I'm sick of Republican arguments against regulation. "It's in the corporation's best interest to act responsibly", so there's no need to regulate. Nonsense!
It's in the interests of sports players to act responsibly, but we still need rules and referees. Why? Because the goal in sports is to win, so some players, coaches & teams cheat. Have you ever watched a game with zero fouls? The rules & referees make the game safer & more fun for everyone, so that the winner is the best team and not the dirtiest.
Corporations are in business for profit, and some employees, CEOs and companies cheat. Maybe only a few cheat or maybe many, but all it takes is one bad case for people to die: Bhopal, West Fertilizer, Massey's mine, etc. Rules don't stop all bad actors, but they allow society to deter & punish rule-breakers.
Republicans have this ridiculous idea that the market eliminates the need for regulations. That's backwards. The market enables corporations to spend huge amounts of money advertising to improve their reputations and lobbying to eliminate regulations, so that they do not have to act responsibly. Yes, most companies care about their reputations, but they can always change their names if things go really wrong. Yes, victims have the courts, but it's too late if the damage is done (and trees & wildlife can't sue).
Republicans whine that the rules are too hard to follow, too many or unfair to corporations. This is absurd. Corporations have more influence in writing legislation than ever, and the big recent deregulation in finance almost destroyed the global economy. Do they really think that "big trees" and "big wildlife" are making so much money out of clean air and water that they are pushing climate change regulations for their economic gain? Sorry, it's "big oil" that's buying republican politicians to stop us from saving the world.
Republicans may rant against the referees, but we need someone there to keep the game from being unfair, turning dangerous and ruining it for everyone.
So the next time you hear a republican going anti-regulation, remind them why we have referees.