Words of wisdom from George McGovern

From the Wall Street Journal

"McGovern was an honest, good-humored man, and one of our memories involves an op-ed he wrote for the Journal in 1992 on the perils of running a small business. After retiring from the Senate, he fulfilled a lifetime ambition to buy and operate the Stratford Inn in Connecticut. The inn failed, in part due to a recession that was more severe in New England than elsewhere, but also because of the burdens imposed by government.

"My business associates and I also lived with federal, state and local rules that were all passed with the objective of helping employees, protecting the environment, raising tax dollars for schools, protecting our customers from fire hazards, etc.," he wrote.

"While I never have doubted the worthiness of any of these goals, the concept that most often eludes legislators is: 'Can we make consumers pay the higher prices for the increased operating costs that accompany public regulation and government reporting requirements with reams of red tape.'" The entire op-ed is available on OpinionJournal.com.

McGovern conceded that he had come to this wisdom late in life, but it's a wisdom that his liberal party heirs could profit from today."