Over Reaction / Over Regulation

The sad mystery of a four year old child's death on a ride at Disneyworld predictably brought all sorts out of the woodwork.

Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has put scoring points ahead of investigating, and thinking. "The death of this child is a perfect example of why the federal government should be able to investigate," he said. He is the author of a bill to close a provision in U.S. law that exempts theme parks from federal oversight.

"The federal government regulates child seats in the back of automobiles ... but not amusement rides that approach G forces that astronauts are exposed to," he says.

Where do I start?

1. Maybe child safety seats need a common denominator, since they are made everywhere and sold everywhere else.
2. The injury rate at amusement parks per 100,000 users is miniscule compared to injury rates of unprotected kids in cars.
3. Why is the Federal Government the investigator-of-choice? States have always regulated activities to protect their citizens. The Feds, constitutionally, are supposed to protect everyone from attacks by foreigners, say, who fly airplanes into buildings. Maybe "stick to your knitting" is better.
4. How is this a "perfect example" of anything? No cause of death has been determined yet. There is no evidence of trauma. Maybe a perfect example of political grandstanding.
5. Actually, this may be a perfect example of something else. It may explain why so many boys in Massachusetts were abused: people like Markey have been too busy looking for the Feds to solve all of their problems, instead of looking after their own.