If I were only talking about safety regulations and reasonable anti-plutonian regulations I would tend to agree more with your position. However, it was the combination of those plus unnecessary regulations, plus high taxes, plus removing all tariffs on foreign imports where they did not meet those same regulation.

Government created a very uneven playing field that favors foreign industry over the industry of the USA.

If they want to regulate safety and pollution, and I agree that reasonable regulation is vital, then require the same of anyone gaining free access to our markets. Otherwise we may get cleaner air, but soon the population will be under even worse pressure to feed itself.

The restructuring of the tax code which shifted much of the burden from the upper class and the upper middle class to the lower middle class, combined with massive welfare and care for illegal aliens has resulted in a tax base that is prohibitive. This means business have to pay more and more so their workers can earn a living wage.

The web of actions by the government as a whole, not just one type of regulation is what I was talking about. In fact I consider the Reagan deregulation of so many industries a major mistake as some regulation is needed, especially in utility companies.

But most of the regulation now is specifically used to target an industry. One example is the EPA made slight changes in their requirement for water quality. The result is Chlorine can no longer be used in most water systems. The change did nothing of real benefit, but the result was to force small water supply companies around the nation to use Chloramine rather than Chlorine to effect a water result that would pass the new regulation. Chloramine is a mixture of Chlorine and ammonia and once the ammonia is in the water system it is very difficult and expensive to filter out and it is horrible for the people that use it. In fact it kills fish so aquarium users have to be very careful to use the expensive filters.

Since that change my water bill has doubled, and I now have to filter all drinking water using an expensive filter. Worse I still cannot filter it out of the shower water, as the flow is too great, and breathing it in is worse than drinking it. So not only did the EPA under the guise of safety regulations attack small water supply companies and MUDs, they created massive health problems.

Now was this intentional or was it just a stupid bureaucratic blunder? By the way cities like Houston and San Francisco have also switched to Chloramine and it is coming to your town sooner or later, thanks to the EPA.

Overnight due to government safety regulations, we went from having the best water I could hope for to have water poisoned with ammonia.

How about the fluoride scam. Many people actually still believe fluoride prevents tooth decay. The government still offers grants to communities to use it to poison people with. Fluoride was a waste product and some genius figured out the easiest way to dispose of it was to have people drink it and sell it and they got the government to provide the legal support to force it on people.
How many children and dogs have died because the ate a tube of fluoride tooth paste. That is one thing no one should swallow.

Most government safety regulations are aimed at destroying one industry and/or creating another and only rarely to they have much to do with real safety.

In Texas we cannot buy the old metal and plastic gas cans. They are now illegal to make and sell. You have to buy one with a plastic safety nozzle that lasts maybe 1 year if you are lucky and never really works correctly. It is supposed to prevent leaks, but it actually causes more leaks than it ever prevents. Government destroyed one industry and created another in one fell stroke of the legislative pen. I wonder how much in bribes, I mean campaign contributions, that costs the owners of the new safety gas can manufacturers. LOL

Hemp plants are illegal in the USA even though they have no drug in them. At one time hemp was the best cash crop as small farmer could have. Made quality paper and rope among other things. Today if you want hemp quality rope you have to buy it from an importer. Another industry destroyed and small farms attacked all in one legislative move. As large cooperatives take over more and more of out farmland, we move closer and closer to monopoly type price fixings on food. There are fortunes to be made by those that can reduce the small farms enough and accumulate enough farm land.

I forgot who said it, "but no one is safe as long as congress is in session."