Published Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Government regulations needed

I'm old enough (65) to have lived through two cycles of corruption in our country. In the 1960s, while going to college, I worked at a union manufacturing plant and saw guys working four hours and getting paid for eight (or sometimes, even overtime).

Now, it's gone the other way. Bosses(CEOs, chairmen, presidents, athletes) have become corrupt.

While I'm a Republican and a capitalist in philosophy, I have seen where greed is destroying our country. It is inflationary.

When Home Depot pays a failure $200 million to depart, Home Depot is not going to suffer. Somehow, they will raise prices to recoup that lost money.

When a professional athlete gets a $200 million contract, the team is not paying for that. We are, in some way or another.

When Ford gets sued $200 million because one of its trucks exploded upon impact, Ford is not losing money. It just jacks up the price of future products.

But, all that is inflationary. We pay.

I hate to say it, but perhaps it is time for the government to start regulating these things. Put caps on salaries and lawsuits and other things. And please help us with big oil.

Larry Harton

Newnan