Guess they’re through licking their wounds over their electoral losses earlier this month. The Chamber of Commerce is back with its tired screeds about the “costs” of lawsuits.  According to the Chamber, the “lawsuit industry is booming.” I’m sure that has nothing to do with the Chamber’s role in federal deregulation. As well, I’m sure that the various market and consumer frauds that led to the financial collapse would have nothing to do with why there might be more litigation.

The Chamber can’t have it both ways.  If it wants dergulation, then it must accept that lawsuits will happen when deregulated actors cross various lines. On the other hand, if it truly wants less lawsuits, then the Chamber should welcome regulation as the alternative approach. But arguing against both regulation and lawsuits can mean only one thing: The Chamber insists that American business should answer to no one. I think our current financial crisis explains exactly why “neither” is a bad choice.

David Sugerman

Okay, maybe I’m the one who is insane, but did you catch this one, in which (still?!) President Bush cautioned against regulation of the free market? The financial crisis–he said–”was not a failure of the free market system.” Huh?! So the free market works fine? So that $700 billion bailout was not necessary? Or it wasn’t because of the failures of the free market? Riiiight.

My 13-year old daughter is a smart kid, but she’s not exactly schooled in the fine details of the constitutional law. So when she heard the President on the radio utter the above wisdom, she asked if he couldn’t just be through yet. I explained that the new president can’t take office until January 20. (For those who like text citations, or if you want to impress your friends: U.S. Const. Amend. XX, Sec. 1.) She didn’t miss a beat. “Okay, so could it just be January yet?”

I guess he’s got to believe that the free market works, and that regulation is bad. But of course, that raises more questions. If it’s not a problem of inadequate regulation, exactly how did we get into this mess? That’s to say, if it’s not a lack of regulation that allowed the sale of bad mortgages, what exactly was it?

This matters to consumers for the simple reason that we’re left with this mess. We’re paying for it, and last I checked no one provided us with a sweet golden parachute. So since we get the tab, I tend to think that we should write the rules. Because there’s no way we’re going to repeat this train wreck.

If I had the ability to talk to President Bush about all this, I could cover it in four words.  “Man up, Mr. President,” would adequately convey my thoughts on the subject.

David Sugerman