Not Pictured: The two greatest Republican Presidents - Grover Cleveland and Thomas Jefferson. Neither one of them are laughing - OR technically, Republicans.
One of his first notable acts as President was to deliver a 20,000-word address to Congress on December 3, 1901, asking it to curb the power of large corporation. He fought to increase the regulatory power of the federal government. The Hepburn Act gave the ICC the power to replace existing railroad rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, with the ICC to define what was just and reasonable.
He pushed Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. In addition he used the powers of the federal government to break up J.D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil in to 30 separate competing companies.
During the last 2 years in office, Roosevelt called on Congress to enact "the Square Deal" -- a series of laws that would regulate the economy. He pushed for a national incorporation law, a federal income tax and inheritance tax (both targeting the rich), limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes, an employee liability law for industrial injuries, an eight-hour law for federal employees, and a postal savings system.
While in office, Roosevelt set aside more land for national parks and nature preserves than all of his predecessors combined, 194 million acres.
Oh, and for all you Obama haters, Teddy Roosevelt was sworn in without a Bible.
Dr. Ralph, The Lord hath delivered you into my hands....
The ICC began, like all government programs, with the best of intentions. They were going to regulate the dang railroads, and stop them from ripping people off. Then the ICC became a friend of the railroads, and discouraged competitors from entering the rail industry. (Mustn't have too many competitors driving down the prices of our friends !) And then, when the trucking industry took off, or should I say, tried to take off, the ICC did everything possible to protect the railroads by restricting commerce lanes, which drove up freight prices all over North America. (Do a bit o' Googling on the phrase "Regulatory Capture".)
" By 1970, things had gotten so bad that a Ralph Nader report described the ICC as "predominantly a forum at which transportation interests divide up the national transportation market."
quotation from here, the best summary of the sordid ICC history that I've seen:
15 comments:
"John Wilkes Booth crashes GOP poker night, instantly realizing his pistol could have used a few more rounds."
Smaller government? Now I know you're bluffing!
Not Pictured: The two greatest Republican Presidents - Grover Cleveland and Thomas Jefferson. Neither one of them are laughing - OR technically, Republicans.
My wife made me throw out this picture for being too tacky. She replaced it with a picture of dogs playing poker.
The scary thing? I actually voted for one of these guys (guess which one).
Ike?
No he wasn't even born when Ike was president! I bet it was Reagan in 1984.
Why, I voted for Teddy Roosevelt, of course!
One of his first notable acts as President was to deliver a 20,000-word address to Congress on December 3, 1901, asking it to curb the power of large corporation. He fought to increase the regulatory power of the federal government. The Hepburn Act gave the ICC the power to replace existing railroad rates with "just-and-reasonable" maximum rates, with the ICC to define what was just and reasonable.
He pushed Congress to pass the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. In addition he used the powers of the federal government to break up J.D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil in to 30 separate competing companies.
During the last 2 years in office, Roosevelt called on Congress to enact "the Square Deal" -- a series of laws that would regulate the economy. He pushed for a national incorporation law, a federal income tax and inheritance tax (both targeting the rich), limits on the use of court injunctions against labor unions during strikes, an employee liability law for industrial injuries, an eight-hour law for federal employees, and a postal savings system.
While in office, Roosevelt set aside more land for national parks and nature preserves than all of his predecessors combined, 194 million acres.
Oh, and for all you Obama haters, Teddy Roosevelt was sworn in without a Bible.
Theodore Roosevelt? Of course I voted for him.
Just kidding -- it was Gerald Ford.
Dr. Ralph,
The Lord hath delivered you into my hands....
The ICC began, like all government programs, with the best of intentions. They were going to regulate the dang railroads, and stop them from ripping people off.
Then the ICC became a friend of the railroads, and discouraged competitors from entering the rail industry. (Mustn't have too many competitors driving down the prices of our friends !)
And then, when the trucking industry took off, or should I say, tried to take off, the ICC did everything possible to protect the railroads by restricting commerce lanes, which drove up freight prices all over North America. (Do a bit o' Googling on the phrase "Regulatory Capture".)
" By 1970, things had gotten so bad that a Ralph Nader report described the ICC as "predominantly a forum at which transportation interests divide up the national transportation market."
quotation from here, the best summary of the sordid ICC history that I've seen:
http://techdirt.com/articles/20081109/1747222780.shtml
I'll work on the rest of your comment later.
And speaking of "regulatory capture", has everyone noticed that Obama is now considering giving consumers vouchers for new cars? Now that he owns GM?
yeah - I was kidding with the Ike statement. I figured he probably voted for Lincoln.
WS -- the Lord does work in mysterious ways, making me your rhetorical tool. I'll be patient; perhaps someday our roles will reverse.
TLG -- you should show your elders more respect. While I may have voted for a Republican on a rare occasion, I never once voted for a Whig.
Ok, enough of this childish nonsense.
We have a picture needing a caption, and must get this train back on the tracks.
(Okay -- a caption)
The latest DisneyWorld animatronics join the beloved Lincoln figure.
It's an honor to be compared with Lincoln. As for a caption...
"Republican Presidents; slandered by the press, honored by history. Democrat Presidents, vice versa."
So then I said to him, "Barack, I knew Lincoln. Are you're no Lincoln !"
(This was the caption under the painting when my mother emailed it to me.)
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