Nobody wants to open a business near a Superfund site and risk being sued

If we have more people on the receiving end of government - more people as the middle class becomes sucked in more and more to these entitlement programs, for example - then we're going to be in a place where it's going to be hard to go back. It's going to be hard to go back again. It's going to be hard to take away stuff. It's not impossible.

So China will be having to make some choices as to whose side it wants to be on. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of a major improvement in our relationship with them, if they choose correctly

The problem is that agencies sometimes lose sight of common sense as they create regulations.

For example, lead paint in old houses can be a greater threat to children's health than lead that may be under some industrial site where there are no children

We also have to ask if we focusing on the most important priorities.

In the end, we may be hurting the very people we should be concerned about - the inner-city poor, those who already have to live with many risks in their daily lives, those who do not have clout here in Washington.