[moosey]

The regulatory systems in the US since Reagan have been anemic, and if we believe in effective business competition there are probably very few industries that would have a good time if a new regulatory environment were put in place that is more... effective? I can't find the right word because I'm biased - I strongly believe in collectivism and strong regulatory environments.

When I look at major industries: social media (sadly, IMO), telecom, health care, transportation, military, and more; what I see are industries that need regulation in order to meet the needs of society, but that is based on my point of view of the world. My guess is that the folks with capital and data, and thus power, view the situation very differently, and are more focused on their own needs than those of a more nebulous society that has needs. I believe that this can be seen in the practices of businesses throughout the United States.

So, are "we" ignoring telecom? No, that headline is aggravating. Why isn't it "Antitrust issues in Telecom"? Because society has been trained to be enraged. Why? Because it serves those who already have power, and they disagree with me about how regulation should work.

[Loughla]

It's the same across all government. You hollow out the function of actual, substantive work through 'necessary' budget cuts - like actual funding for IRS audits, any form of environmental regulation, or just education in general.

Then when the low-hanging fruit is all those agencies can pick, which happen to have the largest impact on middle- to low-income families, it gives more fodder to cut and gut the agencies.

[moosey]

Under the current regime (post-Reagan is what I mean), there are government bodies that still receive lots of money, and those, as you say, that are getting hollowed. The main thing that I can point to that says that it is corrupt is the fact that white collar crime is largely ignored in the interest of much smaller fish.

There are government agencies that I'd like to see gutted, though, like the prison system, the support of the weapons manufacturing industry by our military which I calculate as grotesquely unecessary, etc. There are others that disagree with me strongly on this issue. I'm not right, just opinionated.