Comments on: The Bottom-Up Revolution in Trucking

By: Mike Parkhurst

Mike Parkhurst — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:08:52 +0000

The trucking industry was NOT deregulated in 1980. This is a big, fat lie. The legislation
that was passed in 1980, to boil it down and simpify it was this: Suppose a truck line
had the ICC “rights” to haul Kodak film from Rochester, New York to Chicago, but, prior to this 1980 regulation, they did not have the “rights” to haul film back. Well, this legislation, forced down Carter’s throat (now the second worst president in the last 100 years!) only allowed that truck line to haul Kodak film back to Rochester. That was what
Kennedy called “deregulation.” It wasn’t. True deregulation didn’t hit until 1983 and, thank goodness, the ICC was sunsetted out of existence in December, 1995, the oldest and most inept of all the then commissions of the government. I think I know something about “deregulation” since my magazine, Overdrive, and my two associations, RoadMasters and the Independent Truckers Association, were primarily responsible for it, partly due to pressure put on Congress in the 1979 shutdown I organized as well as the 1983 shutdown both of which put tremendous media pressure
on Congress. I am so sick of hearing that trucking was deregulated in1980, but I felt
I had to comment and bring out the facts. Mike Parkhurst. This comment was posted on Tuesday, August 17, 2010.

By: Timothy B Lee

Timothy B Lee — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:14:32 +0000

Sure. There’s also a strong argument to be made that the Ronald Reagan administration was the most libertarian-friendly of the last half-century

By: Erstwhile

Erstwhile — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:12:17 +0000

Do you think Reagan should get any credit for his individualist rhetoric even if he didn’t always live up to it?

Words and ideas count have to count for something, right?

By: Timothy B Lee

Timothy B Lee — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:50:35 +0000

Yeah, gasoline deregulation and tax cuts were two of Ronald Reagan’s most libertarian policy reforms. On the other hand, you’re leaving out some of Carter’s key achievements. In addition to deregulating the trucking industry, he also deregulated railroads, airlines, and telecommunications. He cut the capital gains tax rate. The tight-money policies that ended double-digit inflation were begun under Carter’s watch. The Carter administration’s drug policies were much more libertarian than Reagan’s were. I don’t think Carter was personally a libertarian; his administration was a product of the times as much as the man.

By: Erstwhile

Erstwhile — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 00:34:23 +0000

There’s a strong argument to be made that the Jimmy Carter administration was the most libertarian-friendly of the last half-century

No. The top marginal tax rate when Ronald Reagan entered office was 70%. After the 1981 and then 1986 reforms, it was 28%. Think about that. Put on your Randian hat for just a moment and think about the moral difference between the federal government claiming that they own 70% of every dollar you earned (over a certain threshold) vs. 28%.

Jimmy Carter signed The Chrysler Corporation Loan Guarantee Act of 1979 bailing out Chrysler Corporation.

He also presided over gas rationing. Whether or not you were allowed to buy gasoline depended on what day of the week it was. There were also long lines for gas.

In negotiating the Camp David Accords, Carter thought it would be a good idea to channel billions of dollars annually into foreign aid to both the Israelis and the Egyptians indefinitely. Well, this is a small price to pay for the lasting peace in the Middle East that we have achieved.

Carter’s mishandling of the Iranian hostage crisis–and Iranian-American relations in general–is legendary. Goodbye Shah (and modernity)! Hello, Ayatollah Khomeini!

Carter’s policy of funding the war in Afghanistan–and the policy of World-Historical moron Zbigniew Brzezinski in funding Afghans against the Soviets–was later continued by Reagan.

Carter created the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education. Is libertarianism now favorable to the creation of new, ever-expanding cabinet departments?

Carter explicitly believed in an economy that was led from the top. For instance, delivered a speech where he famously declared that the energy crisis was the moral equivalent of war while clenching his fist.

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In short, your assertion that Jimmy Carter is the most libertarian-friendly administration of the last half-century is wildly off-base.

I know this won’t win you any cool-points with the Obama-worshiping drones, but Ronald Reagan was more libertarian although he was far from being a libertarian.

By: Rhayader

Rhayader — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:06:59 +0000

Yeah I think Carter got a bit of a raw deal. To read the right wing blogs, he’s high in the running for Worst President Ever.