Your Opinion: Regulations needed to protect people

Dear Editor:

I laughed out loud when I heard Gov. Greitens announcing that, "When businesses want to expand, they have to stand in line!" He was blaming evil government regulations for that sad state of affairs. Like most corporate shills, he ignores the fact that regulations are put in place to protect people and prevent the worst of abuses. Republicans love to ignore the role that financial deregulation played in the Great Recession. Of course, for the wealthy, like the incoming president, it truly was a great, and very profitable, recession. I would suggest to Gov. Greitens that it wouldn't be necessary for those sad business owners to "stand in line" if the state workforce hadn't been gutted in order to balance the budget. Thousands of state positions were eliminated while the Legislature freely granted tax breaks for businesses under the guise of "job creation."

So, what accountability is there for whether jobs are actually created? Of course, we know the answer is none at all. It's just a slogan. Oh, and speaking of standing in line, the governor's new security measures at the Capitol building require a good deal of standing in line. Has there ever been a security issue at the Capitol to justify the $400,000 expense? Or, as seems more likely, is this simply a way to restrict access to those hallowed halls? The Missouri Association of Retired Teachers recently cancelled its Legislative Day because of the impossibility of asking hundreds of people to stand outside in winter weather while security checks are done. I guess that retired teachers and other ordinary citizens pose a threat to the Capitol. Maybe they're as sinister as those criminal clergy who demonstrated last year to ask the Legislature to have a heart for Missouri's poor citizens and expand Medicaid.

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