Isambard K. Brunel Quotes
I am opposed to the laying down of rules or conditions to be observed in the construction of bridges lest the progress of improvement tomorrow might be embarrassed or shackled by recording or registering as law the prejudices or errors of today.
When House Budget Committee Chairman Leon Panetta (Democrat, CA) asked Darman about the administration taking a more flexible position on taxes, Darman replied:
the legal and regulatory system While this is generally true, the same very efficient private organziations sometimes act very efficiently against the interest of the public, or a part of the public in a discriminatory manner. There are other functions which for one reason or another no private organization chooses to take on, and we are left with government doing the best it can. And there are some areas where th cost of private service is just too high, and government assumes it for reasons of affordability. However sometimes there is a major problem created by competitive private organzaitions in such heated competition that the servie is terrible. In early America, Fire Fighting was assumed by private organzations, who would often fight with one another over who would handle the fire while entire neighborhoods burned down. The result was public fire service which is now the norm despite the fact that there might be better ervice in with a private company. America has attemted to balance this problem and tends to have done so better than most countries athough the issue is in contant debate in American politics.
This quotation is an excellent example of one theory of regulation which conservatives generally prefer. Tapas, as a mid-level administrator of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, did not determine this policy but was charged by the senior administrators with executing it, as opposed to making many inspections, fining or taking other steps against violators, and make examples of those who violate regulations, especially regulations that affect something as dangerous as nuclear contamination and even explosion. But the Commission has the responsibility for encouraging as well as regulating the nation's nuclear power and other industries and uses of radioactive material. As such, many feel that the dual responsibility creates an inherent conflict of interest adn the functions should be separated. Given the catastrophic potential in certain kinds of nuclear accidents, others believe that regulations would be very specific so the organizations, users, government, oversight politicians and the public will be able to understand what is expected and monitor if the standards are being med.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel FRS was an English civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one of the greatest figures of the Industrial Revolution, [who] changed the face of the English landscape with his groundbreaking designs and ingenious constructions." Brunel built dockyards, the Great Western Railway (GWR), a series of steamships including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship, and numerous important bridges and tunnels. His designs revolutionised public transport and modern engineering.
