Steve Chapman: Congress accelerates out of control

When the news broke about alleged safety defects in Toyota vehicles, official Washington was appalled. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood accused the company of being “safety deaf” and said “they have a very bad business model.”

Then there was the reaction from customers, the very people whose lives and safety are at stake every time they get in a car. In the first four months of this year, Toyota’s U.S. sales did not fall, as you might expect. They rose by 12 percent.