation will live in? Every business depends on some level of environmental protection, so that the next generation will still have resources to consume… not to mention be alive to consume.
Jason
2018-09-11 12:53
Why don’t you list the specific regulations he is talking about so we can discuss them?
Porter Lansing
2018-09-11 12:54
We can stop this in November. Return the balance of power to Congress. Vote Blue! Save The Planet!
Darin Larson
2018-09-11 12:55
Wow, Jason, GDP grew at “the fastest rate since 2014’s third quarter” when Obama was president. That is impressive that Trump was only .5% behind Obama. It is also impressive that Trump became president during the longest sustained economic recovery in history and he hasn’t yet managed to drive the economy into the ditch in the little over a year and a half that he has been in charge. He’s doing his best to yank the economic expansion into the ditch with his trade wars, but that will take time to play out.
But the funny thing is the 2.2% GDP growth in the first quarter of 2018 under Trump seems to be ignored now. It’s interesting how 2.2% GDP growth when Obama was president was viewed as an economic disaster by Republicans and now 2.2% growth under Trump is an economic miracle.
And what is Jason’s line “since the election” as the measuring stick for Trump’s economy. It’s not enough that Trump inherited a strong, steady Obama economy that he continues to take credit for, Trump and Jason want to take credit for the economy before Trump even entered office!
For the actual truth about how little credit Drumpf deserves, this will be a good read and discredit much of what right wing Dailywire non-sense the troll peddles.
Drumpf did what Dems suggested but wingnuts in congress held Obama’s economy down, just like they did with most everything else.
Troll, stop trying to hijack the thread. You know what regulations Drumpf and the EPA have removed so coal companies and others are free to pollute waters again. The lost regs prevented pollution. Now they won’t . No need to discuss anything.
Jason
2018-09-11 17:19
LIst the specific regulations you are referring to Mike regarding polluting waters.
Jason
2018-09-11 17:29
Small business optimism surges to highest level ever, topping previous record under Reagan
The economy is doing well, by any standards. So then, why does Trump have to lie about it? Answer … because “compulsive liars” lie when they don’t even have to. It’s a mental condition that can’t be overcome, like pedophilia. There will be a time when Trump lies and we as Americans will become involved in something terrible because of it. Nuclear war comes to mind!!
mike from iowa
2018-09-11 18:10
Here is probably the most valid reason Drumpf gets to pretend he knows how to run an economy and it is credited to GOAT Obama.
“Most rules, laws and regulations were created in response to bad acts by people that needed to be stopped.”
I think I’d say “very few are not.” The regs are there for a reason. Mr. Klebanoff wrote a very sensible post about regs. As he said, some adjustments and changes are certainly necessary, but wholesome discarding as Pootie’s Puppet’s and Pootiepublicans like to do will not only destroy our environment, it will destroy our economy, our people and our planet. Only Pootiepublicans and their Fearful Leader could think that’s a good idea.
mike from iowa
2018-09-12 08:25
Jason, listen up homey- I am not playing your games. I’ve seen where you fish. I know the bait you use. I know where you are going with this. I won’t list the regs refudiated because you’d find some petty excuse to not accept them.
You don’t want conversation. You want and strive for confrontation. You most likely will get it, but not on your terms. Speaking only for myself, your schtick got insufferable the day you showed up here.
Get on yer knees and thank Cory for his patient tolerance of you and OLdShickelgruber.
leslie
2018-09-13 04:08
Obama pivoted from fossil fuel but GOP’s useful idiot reversed. The last SD oil pipeline leak was 210,000 gallons in an isolated cornfield from an inches long crack, very recently. Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons on 1300 miles of Alaskan shoreline in a few days. We have 3000 miles of Missouri shoreline. Without adequate regulation imagine a broken pressurized pipeline UNDER the river at severe flood stage, like right after Sen (Gov) Rounds built a “trophy” home on the soon to be inundated shoreline, blaming USACOE. Heavy polluter & tar sands miner Koch doesn’t care about river water quality. And SD GOP DENR/PUC favor industrial polluters, not regulating. Global warming assures heavier, earlier snowmelt and precip.
leslie
2018-09-13 04:57
Like the gulf oil spill BP underreported the flow. It was 2.6 mill gpd. Keystone’s actual spill was 407,000 gallons. Broken pipeline at catastrophic Missouri floodstage would be like the flowing gulf well until shutoff. BP told regulators casing and blowout preventor were adequate. Neither were diluted regs adequate.
mike from iowa
2018-09-13 14:30
Hurricane Florence is heading towards North Carolina coal ash pits again. The same pits Dems want cleaned up and Drumpf recently allowed energy companies to dump more coal ash in.
Then the video quickly cuts to President Trump boasting of bringing back over 400,000 manufacturing jobs and creating a total of 4 million jobs since the election. “Wages are growing at the fastest pace in nearly a decade,” Trump says, reading from a report at a rally. “More Americans are employed than ever before in the recorded history of our country.”
Two other glowing economic reports on Fox News and CNBC are also featured in the video. “The economic boom continues; it’s the biggest story of 2018,” says White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow. “New policies are working.”
The Trump economy is indeed booming. As The Daily Wire reported on Thursday, U.S. Labor Department numbers indicated a near 50-year low in workers’ unemployment benefit filings. The administration has also ushered in a strong 4.2% GDP (gross domestic product) for the April-June quarter, the fastest rate since 2014’s third quarter, according to Reuters.
Minority groups have seen significant gains in the record-breaking economic boosts, too. “The national unemployment rate has dropped to just 3.9%, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In July, unemployment for Hispanics hit a new record low at 4.5% and Black unemployment hit 5.9% in May, the lowest it’s been since 1972,” noted The Daily Wire.
https://www.dailywire.com/news/35696/watch-trump-trolls-obama-his-own-words-new-video-amanda-prestigiacomo
Thank you Trump and the Republicans.
The Daily Wire is an invalid, extreme right wing source. Trump is a liar. Wages have grown faster other times. More Americans have been employed, before. New policies aren’t working. Jason is a liar … proven many times. He believes anything an invalid source prints, as long as he agrees with it. FOOL!!
There are also more Americans than ever before. To say that Donald Trump is responsible for that is illogical. The job stats do not refute what Klebanoff is saying about the harms to the environment of reckless deregulation.
Cost-benefit: what good is GDP if we consume all of the resources and ruin the environment that the next generation will live in? Every business depends on some level of environmental protection, so that the next generation will still have resources to consume… not to mention be alive to consume.
Why don’t you list the specific regulations he is talking about so we can discuss them?
We can stop this in November. Return the balance of power to Congress. Vote Blue! Save The Planet!
Wow, Jason, GDP grew at “the fastest rate since 2014’s third quarter” when Obama was president. That is impressive that Trump was only .5% behind Obama. It is also impressive that Trump became president during the longest sustained economic recovery in history and he hasn’t yet managed to drive the economy into the ditch in the little over a year and a half that he has been in charge. He’s doing his best to yank the economic expansion into the ditch with his trade wars, but that will take time to play out.
But the funny thing is the 2.2% GDP growth in the first quarter of 2018 under Trump seems to be ignored now. It’s interesting how 2.2% GDP growth when Obama was president was viewed as an economic disaster by Republicans and now 2.2% growth under Trump is an economic miracle.
And what is Jason’s line “since the election” as the measuring stick for Trump’s economy. It’s not enough that Trump inherited a strong, steady Obama economy that he continues to take credit for, Trump and Jason want to take credit for the economy before Trump even entered office!
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/9/11/17844278/trump-economy-credit
For the actual truth about how little credit Drumpf deserves, this will be a good read and discredit much of what right wing Dailywire non-sense the troll peddles.
Drumpf did what Dems suggested but wingnuts in congress held Obama’s economy down, just like they did with most everything else.
Jason … You don’t discuss. You disappear once I prove you a liar … every time. Here’s one from Trump’s lie about the GDP. Now, go play with the children before I contact the VFW, National Guard and VA about your Muslim discrimination.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-trump-gdp-tweet-20180910-story.html#nws=mcnewsletter
Troll, stop trying to hijack the thread. You know what regulations Drumpf and the EPA have removed so coal companies and others are free to pollute waters again. The lost regs prevented pollution. Now they won’t . No need to discuss anything.
LIst the specific regulations you are referring to Mike regarding polluting waters.
Small business optimism surges to highest level ever, topping previous record under Reagan
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/11/small-business-optimism-surges-to-highest-ever.html
The economy is doing well, by any standards. So then, why does Trump have to lie about it? Answer … because “compulsive liars” lie when they don’t even have to. It’s a mental condition that can’t be overcome, like pedophilia. There will be a time when Trump lies and we as Americans will become involved in something terrible because of it. Nuclear war comes to mind!!
Here is probably the most valid reason Drumpf gets to pretend he knows how to run an economy and it is credited to GOAT Obama.
https://www.inc.com/jeremy-quittner/small-business-week-economic-legacy-of-obama-administration.html
Drumpf is a pretender-only.
“Most rules, laws and regulations were created in response to bad acts by people that needed to be stopped.”
I think I’d say “very few are not.” The regs are there for a reason. Mr. Klebanoff wrote a very sensible post about regs. As he said, some adjustments and changes are certainly necessary, but wholesome discarding as Pootie’s Puppet’s and Pootiepublicans like to do will not only destroy our environment, it will destroy our economy, our people and our planet. Only Pootiepublicans and their Fearful Leader could think that’s a good idea.
Jason, listen up homey- I am not playing your games. I’ve seen where you fish. I know the bait you use. I know where you are going with this. I won’t list the regs refudiated because you’d find some petty excuse to not accept them.
You don’t want conversation. You want and strive for confrontation. You most likely will get it, but not on your terms. Speaking only for myself, your schtick got insufferable the day you showed up here.
Get on yer knees and thank Cory for his patient tolerance of you and OLdShickelgruber.
Obama pivoted from fossil fuel but GOP’s useful idiot reversed. The last SD oil pipeline leak was 210,000 gallons in an isolated cornfield from an inches long crack, very recently. Exxon Valdez spilled 10.8 million gallons on 1300 miles of Alaskan shoreline in a few days. We have 3000 miles of Missouri shoreline. Without adequate regulation imagine a broken pressurized pipeline UNDER the river at severe flood stage, like right after Sen (Gov) Rounds built a “trophy” home on the soon to be inundated shoreline, blaming USACOE. Heavy polluter & tar sands miner Koch doesn’t care about river water quality. And SD GOP DENR/PUC favor industrial polluters, not regulating. Global warming assures heavier, earlier snowmelt and precip.
Like the gulf oil spill BP underreported the flow. It was 2.6 mill gpd. Keystone’s actual spill was 407,000 gallons. Broken pipeline at catastrophic Missouri floodstage would be like the flowing gulf well until shutoff. BP told regulators casing and blowout preventor were adequate. Neither were diluted regs adequate.
Hurricane Florence is heading towards North Carolina coal ash pits again. The same pits Dems want cleaned up and Drumpf recently allowed energy companies to dump more coal ash in.