Corporate influence on government too often misunderstood
Re: “Building the free-market case against big business,” July 9
I applaud Tim Carney for his ability to differentiate between free-market capitalism and Big Business corporatism when making the case for a truly free market. Oftentimes, big businesses and their lobbyists collude with government to push smaller, less connected competitors out of the market. This problem affects elected Democrats and Republicans alike, but it is especially discouraging when Republicans use government to abuse the free-market.
One instance of moneyed special interests using government force to eliminate innovative competitors came recently when a proposal by Rep. Diane Black, R-Tenn., to restrict roll-your-own tobacco stores was rolled into a highway transportation bill. In this case, convenience store interests pressured Black to use the heavy hand of government to force their competitors out of business.
This is a battle conservatives must fight and win within the GOP. As Carney indicated, there are independent right-of-center groups that are working to push out corporate special interests. It’s time for the grassroots to read over the writings of Milton Friedman and go after Republicans who continue to use government to favor their monied corporate buddies.
Matthew Hurtt
Arlington
Removing buses was the right call
Re: “Chinatown bus lines fill important niche,” June 9
Your recent editorial was nothing short of misguided and showed a lack of concern for public safety. While the editorial points out many good reasons for travel by motorcoach and observes that motorcoach travel in the point-to-point or city pairs market continues to grow, that growth is largely a result of reputable carriers, including Bolt Bus, Megabus, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Greyhound Lines, DC2NY, Vamoose Bus and others in the Washington market and in other cities across North America.
To suggest that the 26 companies that were recently shut down were closed randomly or without cause fails to recognize the yearlong efforts of the U.S. Department of Transportation and other law enforcement agencies across the country to identify and put out of business companies that do not follow safety procedures. These companies had a well-documented and repeated history of violating federal, state and local laws. Officials gave them numerous opportunities to improve their safety records, and they failed to do so.
An analysis by the American Bus Association shows that 54 percent of onboard fatalities in motorcoach accidents were caused by illegal and/or unsafe motorcoach operators.
Yet, these companies are only a small fraction of the fleet. Our industry will only continue to grow if our passengers can trust that the company, vehicle and most importantly the driver are safe.
As the largest motorcoach association in North America, representing more than 60 percent of the coaches on the roads today, the American Bus Association strongly supports this crackdown by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. As you noted, our industry is built on the entrepreneurial spirit of small-business owners.
However, if we are to be successful over the long term, we must ensure that new customers created today will continue to use motorcoaches in the future based on the unwavering belief that they will safely move from origin to destination.
Sincerely,
Peter J. Pantuso
President & CEO American Bus Association
Washington
