[grey_whiskers]

(The civil rights laws were passed by the Republicans in Congress over Democrat objections. But we're the racists in popular culture. Seems like the GOP can't get no respect...anyone know of a competent Republican publicist?)

Cheers!

[wbill]

The heck of it is, a little government is a good thing. Heck, back in the 70s, we had smog alerts going off in various parts of the country, rivers catching on fire in Ohio, and a number of Toxic Waste brownfield sites that are still in the process of being cleaned up.

So, is it good to have a department (the EPA) to help clean up messes like this, and to rein in egregious industrial abuses? I would say, "Yes".

BUT (and you knew this 'but' was coming....), does the EPA need to regulate industry out of existence to preserve habitat for spotted owls, polar bears, assorted bugs+mollusks, and so forth? Nope. Frankenstein's monster is the classic metaphor.

So....Conservatives and other sensible people are forced to argue AGAINST creation and expansion of these agencies, just to rein in their terrific abuse. It's a lose-vicious circle, IMHO.