Editing 76-15-A1 (section)

=== Transcript ===
Here's good news for any of you listening who are Big Government fans.
It probably means bad news for the rest of us. But, if you like Big Government
and you've been discouraged because that bill to create a hefty new Agency for
Consumer Protection is in trouble, take heart. The Big Government lobby is
waiting in the wings with plans for another new bureaucracy to spring on the
taxpayers.'

This one will carry a name such as the "Private Protection Agency"
Specifically, it is among the recommendations of the Privacy Protection Study
commission which will turn over its report to the President this month.
Philosophically, it's a first cousin to the privacy movement promoted by those
who are obsessed with the idea that government agents really are lurking behind
every potted palm, spying on ordinary citizens.'

Individual privacy is important to every one of us, but do we need Big
Government and a huge new federal bureau watching over us in order to get it?

The Privacy commission's report includes some surprising recommendations.
Here are some examples:

If you turn down a job applicant who has a conviction record, you could be
hauled into court to prove that your decision was relevant to his conviction.
So, presumably, you couldn't deny a convicted pickpocket a job as a salesman.

The federal agency proposed by the commission would have the authority
to participate in any federal proceeding where it believed the action to be
considered might have some effect on personal privacy. That should be a handy
way to keep a battalion or two personal privacy lawyers busy.

The report will recommend new rules on business' record-keeping. More
paperwork will result. If the recommendations are adopted, disappointed job
applicants could appeal to the Privacy agency if they weren't satisfied with
the employer's explanation of the job turn-down. The Privacy agency, in turn,
could force a company to open its files to the applicant.

Underlying all this seems to be the assumption that most job decisions are
made arbitrarily and irrationally and that government should force management
to justify all of its decisions. In a country the size of ours, there are bound
to be some employment decisions that are arbitrary, but I'll bet they are the
exception rather than the rule, and do we need an expensive new federal bureau
to find every one of them?

If it becomes a reality, the Privacy Protection agency will do a lot more
for bureaucracy's growing control over your life than it will for your privacy.
It will add to the cost of doing business. That means the cost of the things you
buy will go up as a result. Businesses will find themselves being forced to
hire -- out of self-defense -- "privacy specialists" to instruct them on how to
deal with this new federal bureau. And, companies will have to hire more
attorneys to defend them before the agency and in court. Some of the cases
would have merit, undoubtedly. But, just as certainly, a great many would not.
Almost as certain as the Law of Gravity is the Law of Bureaucracy: everytime
you create new regulations and a bureau to right a wrong, you will find more
wronged parties than you ever knew existed before. As usual, the taxpayer, will
foot the bill. 

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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