Published: August 29, 2008 12:36 am      

Business true heroes of America, chamber members told at summit

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — John Stossel, one of the nation’s most recognized news correspondents, championed capitalism and battled big government in front of state business leaders Thursday, proclaiming, “You’re America’s heroes.”

Stossel was the keynote speaker at the 2008 West Virginia Business Summit at The Greenbrier, where he took on government officials, trial lawyers and politicians with the same intrepid style that’s given him fame and fortune as a consumer reporter. Much of the 34-minute speech was music to the ears of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce members.

“Regulators don’t make life better, they make it worse,” Stossel told the group. “In West Virginia, if you want to build a new medical facility, you have to get a certificate of need to prove that it’s needed. This means instead of just building the medical facility, you have to figure out how to convince the bureaucrats that what you’re doing is needed. That’s what they did in the former Soviet Union. It doesn’t work very well.”

Compassion in the business market protects the public at a more cost-effective rate, Stossel said, and is much better than allowing politicians to set the rules.

“It’s not perfect, you get some Enrons, some mortgage scams, but in a $14 trillion economy, you’re going to always have some scams. What’s remarkable is how rare they are. That’s why they are big news. In case after case, I have learned the market will protect us better than regulations.”

Stossel said finding business scams to expose while working at local TV stations was much easier than when he began working as a national consumer reporter. The scams just weren’t there to be found, he said. Now, he focuses on exposing the problems of big government.

“In free society, word gets out. The way to really get rich in America is to serve consumers,” Stossel, 61, co-anchor of ABC’s “20/20,” said.

Stossel, a self-described Libertarian, said allowing individuals the freedom of choice is the cornerstone of a free society. Illegal drugs such as marijuana and prostitution should be legalized, he said.

“Patrick Henry didn’t say give me absolute safety or give me death,” Stossel dead-panned. “What happened to liberty?”

Stossel then turned his rifle sights on the legal system and took a few more potshots.

“We have two kinds of regulation in America. The government and then we have the trial lawyers,” he said, causing a ripple of laughter in the audience. “ ... this horrible torts system takes so much of the money. What kind of way is it to compensate people where it takes 10 to 15 years for the victim to get his money? And then above all that, what type of compensation is it where 70 percent of the money goes to the process and the middle men? If you add in the court costs and the defense lawyer costs, it goes up to 70 percent. Most of the money goes to the lawyers and this is a disgusting way to compensate people.”

Lawyers even interfere with the information flow that helps free people keep themselves alive, he added, saying, “There are no more honest job references anymore.”

“When you fire Fred because he’s lazy or reckless and somebody else calls because he’s applying for a job, what do you say about Fred? Do you say don’t hire him because he’s lazy or reckless? No, your human resources department tells you not to say anything. That makes us less safe by crimping the flow of good information.’”

Stossel said regulations stifle creativity in the marketplace and interrupts the flow of capitalism.

“The competition of the market and leaving free people free to innovate will protect us far better than government and lawyers that the press constantly cheers on. Through word of mouth, the good companies thrive and the bad companies atrophy.

“I’m not saying the market will take care of everything. We need government. We need government to keep the peace and from pollution rules because there’s no market self-regulation, but what percentage of the government should there be? Government is now 40 percent of our gross domestic product, but the politicians continue to make promises, like your Sen. Byrd does so he can put his name on buildings.”

Stossel said he’s now referred to as “the scourge of the liberal media” for backing big business.

“I won 19 Emmy awards, but I haven’t won a single one since I stopped criticizing business and started criticizing government regulation. My peers don’t like me much. I’m a consumer reporter who is now defending you, the businesses of America, and they don’t like it.”

According to one economic freedom survey, West Virginia ranks dead last, Stossel said, and excessive business regulations contribute to that ranking.

“I say America’s heroes are not Ralph Nader or the army of busy bodies at your state capitol or in Washington that want to run your life, but America’s heroes are people like you. Because if you are making a product that’s working a little better, that’s making America wealthier and I hope you fight for that liberty that makes all those things possible.”

— E-mail: cgiggenbach@register-herald.com