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I was the manager of a coal mine, our business hammered by two years of Jimmy Carter's newly created Dept of the Interior, Office of Surface Mining. Almost daily, pickup loads of inspectors would interfer with our business, writing supposed violations for water, dirt, dust, vibration, etc. The threats and fines mounted up to the hundreds of thousands of dollars--their clear intent was to finance the expansion of their government agency by becomming a part of our weekly payroll. And we weren't alone. In the 1978-1980 period of Carter's new law, which usurped state regulatory authority, some 95 percent of family owned coal mines were closed in the United States. We began looking for a buyer--but who would buy a business blacklisted by the federal government ?
When Ronnie was elected the mine inspectors overnight, became less arrogant and threatening. We began to think there was a future for a small mining operation (60 employees). It truly was Morning in America Again for us.