Driving Deregulation (remixed)

We've all seen them. Those outrageous thirty-foot long limousines created out of muscle cars, SUVs and pick-ups. Dodge Challengers, Cadillac Escalades and Jeep Cherokees have all gone under the knife. Er, welder's torch.

One such limousine (a refitted or "stretched" Ford Excursion) was involved in a horrific accident last weekend in upstate New York.

Watching the story unfold, I was struck by the conditions underlying the event: an unlicensed driver. A modified limousine which had failed not one, but two safety inspections. A small business cited for twenty-two violations in the previous twenty-four months.

Then it hit me. This is Trumpland.

The Trump-whore has whined long and loud about the undue burden regulation places upon our businesses, put there by socialist Democrats bent on punishing success. To hear Trump tell it, America's businesses are being systematically strangled.

Please ignore the current economic recovery, which is the second-longest in American history. You know, the one that has the Dow Jones Industrial Average setting new highs seemingly every other day?

Maybe it's just that Democrats are really crappy stranglers.

Or maybe the Trump-whore has overstated the ruinous effects of regulation.

Ya think?

Yes, this is a sneak peek at America—unregulated. No irksome licenses. Bothersome inspections. Government-imposed standards. Untenable protocols. No liability.

This is the Republican ideal: free-market capitalism. 

 

Caveat emptor, bro.

I'm sorry to politicize this tragedy. I'm sure the sense of loss felt by everyone connected to this collision is unbearable.

And yet, doesn't it nudge us towards a realization? Doesn't it kinda sorta show us that maybe 

regulation—no matter how stifling—protects us from the worst of us?

Scott Lisinicchia was not trained in, nor could he conceive of, the massive responsibility that accompanies conveying a big group of people from one place to another.

If he had, he would have noticed the upcoming three-way intersection. He would have noted his speed. And the inevitable conclusion he was hurtling towards.

Professional drivers do one thing—drive. Mr. Lisinicchia had his nose buried in his cell phone.

And yes, that is conjecture. But no skid marks? Really? Does that tell you anything? Anything at all?

Nauman Hussain was a typical businessman. Prestige Limousine Service was his personal ATM. And as we all know, ATMs don't ask for money, they give it.

So why stuff money into one?

Why spend money repairing and maintaining vehicles? Why spend money hiring and paying accredited drivers? Wouldn't that cut into Hussain's bottom line?

And isn't that unconstitutional or something?

Those twenty people didn't die in vain. Their deaths are human-scale proof that there is a very, very good reason we regulate our businesses, and a need for doing so.

May their gods care for them and the loved ones they left behind.