Rand Paul: “Milton Friedman once said that if you give the Federal Government control of the Sahara Desert, within 5 years there…”

“Milton Friedman once said that if you give the Federal Government control of the Sahara Desert, within 5 years there will be a shortage of sand. I tend to agree, and it worries me anytime a consensus builds to federalize anything. I have spent the last week reading this bill, this sweeping Federal takeover of chemical regulations, and I am now more worried than I was before I read the bill. Most worrisome, beyond the specifics, is the creeping infestation of the business community with the idea that the argument is no longer about minimizing regulations but about making regulations regular. Businesses seem to just want uniformity of regulation as opposed to minimization of regulation. A good analogy is that of how businesses respond to malingerers who fake slip-and-fall injuries. Some businesses choose to limit expenses by just paying out small amounts, but some brave businesses choose to legally defend themselves against all nuisance claims. Federalizing the chemical regulations is like settling with the slip-and-fall malingerers and hoping he or she will keep their extortion at a reasonable level. In the process, though, we have abandoned principle. We will have given up the State laboratories where economic success and regulatory restraint are aligned.…”