Thanks for your comment. I appreciate that you read it and made reasoned comments on the content. Your comment about voting for the president of corporations is actually incorrect. Any shareholder can vote for executive boards of corporations. But yes, you must be a shareholder. With that said, you seem to be somehow implying that corporations should not be privately owned. That we SHOULD be able to vote for CEOs. To me, this suggests a position not in support of private property ownership. Definitely not in favor of that. Reading some of the comments here is cracking me up. All the real purpose of this article was was to see if Trump kept his word regarding reducing regulation and it determined that he did. It wasn't passing judgment on him or his administration. Yes, Reason Magazine is a Libertarian-leaning publication. So what? Libertarians believe in greater freedom and less government intervention. I happen to agree with that philosophy. To be sure, we have a real problem with crony Capitalism in the US and I believe the solution to that problem is also less regulation and less government intervention. That will allow the marketplace to be fully competitive without the government created quasi monopolies we have now. Thanks again.

As is typical with you, all you ever do is attack me and my posts. Did you even bother to read the article, or just your pals' comments here? I don't watch any network news at all.

That type of regulation is just one example. I am totally in favor of anything that will reduce the size and power of government.

@IAMGROOT I am totally in favor of anything that will reduce the size and power of government.

Why?

@1of5 Because less regulation = less control and more individual freedom and freedom in the marketplace. Freer societies are more prosperous.

@IAMGROOT this doesnt jive with any actual economic data about any country currently in existence

@IAMGROOT Wrong. Deregulation benefits the corporations, not the consumers. You benefit in no way from deregulation, the corporations reap those benefits by having it easier to fuck us over with no regs to prohibit them. How do conservatives not get this?

@IAMGROOT : Freedom in the marketplace is a myth. Government has been in bed with some form of big business since the beginning; and, Capitalism is about the person who has the most capital and profits for shareholders outweigh the rights of the worker. We need enough government to keep the inherent evils of unbridled Capitalism in check. And, we need a healthy, properly-functioning democracy (with well-informed, educated, citizens) to keep the government in check.

@Joanne I respectfully disagree with your definition of capitalism. Your use of the phrase "inherent evils of unbridled Capitalism" is very telling. Unfettered capitalism and truly free markets is the real answer. We need government for national defense and MAYBE local government for local and common services (fire, police, etc, but these could also be accomplished privately). Capitalism is about mutually beneficial value exchange. I completely agree, however, that there is a segment of crony capitalist corporations who are in bed with the government. Government itself, through regulation, creates near monopolies by creating so much regulation that only their rich cronies can comply. This is not in the interests of the consumer, but rather in the interests of these crony capitalists who benefit from the near monopolies they control. That is a real problem that will also be solved with deregulation.

@Veteran229 The invesrors are de facto beneficiaries of the corporations so my point is completely right. Deregulation hurts consumers. End of story.

@IAMGROOT We had basically unfettered Capitalism and look how the workers were treated. Look what was done to the environment. Why do you think so many people turned to the government during the time of FDR? It was because the businesses they worked for did not give a rip about them: forced them to live in company housing, severely underpaid them or paid them in scrip so they had to shop in company stores, etc. And, it is not only the role of government to "provide for the common defense," but also to "promote the general welfare."

@IAMGROOT just to pile on, that's a fanciful, and warped view of how things actually work.

@IAMGROOT Regulations for public safety have evolved from the past. So you want to disregard the past and start over? Small government my ass. We are three hundred million. We need a large government to serve a large complex population. This isn't the 1940's.

@PondartIncbendog The # of people governed should not be the barometer for the size of government. Thanks for your comment.

@IAMGROOT takes control from us and gives it to corporations whose sole purpose is to make money regardless of consequence to ppl (including YOU) or planet! Freedom for corrupt oligarchs. Police state for rest.

@IAMGROOT reality.

@IAMGROOT sorry but that sounds like some kind of Orwellian newspeak to me. regulation is monopoly? war is peace? Monopoly is direct result of removing regulations and laws that prevent it! it doesn't get any clearer than that. Private for profit policing? u kidding me? corporations control everything but police, fire and rescue. and u want to hand them that as well? better hope u don't piss off the private fire dept! They might just let your house burn! cops will start shooting unarmed white ppl at same rate they do others and steal their wallets bc it's more profitable than real policing. money is more important than ppl to you? WTF

@IAMGROOT Bullshit. That's in your head. That's not fact.